Editing Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques (section)

==== Middle Ages ====
Pau was a castelnau founded at an unknown date, in the second half of the 11th or the very beginning of the 12th century,<ref>{{cite book|first=Pierre|last=Tucoo-Chala|title=Histoire de Pau|publisher=Éditions Privat|location=Toulouse|year=1989|id=collection Univers de la France|isbn=2-7089-8238-9|pages=11–15}}</ref> to control a fording of the Gave de Pau which was used for the passage of the shepherds in [[transhumance]] between the mountains of Ossau and pasture of the plain of the Pont-Long. A castle was built, overlooking the north bank, at equal distance from [[Lescar]], seat of the bishops, and from [[Morlaàs]], capital of the Viscounts of Béarn.

In 1188, [[Gaston VI, Viscount of Béarn|Gaston VI]] assembled his ''{{lang|fr|cour majour}}'' there, predecessor of the ''conseil souverain'' and roughly equivalent to the [[House of Lords]].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} [[Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn|Gaston VII]] added a third tower in the 13th century. Gaston Fébus (Gaston III of Foix and Gaston X of Béarn) added a brick [[keep|donjon]] (keep), known as ''la tour Billère'' [the Tower of Billère].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}