Editing Bayonne (section)

===Middle Ages===
The geographical location of the locality at the crossroads of a river system oriented from east to west and the road network connecting Europe to the [[Iberian Peninsula]] from north to south, predisposed the site to the double role of fortress and port.<ref group="EG" name="p149">p. 149.</ref> The city, after being Roman, alternated between the [[Vascones]] and the English for three centuries from the 12th to the 15th century.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

The Romans left the city in the 4th century and the Basques, who had always been present, dominated the former Novempopulania province between the [[Garonne]], the Ocean, and the Pyrénées.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} Novempopulania was renamed [[Vasconia]] and then Gascony after a Germanic deformation (resulting from the [[Visigoth]] and [[Franks|Frankish]] invasions). Basquisation of the plains region was too weak against the advance of romanization. From the mixture between the Basque and Latin language [[Gascon language|Gascon]] was created.<ref>Jacques Allières, ''The Basques'', Paris, Presses universitaires de France,?March 2003 (1st ed. 1997), 127 p. {{ISBN|213053144X}} and {{ISBN|9782130531449}}, {{OCLC|77097933}}. {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

Documentation on Bayonne for the period from the [[High Middle Ages]] are virtually nonexistent,<ref group="Note">Peter Hourmat, (''History of Bayonne from its origins to the French Revolution of 1789'', Society of Sciences Letters Arts of Bayonne,1986, pp. 27 to 35 {{in lang|fr}})deplores the lack of sources for the period 5th century to the 10th century: "If the existence of a major military site is attested by the remains of the tower walls of a castrum, the headquarters or refuge of a cohort in the last days of the Roman Empire, in the half a millennium that followed the collapse of the latter plunges us into an almost total ignorance of who occupied the area of the castrum and the identity of the people. A heavy silence covers the fate of Lapurdum and documents at our disposal for five centuries can be counted on the fingers of one hand and these lead to different or contradictory interpretations ... . So this story becomes a long series of question marks, for example that of Novempopulania".</ref><ref group="Note">The [[Treaty of Andelot]] signed in 587 between [[Guntram]], king of Burgundy, and [[Brunhilda of Austrasia]], mentions Lapurdo; it documents the return to Brunhilda of several cities including Aire, Couserans and ''Lapurdo'', each "with its territories" ("cum terminibus"). Manex Goyhenetche indicates that in the 6th century, the term ''civitas'' was used to designate a fortress. "The [[Franks|Frankish]] dynasties of Austrasia and Neustria by the Treaty of Andelot, consolidated their grip on part of the former territory of the ''Nine Peoples'' [...] In the 4th century Lapurdum continued to exist and by the end of the 6th century returned to its function as a fortress. Lapurdum controlled firstly the routes leading to the Pyrenean passes and secondly the [[cabotage]] routes of the Frankish fleets from [[Bordeaux]] to [[Asturias]] ".</ref><ref>Manex Goyhenetche, ''General History of Basque country, Prehistory, Roman era, Middle Ages'', Vol. 1, Elkarlanean, Donostia and Bayonne, 1998, 492 pages, {{ISBN|2-913156-20-7}}, BnF FRBNF37031711, p. 134 {{in lang|fr}}.</ref> with the exception of two Norman intrusions: one questionable in 844 and a second attested in 892.<ref group="EG" name="p152">p. 152.</ref>

When Labourd was created in 1023, Bayonne was the capital and the Viscount resided there.<ref group="Note">The Vicount resided in Chatelet (''lou Castet''), next to the entry to the current ''Cinq Cantons'' (Five Cantons) which was the Roman gate leading to the port source: Eugene Goyheneche, ''The Basque Country: Soule, Labourd, Lower Navarre'', New Society regional editions and distribution, Pau, 1979 (Record BNF FRBNF34647711).</ref> The history of Bayonne proper started in 1056 when Raymond II the Younger, Bishop of Bazas, had the mission to build the Church of Bayonne<ref group="Note">It can be deduced that it existed prior to that date.</ref><ref group="EG" name="p152" />

The construction was under the authority of Raymond III of Martres, [[Bishop of Bayonne]] from 1122 to 1125, combined with Viscount Bertrand for the [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] cathedral, the rear of which can still be seen today, and the first wooden bridge across the Adour extending the Mayou bridge over the Nive, which inaugurated the heyday of Bayonne.<ref group="EG" name="p152" /> From 1120, new districts were created under population pressure. The development of areas between the old Roman city of Grand Bayonne and the Nive also developed during this period, then between the Nive and the Adour at the place that became Petit Bayonne. A [[Jacobin|Dominican Order]] Convent was located there in 1225 then that of the [[Cordeliers]] in 1247.<ref group="EG" name="p152" /> Construction of and modifications to the defences of the city also developed to protect the new districts.<ref group="PiH" name="p9">p. 152.</ref>

In 1130, the King of Aragon [[Alfonso the Battler]] besieged the city without success. Bayonne became an [[Angevin Empire|Angevin]] possession when [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]] married [[Henry Plantagenet]], the future king of England, in 1152.<ref group="PiH" name="p6">p. 6.</ref> This alliance gave Bayonne many commercial privileges. The Bayonnaises became carriers of Bordeaux wines and other south-western products like resin, ham, and [[Isatis tinctoria|woad]] to England.<ref group="EG" name="p171">p. 171.</ref> Bayonne was then an important military base. In 1177, King Richard separated the Viscounty of Labourd whose capital then became [[Ustaritz]]. Like many cities at the time, in 1215 Bayonne obtained the award of a municipal charter and was emancipated from feudal powers.<ref>On 12 April 1215 [[John, King of England]], granted Bayonne a legal personality that would last throughout the Middle Ages and, to some extent, until the [[French Revolution]]. The form of the charter resembled that of [[La Rochelle]]. According to Eugene Goyheneche, "the city is governed by the "Hundred Peers" who were actually a mayor, twelve deputies, twelve councilors, and seventy-five peers who were co-opted and proposed each year by the mayor for the king's choice. The mayor was head of the administrative, judiciary, and military: he had custody of the keys to the city and some mayors were admirals in the bayonnaise fleet. The king was represented by a marshal" source: Eugene Goyheneche, The Basque Country: Soule, Labourd, Lower Navarre, Societe new regional editions and distribution, Pau, 1979 (Record BNF FRBNF34647711) {{in lang|fr}}.</ref>

The official publication, in 1273, of a [[Coutume]] unique to the city, remained in force for five centuries until the separation of Bayonne from Labourd.<ref group="EG" name="p160">p. 160.</ref><ref group="Note">Relations with Labourd were often difficult and caused many bloody conflicts. The most famous of them took place in 1343 when the mayor of Bayonne, Pé de Poyane, killed five labourdin nobles: an episode which, according to Eugene Goyheneche, had its origin in a fictional story of ''On the Proudines bridge'' at [[Villefranque, Pyrénées-Atlantiques|Villefranque]], retold by [[Augustine Chaho]] and [[Hippolyte Taine]].</ref>

Bayonnaise industry at that time was dominated by shipbuilding: wood ([[oak]], [[beech]], [[chestnut]] from the Pyrenees, and [[pine]] from [[Landes forest|Landes]]) being overabundant.<ref group="EG" name="p162">p. 162.</ref> There was also maritime activity in providing crews for [[whaling]], commercial marine or, and it was often so at a time when it was easy to turn any merchant ship into a warship, the English [[Royal Navy]].<ref group="EG" name="p163">p. 163.</ref><ref group="Note">For example a Bayonnais fleet participated in the [[Siege of Calais (1346)|Siege of Calais]] led by the English in 1346 which consisted of 15 vessels and 439 men source: Eugene Goyheneche, The Basque Country: Soule, Labourd, Lower Navarre, Society new regional editions and distribution, Pau,1979 (Record BNF FRBNF34647711), p. 163. {{in lang|fr}}.</ref>