BAYONNE
. The only fortress of any consequence in southwestern France, Lapurdum, now Bayonne
(Pyrénées-Atlantiques), was the principal port of the Roman province of
Novempopulania. Fortified by the 1st century B.C., it experienced attacks by Visigoths,
Basques, Moors, and Normans. When Charlemagne’s kingdom of Aquitanie was broken
up, Bayonne became the capital of the county of Labourd, which was attached to
Gascony in the 12th century. It prospered as a whaling, fishing, and shipbuilding center
under Norman rule, from 1154 until the end of the Hundred Years’ War, when it was
captured by Jean de Dunois (1451).
The Château-Vieux (12th and 15th c.), built on Roman foundations, is a square
fortress with corner towers. It was here that Bertrand du Guesclin was imprisoned to
await ransom. The Château-Neuf was constructed in 1489. The cathedral of Sainte-Marie
is one of the finest in southwestern France. Begun in 1213 on the site of a Roman temple,
it was built over two centuries in imitation of northern Gothic churches. South of the
church are the 14th-century cloisters, with elegant wide bays.
William W.Kibler/William W.Clark
Lambert, Élie. “Bayonne.” Congrès archéologique (Bordeaux et Bayonne) 102 (1939):507–70.
BAZAS
(Gironde). The ancient oppidum of Cossium, former capital of the Vacates, became one
of the principal towns of the Roman province of Novempopulania. It was raised to a
bishopric in the 5th century and is mentioned by Gregory of Tours. The Gothic cathedral
of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, begun in 1233 and continued into the 14th century, is built over an
11th-century Romanesque church destroyed by the English in 1198. It consists of a long
(274-foot) and narrow (76-foot) aisled nave of eleven bays, a choir with ambulatory and
five radiating chapels, but no transept. The blind triforium with a flattened arch in each
bay is an unusual feature possibly imported from the Parisian area. Three portals on the
west façade, dedicated to the Last Judgment, the Dormition and Coronation of the Virgin,
and the life of St. Peter, preserve remarkable examples of 13th-century Gothic sculpture.
Attacked by the Huguenots in 1577 and 1578, the precious sculpture was saved only by a
ransom of 10,000 crowns raised by parishoners. The cathedral was extensively restored
between 1583 and 1635, following the Wars of Religion.
William W.Kibler/William W.Clark
Gardelles, Jacques. “La cathédrale de Bazas.” Congrès archéologique (Bordelais et Bazadais)
145(1987):21–37.
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