| The grounds of Labourd, limited
to north by Adour, are geographically and historically related to the
sea. It is, partly, a territory torn off with the ocean by the accumulation
of large quaternary deposits, where settled the first colonizers vascons.
After one period of Roman occupation, they will manage to constitute this
duchy of Vasconie which was practically independent and one of the last
carriers of the title, Eudes, fought against buckwheats, at the time of
the famous battle of Poitiers. The sea played a paramount role in the
historical evolution of this area. It is by it that arrived the Norman
hackers. These famous Vikings were established during almost a century
in Bayonne and left there part of their experiment and their knowledge
in this art of the navigation which made the fame of the Basque thereafter.
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| One allots to Bayonne
the role of Capital of Labourd. If this is true from an economic point
of view, the historical Capital of Labourd remains Ustaritz
in which is organized Biltzar of Labourd (the general meeting
of all the mayors of the province of Labourd). |
| After the marriage of Aliénor-of-Aquitaine
with Henri-II- Plantagenêt, in 1152, the grounds of Labourd will pass
under the dependence of the English crown and they will be the object
of multiple intrigues, of which one of principal the protagonist will
be the famous Richard-Lion-Heart, craftsman of the commercial and economic
development of Bayonne. |
| This English influence lasted
until 1450, when Labourd returned to the French crown, after the signature
of the peace treaty to the castle of Ayherre. |
| Tradesmen, corsairs and whalers,
such were these épiques will forge identity of this Labourd which we can
still imagine by contemplating the natural beauty of his ports and his
old buildings and while walking us along his wild ranges. |
| The labourd is a privileged
ground, with the splendid landscapes, with the particular microclimate,
where nature was miraculeusement preserved and where one enjoys calms
serrein that one does not find any more in the noisy urban communities.
|
