Aubertin () is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.
Geography Aubertin is located in Béarn some 10 km west of Pau and 8 km north-west of Gan. Access to the commune is by the D146 from Artiguelouve in the north-east which passes through the north of the commune and goes west to Lacommande. Access to the village is by the D346 which branches south from the D146 in the commune and continues through the village to join the D24 some 6 km west of Gan. The commune has a mix of forest and farmland throughout its territory.Google Maps
The Baïse forms the western border of the commune as it flows north to join the Gave de Pau at Abidos. The Juscle rises in the south-east of the commune and flows north to join the Gave de Pau at Bésingrand. Each river gathers many small tributaries that rise in the commune.
Places and hamlets
Arizet Arrouset Arrouzes Baherle Bahette Barbe Barrere Barrot Baudorre Bayle Bengueres Benoit Benterou Bernat Bertrand Beteille Blazy Bonneton Bordechy Bory Bouchet Burret Cabarrecq Calotte Camy Casedeyan Cassou Catihaut Caussit Caussitou Cazenave Chicot Chounet Clamens Claverie Constantine Couy Crasman Cuyala David Espa Haget Heroulet Heugas Hourat Hourcade Istehnou Jagou Joliment Labarthe Labasse Labat Labegorre Labesque Labory Lacarrieu Lacoste Lacrouts Lagrave Lahitole Lamasouere Lanardonne Lapet Laplume Lardit Larriscat Larriu Laymar Lebe Lembeye Lespees Lestanguet Lous Loustau Mazou Mene Mesple Mialou Miramont Mirassou Modet Montagnette Montis Mourterat Mourthe Navailles Palassou Palou Pargade Pedane Penen Pepicq Perry Peyrenere Poeydevant Porte Poumade Puyade Reyau Rontignon Saliou Sarthou Serrot Setze Soldat Talabot Talet Tiret Toulas Tucou Turoun Vignau
Géoportail, IGN
Neighbouring communes and villages
Toponymy Among the hypotheses on the origin of the name Aubertin, Michel Grosclaude favours that of a Gascon man's name (diminutive of Aubert) or the Latin Albertinus rather than the German Adalbehrt.Michel Grosclaude, Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, Edicions reclams & Édition Cairn - 2006, 416 pages,
The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.
Name Spelling Date Source Page Origin Description Aubertin Albertinus 1128 Raymond Marca Village Auberti 13th century Raymond Fors de Béarn Aubertii 14th century Raymond Census Auberty 1548 Raymond Reformation Sent Blasi d'Aubertin 1608 Raymond Insinuations Jagou Jaguo 1385 Raymond Census Farm Jagou 1863 Raymond
Sources:
Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011
Origins: Marca: Pierre de Marca, History of Béarn.Pierre de Marca, History of Béarn Fors de BéarnManuscript from the 14th century - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Census: Census of Béarn Reformation: Reformation of BéarnManuscript from the 16th to 18th centuries - Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Insinuations: Insinuations of the Diocese of OloronManuscripts from the 17th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
History When the name Aubertin appears in texts from the beginning of the 12th century,Jukka Kiviharju, Colecciόn diplomática del Hospital de Santa Cristina de Somport. I: Años 1078-1304, Academia Scientiarum Fennica, Helsinki, 2004 it is difficult to associate it with a specific territory. It is known that there was a beech grove at Aubertin (Faget d'Aubertii), in the middle of which Gaston IV of Béarn, called le Croisé (The Crusader), began building a hospital in the years 1115–1118.Pierre Tucoo-Chala, When Islam was at the doors of the Pyrénées, Biarritz, J & D, 1994 This foundation was challenged by the Lord of Bedosse and his descendants who claimed ownership of the soil. The Albertine charter signed in 1128 resolved the dispute and allowed the development of the hospital which was opened shortly after a church, a cloister and a cemetery. Farmland extended from the left bank of the Baïse to the top of the hill to the west on the territory of the present village of Lacommande.Pierre de Marca, History of Béarn, Pau, Princi Negue, 2000, Vol. I, fifth book, pp. 111-113
At the beginning of the 13th century, this place became the Commandery of Aubertin – the main establishment of the Priory of Sainte-Christine-du-Somport on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees.Antonio Duràn Gudiol, El hospital de Somport entre Aragón y Bearn (siglos XII y XIII), colecciόn básica aragonesa, Saragosse, Guara, 1986 By contrast, the origin of the Bedosse family and the extension of their domains remains unknown. For centuries Monein continued to claim ownership of this enclave of the Commandery of Aubertin.Jean-Claude Lassègues, Lacommande, on the commandery hospital and the village, Centre de Généalogie des Pyrénées-Atlantiques, éd. Marrimpouey, 2012
Texts from the middle of the 12th century also report a lordship at Artiguelouve which extended from the Gave de Pau to the Baïse on the current communes of Artiguelouve and Aubertin. So, in 1160 Guillaume of Artiguelouve and one called Loup Bergunh sold the land and woods located on the right bank of the Bayse for grazing their herds to the priory of Sainte-Christine-du-Somport and the Aubertin hospital.Jukka Kiviharju, op. cit., No. 87
Although the territory of the present village of Aubertin has long remained in the orbit of the lordship of Artiguelouve,The château of Aubertin sometimes changed hands. So, at the end of the 13th century, it was exchanged between the Gers family of Faudoas and the Commander of Aubertin before returning to the lordship of Artiguelouve from the beginning most people seem to have attended the church of the Commandery. The count by Gaston Febus in 1385 reported a parish of Aubertii distinct from that of Artiguelobe.Paul Raymond, General count of houses in the Viscounty of Béarn in 1385 by order of Gaston Febus, Pau, Manucius, 2000 It comprised a total of 46 fires including 3 which were explicitly at Aubertin the hospital.
In 1402, the lord of Artiguelouve made common cause with the commandery of Aubertin in a lawsuit between them and the community of MoneinE353, Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques but in 1538 the commander of Aubertin, Jean de Borau, reported that Arnaud Guilhem d'Artiguelouve had usurped the rights of the Commandery.Communal Archives of Monein, FF6, No. 3, Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Relations between the two communities were close but fluctuated.
When Arnaud Guilhem d'Artiguelouve married Anne d'Albret on 9 February 1534Bulletin of the Society of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Pau, 1911 (SER2, T39), p. 256 he was called Lord of Artiguelouve, Aubertin, and Montardon and appeared to be at the height of his glory. The situation gradually deteriorated over the generations.62J, Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques In 1555 his son, Arnaud, sold half the tithes from Artiguelouve and Aubertin to Peyrot de Pedelaborde of Lagor.E1336 and E1481, Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques He was soon no longer designated as Lord of Artiguelouve and Aubertin which suggested the final sale of the lordship of Montardon.Genealogy of France On the other hand, the inhabitants of Aubertin had some autonomy in the management of their affairs as they were represented by a trustee and 5 aldermen from 1570 during some events of the Protestant Reformation.Historical Archives of Gironde, 1896, T31, p. 145 Around 1583 Arnaud d'Artiguelouve afiefed the woods of Aubertin as surety for a loan.E1497, Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Bernard, who succeeded Arnaud, remained lord of Artiguelouve and Aubertin but debts accumulated. His son John was forced to sell the chateau and lands of Aubertin to François de Navailles on 30 June 1640.B678, Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Finally, Jean sold the lordship of Artiguelouve itself to Pierre de Fouron on 11 April 1642.A. Dufau de Maluquer, Arms of Béarn, Vol. III, p. 306, Edition des Régionalismes, 2011
30 June 1640 was a crucial date in the history of Aubertin. It affirmed the identity of the village and marked the emergence of a new centre of power from an Artiguelouve lordship which disintegrated to a commandery which, after the Reformation, passed to the control of the Barnabites of Lescar. Five generations of Navailles-Mirepeix would follow in Aubertin. The last, Louis-François, gave a reckoning of his domain of Aubertin for the Parliament of Navarre on 8 July 1776.B5761, Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques This document gives a fairly accurate picture of the lordship of Aubertin before the French Revolution.Jean-Claude Lassègues, The lordship of Aubertin before the Revolution, Généalogie des Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 2011, No. 103, p. 11
Some years before, in 1773, he initiated a project to build a church near the chateau with the support of the Bishop of Oloron. This project was not successful because Louis-François de Navailles emigrated to Spain during the Revolution. The Aubertin people felt duty-bound to continue and financed most of the Church of Saint-Blaise in Lacommande, the adjacent cemetery, and the church rectory, although two separate communes were created in 1790. They continued, however, to be only one parish until 1867 when the opening of a church in Aubertin and a new historical turning point: a village centre could finally develop around its bell tower, to which was added a cemetery, manse, town hall, and a school.Jean-Claude Lassègues, The history of the commune of Aubertin and Lacommande, Généalogie des Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 2010, No. 102, p. 3
Administration
List of Successive MayorsList of Mayors of France From To Name 1790 1805 Bascourret 1805 1807 Pouey-Davant 1807 1811 Jean Labory 1811 1815 Bascourret 1815 1816 Jean Louis Poey-Davant 1816 1831 Bayle 1831 1842 Jean Reyau 1842 1848 Augustin Casalet 1848 1853 Jean Hourcade 1853 1857 Augustin Casalet 1857 1865 Jean Marie Labory 1865 1871 Jean Vignau 1871 1876 Jean Larrague 1876 1892 Barthélémy Hourcade 1892 1896 Jean Sarragnacq 1896 1914 Joseph Loustalot 1914 1919 Ferdinand Bascourret 1919 1924 Joseph Loustalot 1924 1925 Jérôme Loune 1925 1944 Pierre Labayrade 1944 1945 Lucien Darribau 1945 1965 François Cassieula 1965 1976 René Camy 1976 2001 Lucien Hondet 2001 2008 Philippe Boillot 2014 2026 Martine Rodriguez
Inter-communality The commune is part of five inter-communal structures:Intercommunality of Pyrénées-Atlantiques , Cellule informatique préfecture 64, consulted on 2 March 2012 the Communauté d'agglomération Pau Béarn Pyrénées; the SIVOM of the Canton of Lasseube; the joint association for the Gave de Pau; the SIVU for the development and management of the rivers in the Baises basin; the association for the development of the Drainage basin of the Juscle and its tributaries;
Demography The inhabitants of the commune are known as Aubertinois or Aubertinoises in French.Pyrénées-Atlantiques, habitants.fr
Economy The commune is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée zone of Jurançon AOC and Béarn AOC. Economic activity is mainly agricultural. Aubertin is also part of the AOC zone of Ossau-iraty. In 1966, the Société Nationale des Pétroles d’Aquitaine (SNPA - now part of Elf Aquitaine) discovered gas in Aubertin. Two gas wells are still active.
Culture and heritage
Civil heritage A very old Bridge over the Bayse at Goua-de-Labat The Château de Navailles
Religious heritage The Church of Saint-Augustin'' (1859) is registered as a historical monument.Ministry of Culture, Mérimée A porch was added to the tower in the 20th century.