Gaston III, known as Gaston Phoebus or Fébus (30 April 1331 – 1 August 1391), was the count of Foix (as Gaston III) and viscount of Béarn (as Gaston X) from 1343 until his death.
Gaston III was overlord of approximately ten territories located between Gascony and Languedoc. During the Hundred Years' War, he established his domination over the Pre-Pyrenees by playing on the conflicts between French and English monarchies. He authored the Livre de chasse, an illustrated manuscript on hunting. Gaston used the name Fébus, using the Occitan spelling, after a crusade in Prussia in reference to the Greco-Roman sun-god Apollo (known contemporaneously as Phoibos).
The only legitimate child of Gaston II, Count of Foix, and Aliénor of Comminges, Gaston inherited a fragmented territory that paid homage to the king of France as well as the king of England. During the Hundred Years' War, he claimed sovereignty over Béarn on 25 September 1347. He won decisive victories against the House of Armagnac (the ancestral enemies of his house), thus ensuring the union between Béarn and Foix. Gaston left no legitimate heir, as he likely killed his only legitimate son, Gaston, in 1380 for attempting to assassinate him.
Gaston constructed and strengthened several fortresses during his life. Endowed with immense wealth, Gaston III notably built the Château de Montaner to symbolize the union between Béarn and Foix. Known as the prince of the Pyrenees, Gaston ruled as an enlightened despot, playing the role of lord protector for his people. Gaston III is prominent in Pyrenean history due to his reign, but also from the accounts of various chroniclers and contemporaries, including Jean Froissart in his Chronicles.
The future Gaston III, the only legitimate child of Gaston II of Foix-Béarn and Aliénor of Comminges, was heir to the House of Foix-Béarn. The House had been established through the 1252 marriage of Margaret of Béarn – daughter and heiress of Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn – to Roger-Bernard III, Count of Foix. Since the reign of Gaston II, the family held the Viscounty of Lautrec and the lowlands of the Albigeois. The Foix-Béarn family was related to all the southern families of nobility in France at that time.
Following Gaston VII's death in 1290, the House held a patchwork of territories along the Pyrenees. To the west lay Béarn, Marsan, Gabardan, and Captieux – forming part of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Further east lay territories held by the King of France. The County of Foix constituted the main component of this region and included Donezan; to the south, the Counts of Foix also served as co-princes of Andorra alongside the Bishops of Urgell. Finally, the House of Foix-Béarn controlled the small but strategic province of Nébouzan, positioned between the western holdings around Orthez and the eastern lands surrounding Foix.
Aliénor, youngest child of Bernard VII, Count of Comminges, had several of her children die in infancy. Approaching her forties when she gave birth to Gaston III, Though the marriage between Gaston II and Aliénor was not particularly warm, Gaston II still regarded his wife with respect and esteem.
Gaston III (pronounced [gastu] in Occitan) was born on 30 April 1331, most likely at Orthez in the Château Moncade. Gaston's childhood was not well documented, although he did describe himself as an "ungrateful child, an adolescent tormented by the desire for the flesh, and not very good at weapons", in his Livre des oraisons. Gaston III was the sole legitimate heir of Gaston II, though he had several illegitimate half-siblings. He had two half-sisters, Béarnèse (who married Raymond Bernard II of Castelnau-Tursan) and Marguerite (who married John of Châteauverdun, Lord of Caumont), and two half-brothers, Arnaud-Guilhem (who married Jeanne, heiress of the Lordship of Morlanne) and Pierre (who married Florencia of Aragon). The children grew up together, and Gaston III's brothers would remain faithful companions throughout his life. The two illegitimate sons benefited from the same physical and military education as Gaston III, the intellectual and artistic education being reserved solely for Gaston. During her husband's many absences, Aliénor educated Gaston III.
At 9 years old, Gaston III was the subject of an arranged marriage to King James III of Majorca's daughter, Infanta Isabella of Majorca. The death of Gaston II in 1343, as well as the capture of Perpignan by King Peter IV of Aragon, caused the marriage agreement to be abandoned. Gaston II died on 26 September 1343 while fighting in Andalusia for King Alfonso XI of Castile during the Siege of Algeciras. Gaston III was twelve years old when his father died, and due to Gaston II's will, Aliénor served as his tutor and regent until his legal majority at 14 years old. Aliénor continued to manage his property as curator until he was 21 years old. Little is known of Aliénor's death which occurred around 1369, near Le Mas-d'Azil in the County of Foix.
The homage tour that Aliénor organized for Gaston III aimed to introduce the new prince to the various territories belonging to the House of Foix-Béarn, allowing him to familiarize himself with the land and people he would rule. In December 1343, the tour began in Béarn, where Gaston remained until April 1344; in total, Gaston visited 126 places within his domain. The tour lasted more than a year, until January 1345. While serving as regent, Aliénor and Queen Joan II of Navarre negotiated an arranged marriage with one of the queen's daughters, Infanta Agnes of Navarre. Joan II was the only legitimate child of King Louis X of France to survive infancy but was excluded from the French throne in favor of her uncle, Philip V of France. The marriage was postponed until 1349 due to Agnes' age.
After reaching his legal majority on 30 April 1345, Gaston assumed complete control of the domain. The beginning of his reign is marked, from June 1345, by the resumption of the Hundred Years' War after the five-year-long truce ended. The House of Foix-Béarn's was jointly dependent on both France and England, Gaston III initially sought to continue his father's pro-French policy, although in practice he was restrained in his support of either side. After the Battle of Crécy – which was a crushing defeat for the French – Gaston began to reevaluate his support for Philip VI. When Gaston failed to respond to Philip's summons on 3 June 1347, a representative of Philip VI met with Gaston III at Orthez on 25 September 1347. During this meeting, Gaston confirmed his allegiance to the king for his territories in Foix, he asserted the neutrality of Béarn, a land he held "from God and from no man in the world".
Philip VI did not take offense at the declaration of independence of Béarn and continued his rapprochement with Gaston III, for fear of seeing him switch definitively to supporting the English. On 26 December 1348 at Pamiers, Gaston III paid homage to the king of France for his lands in the seneschalsies of Agen, Toulouse, and Carcassonne, but not Béarn. The Black Death led to repeated renewals of the 1347 to 1355 Truce of Calais, giving Gaston III, age 18, the opportunity to arrange his marriage. During a stay in Île-de-France, Aliénor and Fébus were invited by Joan II to celebrate the wedding. The marriage contract was signed on 5 May 1349, with a promised dowry of 20,000 livres from the Queen of Navarre, with an initial payment of 1,000 livres. The wedding was celebrated on 4 August 1349 in the Temple Church in Paris with the acquiescence of the French king. Through his marriage, Gaston became brother-in-law to both the King of Navarre and the King of France.
Philip VI of France died on 22 August 1350 and was succeeded by his son John II. Anglo-French hostilities resumed in April 1351, once again destabilizing the region north of the Pyrenees. In October 1352, the capitouls asked Gaston III to protect Toulouse against the English troops posted at the gates of Lafrançaise. Gaston, recognizing that it would allow him to maintain his neutrality, demonstrate his power, and fill his coffers with the profits of war, accepted. During Gaston's absence, Béarn was governed by his half-brother, Arnaud-Guilhem, who he had appointed as lieutenant general.