B arn is a former province of France, located at the base of the Pyr es. Along with Basse-Navarre (Guyenne) and the Basque country (Gascony), it forms the current ‘’d partement’’ of Pyr es-Atlantiques (64).

B arn is bordered by Soule on the west, by Landes and Armagnac on the north, by Bigorre on the east, and by Spain on the south.

Although B arn was included in the original borders of France as established by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, its inclusion in the kingdom was controversial. After B arn passed to the county of Foix in 1290, count Gaston F bus paid homage to the king for his own county, but refused to give homage for B arn, which he claimed as an independent fief, with its chief seat his stronghold at Pau, a site that had been fortified by the 11th century, which was made the official capital the seat of B arn Province in 1464. Later, the territory passed through heiresses to the patrimony of the Kingdom of Navarre (see below), and this inclusion in a foreign state (though ruled by descendents of the French Capetian dynasty) contributed to its doubtful relationship to the Kingdom of France. Finally, B arn fell to Henry IV of France, who inherited it from his mother, while at the same time the Kingdom of Navarre was almost entirely annexed by Spain. After his succession to the throne, Henry conceded to the demands of the Parlement, and arn was reunited with the French crown, conforming to the tradition that the king of France would have no personal domain. Previously, in 1539, the Edict of Villers-Cotteret had ordained that laws would be enacted in French (to the detriment of Latin and smaller local languages), but B arn was not yet part of France and the edict did not apply there. Instead, after its incorporation into France, laws continued to be enacted in the langue d'oc until the French Revolution.

See also: B arnaise sauce

Viscounts of B arn

• Centulf I of Bearn ?-866
• Lupus I of Bearn 866-905 (son)
• Centulf II of Bearn 905-940 (son)
• Gaston I of Bearn 940-984 (son)
• Centulf III of Bearn 984-1004 (son)
• Gaston II of Bearn 1004-1022 (son)
• Centulf IV of Bearn 1022-1058 (son)
• Gaston III of Bearn 1058-1068 (son)
• Centulf V of Bearn 1068-1090 (son)
• Gaston IV of Bearn 1090-1131 (son)
• Centulf VI of Bearn 1131-1134 (son)
• Guiscarde of Bearn 1134-1154 (daugther)
• Pierre I Roger de Gabarret, viscount of Gabarret 1134 (married to Guiscarde)
• Pierre II of Gabarret 1134-1153 (son)
• Gaston V of Gabarret 1153-1170 (son)
• Marie of Gabarret 1170-1173 (sister)
• Guillem I of Montcada 1170-1173 (married to Marie)
• Gaston VI of Montcada 1173-1215 (son)
• Guillem Ramon I of Montcada 1215-1223 (son)
• Guillem II of Montcada 1223-1229 (son)
• Gaston VII of Montcada 1229-1290 (son)
• Margaret of Montcada 1290-1319 (daughter)
• Roger Bernat I of Foix 1290-1319, count of Foix (Married to Margaret)

B arn was united to Foix in 1290.