county · France and the Low Countries

County of Armagnac

960 CE – 1497 CE (approx.) · capital Lectoure

A Gascon county whose counts gave their name to a faction in France's civil war and fought Louis XI to the bitter end.

Origins

Armagnac was carved out of the duchy of Gascony around 960 for Bernard the Squinter, a younger son of the Gascon ducal house. His descendants ruled the hill country around Auch and Lectoure and gradually gathered neighbouring counties such as Fezensac and Rodez.

Rule and society

The counts were among the greatest lords of the south-west, shifting between the English in Guyenne and the French crown. Bernard VII became constable of France and led the Armagnac party against the Burgundians in the civil war of the 1410s until his murder in Paris in 1418. The land was known for wine and its brandy, later named after it.

Decline and legacy

Count John V defied Louis XI and was killed when royal troops took Lectoure in 1473. The last count, Charles I, died in 1497, and the county passed to the duke of Alençon and later to the house of Albret before returning to the Kingdom of France.

Lineage

County of ArmagnacKingdom of France 987 CE – 1792 CE

Connections (2)

More states of France and the Low Countries →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Armagnac. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-armagnac
MLA
“County of Armagnac.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-armagnac. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “County of Armagnac.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-armagnac.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Armagnac’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-armagnac (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻