Edward I (The English Monarchs Series) by Michael Prestwich

Author:Michael Prestwich [Prestwich, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780300071573
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2008-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

One element of Edward's policy in Gascony which was strikingly successful, was the creation of the bastides. The founding of new towns was a feature of his activities in Wales, while New Winchelsea and Kingston upon Hull were two important English foundations. The scale of this policy was very much greater in Gascony, however, with over fifty bastides created in the course of the reign.

The bastides were new towns, characterized for the most part by a quadrilateral plan, with a central market place, often with attractive arcades or cornières round it. The crown was involved in the foundation of about three-quarters of these towns, but of these, only a half were solely royal foundations. In the case of the now-vanished bastide of Baa, the site was purchased from the lord of Blaye for 3,000 livres of local currency (£547) in the winter of 1286–7, and Gerard de Turri was sent to plan the new town. Later, Richard of Eastham was paid £7 12s for expenses on the works there, and the king himself paid for drinks for the men when he visited the site.25 In many cases, bastides were founded by means of partnership agreements with local lords. They would provide the site, and the king would give the new town his protection and grant it liberties. Profits would then be shared. This was not a novel system, but one which had been employed extensively by Alphonse of Poitiers in nearby French territory: it was well-suited to a place where there was little royal demesne land.26

It is tempting to assume that the creation of the bastides was intended to provide for the defence of the duchy of Gascony against the French. Yet two-thirds of them had no defences, and where defences did exist, they were normally added under Edward II or Edward III. The great majority were founded during the period of relatively good relations between England and France, and many were sited on good land, low-lying and near rivers, well-suited to commerce but of little military value.27 There were exceptions: at Bonnegarde the bastide was dominated by the royal castle, but because of its site never became viable in commercial terms. One motive for creating bastides was to provide administrative centres: in 1290 Edward ordered the construction of one to serve in this way for Quercy, and a high proportion of the baillages of the duchy were centred upon bastides.28 Lords regarded the creation of bastides as a weapon against lawlessness: in 1305 Arnaud-Loup of Estibeaux petitioned Edward, asking for his agreement to a joint foundation for 2,000 inhabitants, as a means of pacifying the local populace.29 The main purpose of the bastides, however, was undoubtedly economic. The new towns would yield valuable rents, and other dues, and the foundations in Gascony were part of a wider movement of creating new urban settlements throughout south-west France.

The new bastides were not always welcome. At Sauveterre de Guyenne, work had to be halted and a lengthy inquiry held, with the new

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