Grafschaft Foix
In 1789 Couserans sent three representatives to the Estates-General in Versailles. When French "départements" were created in 1790, Couserans could have joined with Comminges to form a "département", as history and geography suggested, but Saint-Girons and Saint-Gaudens (the largest town of Comminges) could not agree on which town would be the "préfecture" (capital). At the initiative of a representative of Pamiers (largest town in the County of Foix), Couserans was joined with the province of County of Foix to form the Ariège "département". It was promised to Couserans that the "préfecture" would alternate between Foix, Pamiers, and Saint-Girons, but eventually the promise was betrayed and Foix became the only "préfecture" of Ariège. What's more, Pamiers replaced Saint-Lizier as the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese (bishopric). Despite being united inside a single "département", the Gascon Couserans and the Languedocian County of Foix have always ignored each other, and still remain quite distinct.