Gaston de Foix-Grailly

## The Comte de Pallars Sobira

Painting of Comte de Pallars Sobira, circa 1531

## Occupations

### Court Posts

Premier Gentilhomme de la Chambre du Duc de Gascogne (October 3rd, 1531 - October 6th, 1531)

## Biography

### Spouse

Anne de Laval, Comte de Pallars Sobira, Suo Jure Comtesse de Laval (m. 1526)

### Mother

Louise de Bourbon-Vendôme, Comtesse de Foix

### Siblings

Jeanne de Foix-Grailly, Mademoiselle de Foix

## ***Gaston Henri de Foix-Grailly***

### *Early Life*

Gaston de Foix was born in the early hours of August 1st, 1510 as the firstborn child of Gaston V, Comte de Foix, and Louise de Bourbon-Vendome. Declared heir at birth and given the courtesy title Comte de Pallars Sobira after his christening. The young Gaston was placed under the tuteledge of his great uncle Febus de Foix, otherwise known as Cardinal de Foix. There is no doubt that Gaston's life would have led to him becoming his father, a brutish military officer, if not for the intervention of his great uncle. The Cardinal took great steps in ensuring that Gaston was given the greatest education that could be afforded to him; and with his reward for studying being more time in the drill-yard, he quickly leaped at this opportunity and was able to delve into his great uncle's teachings.

However, after Gaston reached the age of 13, his tutoring was reduced as Febus refocused on his duties as Grand Chancellor of Aquitaine. This led to Gaston being instead taught how to be a knight and soldier with his studies being neglected in favour of the sword and shield. As the boy grew into a young man, it became obvious that he had inherited the great height and build of the Foix family, with him being blessed with broad and wide shoulders, thick calves, and long legs. All of this combined into creating a bold, brash, and blunt man, yet those original teachings of his younger years were not forgotten and would play a major role in his learning of tactics and in his commanding of other men.

### *Marriage*

The influence of the Cardinal de Foix allowed the young Gaston, at the age of 16, to marry Anne de Laval, the only child of Guy XVI, who was 5 years his senior. Their marriage was a greatly celebrated spectacle at Château de Pau. Yet the following morning saw the newly wed Comtesse de Pallars Sobira greatly scarred with claw and bite marks, as if she had been attacked by a wild animal in her own marital bed. This led to a refusal by Anne to share a bed with her husband, leading to no children being born in the years following their marriage as both husband and wife grew distant from each other.

### *The Raid of 1528*

At the age of 17, approaching 18, with his marriage life nonexistent and both his father and great uncle away at court, Gaston took up the ancient Foix tradition of gathering men for a raid against Spanish towns under the Caliphate along the Pyrenees Border. It began in the Early Spring of 1528 with the Comte showing off his great skills as an inspiring leader and commander of men by rallying of 700 peasants and spending the next several months properly training them into an efficient raiding party of 300 horsemen and 400 spearmen. The funds to equip, raise, and train this warband was the culmination of the Comte's entire allowance that had been saved over the past few years, meaning that his entire financial security rested upon his band's success. The band's recruitment was also kept secret from his family, meaning that whether he would be punished or not also rested upon his success. Both of these factors greatly influenced the young Gaston to push for victory at any cost and allowed his training to mould both loyal and strictly disciplined men to serve under him in his raid.

By the Late Summer of 1528, following his 18th birthday, the Comte led his men secretly out of Foix, using a small undefended pass to get through the Pyrenees into Hispania. His warband then began the sacking of the villages of Argollel and Asnurri, with the loot and hostages taken from both towns being escorted back by 50 of Gaston's most trusted horsemen to Foix. The warband, now numbering 650, was forced with a new challenge. The nearby border villages were abandoned by their townsfolk with their goods, as most were use to constant border raids from Aquitaine, with all nearby settlements fleeing to the Castell d'Ars, a minor fortification owned by the de Najara family, who would've been considered landed knights by the European system of ranking, and owned the nearby villages. The de Najara were known for their many raids into land under the House of Foix throughout the decades, with their conversion to from Christianity to Islam allowing them to court favour with the ruling Arabic aristocracy whilst enraging the pious Foix. The Comte de Pallars made an oath to his men, stating that he would forever end the Najara menace. With many of his warband composed of men who had witnessed their atrocities first hand, those under Gaston promised to follow him in his oath. This would result in the Siege of Ars.

### *Siege of Ars, August 23rd-24th, 1528*

With his warband of 650 approaching the town, the townsfolk who had fled to the village of Ars for protection retreated into the Castell's walls, with the House de Najara having at its disposal 200 men, out of the family's 1,000 sworn swords, to guard it with. With the head of the Najara family, Alsonso, and 800 of his men out on their own attempted raid against Navarre, the garrison fell under the command of his only son Fernan de Najara. As siege was laid to the Castell in the afternoon of August 23rd after seizing the village of Ars in the morning, Gaston began to scout for possible advantages to use against the defenders. In the evening hours, he discovered a large drainage pipe that led from the castle into the nearby Rui (River) de l'Olla. After further widening of the entrance to the pipe by a blacksmith in his warband, it was made large enough for a man to crawl inside.

In the early hours of August 24th, 1528, the Comte de Pallars Sobira and 20 of his best men were able to crawl through the drainage pipe and enter the Castell d'Ars undetected. The party then quickly and quietly killed the watch before having the gates flung open to the waiting warband outside. In the ensuing slaughter, every man inside the castle was slaughtered as women and children being taken as hostages along with the riches of Ars and several nearby villages being seized. By comparison, only two men of Gaston's warband were wounded with no deaths occurring in this surprise strike. Fernan de Najara was also killed during the takeover of the castle in his own bedroom, not even having enough time to dress. After the castle had been secured and the looting had ended, Gaston ordered it to be torn down and destroyed with the warband making camp at Ars for the next several days as this was done. By August 29th, the warband had left Ars and began to return to Foix. Yet Alsonso de Najara, hearing of the destruction of his home and the death of his family, ordered his raiding party to turn back from their march towards Navarre and to locate Gaston's warband outside of Ars. What followed would be the Battle of Rui de l'Olla as the Houses of Foix and de Najara clashed.

### *Battle of Rui de l'Olla, September 1st, 1528*

On September 1st, 1528, after a day and a half of both parties encamping and waiting to form up for battle on either side of the Rui de l'Olla, the Comte de Pallars ordered his men to gather for battle. With only 600 men under his command as he had 50 more horsemen sent off with the loot and captives from Ars to Foix, he now faced a force of 800. The composition of both armies saw the Foix force of 200 horsemen and 400 spearmen against the de Najara force of 300 horsemen and 500 spearmen. Gaston deployed his 300 of his spearmen in the centre with his cavalry split between 100 on each flank; unbeknownst to the Iberians, 100 of his best-trained spears were sent to hide in nearby brush on the far right flank. The Najara forces mirrored this with spearmen in the centre and cavalry split in half on each flank. The battle commenced with Pallars leading a charge on the right flank to attack the Spanish cavalry on their left, only to then feignt a retreat of the right flank. This led to the Spanish cavalry, under the command of Alsonso de Najara, perusing the Aquitainians. At the same time, the remaining Spanish forces in the middle and right began to engage the Aquitainian middle and left flank. With the cavalry skirmish being drawn out on the left and the spear fight in the centre grinding to a halt due to the Spanish fighting uphill, the main focus was on the right flank. Gaston then unveiled his trap by retreating to the brush on the far right, with the Spanish forcing persuing directly into 100 spears of the warband's best spearmen. In the charge, Alsonso was killed and the Spanish left collapsed. The 100 spears and 100 horsemen on the Aquitainian right were then able to flank the Spanish middle and right, crushing the remaining de Najara forces with no quarter being given. In the end only 17 of the original 800 Spaniards would survive whilst Gaston's warband only lost 52 men.

The Raid of 1528, as it would come to be known as, would be a strategic victory for the House of Foix with the De Najara family being driven to extinction and any raids made by them against Aquitainian lands forever being ended. In return, Gaston not only won glory and experience but also septupled (x7) his original investment in the warband.

### *Banishment to Court*

Following the Raid of 1528, the Comte de Foix placed his son under protective custody at Château de Pau for the next three years to ensure no further raids and following escalations could occur along with the hope that Gaston and Anne's marriage could be rekindled with children to follow. This, however, failed, and by mid 1531, by the request of the Cardinal de Foix, the Comte de Pallars Sobira was sent to live at court. Prior to his leaving Foix, however, Gaston used a portion of the money earned during his 1528 Raid to have a portrait of himself commissioned. On August 10th, 1531, the Comte de Pallars Sobira was ordered to court by force under the watchful eye of his great uncle. Hope seemed to change however on October 3rd, 1531, the Comte de Pallars Sobira was made Premier Gentilhomme de la Chambre du Duc de Gascogne and held the position for three days. Yet, due to court intrigue, an outburst by the Duc de Gascogne against his own father, the king, and his poor standing in the eyes of his sovereign King Louis IV, Pallars was stripped of his post on October 6th, which coincided with his Great Uncle being removed from his post of Chancellor and being forcefully retired from court. Then on the following day, the 7th, the Comte de Pallars Sobira received ten lashes as punishment on behalf of the Duc de Gascogne's outburst and was banished from court and returned to Foix. Ironically, it was what the Comte had originally wanted, yet he came to regret it nonetheless.

### *Exile from Court*

As of October 7th, 1531, the Comte de Pallars Sobira has been banished from royal court and returned to Foix to serve under his father in a military post as an officer along the Aquitanian-Andorran border at the Port de Cabús. Yet, there would be no hopes of raising any warband as his position was instead meant to cage him in a simple fortification in the mountains of the Pyrenees. Still, being in charge of a minor fort and a retinue of some 300 men was more than enough to keep him occupied. The Comte began to reorganize and build onto this simple fort, expanding its defenses, as its garrison were transformed into a trained defensive force. With all of this progress being directly overseen by himself and not only showing off his skills as a natural-born leader but gaining even more experience in his ability to command. Time will only tell what will come next for Gaston de Foix-Grailly, Comte de Pallars Sobira.