Bayonne (; Basque and Gascon: Baiona) ; ; is a city in southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, in the area known as the French Basque Country.INSEE commune file.
Bayonne is located at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the northern part of the cultural region of the Basque Country. It is the seat of the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque which roughly encompasses the western half of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, including the coastal city of Biarritz. The area also constitutes the southern part of Gascony, where the Aquitaine Basin joins the beginning of the Pre-Pyrenees.
Together with nearby Anglet, Biarritz, Hendaye and 24 smaller communes,Unité urbaine 2020 de Bayonne (partie française), INSEE Bayonne forms an urban area with 259,017 inhabitants as of 2022, 53,312 of whom lived in the commune of Bayonne proper.Comparateur de territoire, INSEE It is also a part of Basque Eurocity Bayonne-San Sebastián.
The site on the left bank of the Nive and the Adour was probably occupied before ancient times; a fortified enclosure was attested to in the 1st century, while the Tarbelli occupied the territory. Archaeological studies have confirmed the presence of a Roman castrum in the 4th and 5th centuries.
In 1023, Bayonne was the capital of Labourd. In the 12th century, it extended to the confluence of the Nive River and beyond. During that time, its first bridge spanning the Adour was built. The city came under English control in 1152 through the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine; it became important commercially and, to a lesser degree, militarily thanks to maritime trade. In 1177, Richard the Lion Heart of England took control of the city, separating it from the Viscount of Labourd.
In 1451, the city was taken by the Crown of France after the Hundred Years' War. The loss of trade with the English was followed by the river gradually filling with silt and becoming impassable to ships. As the city developed to the north, its position was weakened compared to earlier times. The district of Saint-Esprit developed initially from settlement by Sephardic Jewish refugees fleeing the Spanish expulsions dictated by the Alhambra Decree. This community brought skill in chocolate making, and Bayonne gained a reputation for chocolate.
The course of the Adour was changed in 1578 by dredging under the direction of Louis de Foix, and the river returned to its former mouth. Bayonne flourished after regaining the maritime trade that it had lost for more than a hundred years. In the 17th century, the city was fortified by Vauban, whose works were followed as models of defense for 100 years. In 1814, Bayonne and its surroundings were the scene of fighting between the Napoleonic troops and the Spanish-Anglo-Portuguese coalition led by the Duke of Wellington. It was the last time the city was under siege.
In 1951, the Lacq gas field was discovered in the region; most of its extracted oil and sulphur are shipped from the port of Bayonne. During the second half of the 20th century, many housing estates were built, forming new districts on the periphery. The city developed to form a conurbation with Anglet and Biarritz; the agglomeration became the heart of a vast Basque-Landes urban area.
Bayonne is the heart of the Communauté d'agglomération du Pays Basque, which covers roughly the western half of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department. It is an important part of the Basque Bayonne-San Sebastián Eurocity and it plays the role of economic capital of the Adour basin. Modern industries—metallurgy and chemicals—have been established to take advantage of procurement opportunities and sea shipments through the harbour. Business services today represent the largest source of employment. Bayonne is also a cultural capital, a city with strong Basque and Gascon influences, and a rich historical past. Its heritage is expressed in its architecture, the diversity of collections in museums, its gastronomic specialties, and traditional events such as the noted Fêtes de Bayonne.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Bayonnais or Bayonnaises.Inhabitants of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Toponymy Etymology While the modern Basque spelling is Baiona and the same in Gascon Occitan,Euskaltzaindia, Academy of the Basque language, consulted on 5 August 2014 Baiona, Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia "the name Bayonne poses a number of problems both historical and linguistic which have still not been clarified".Hector Iglesias, Names of Places and people in Bayonne, Anglet and Biarritz in the 18th century , éditions Elkar, Donostia-Saint-Sébastien, 2000, consulted on 25 July 2014, , p. 34 There are different interpretations of its meaning.
The termination -onne in Bayonne can come from many in hydronyms -onne or toponyms derived from that. In certain cases the element -onne follows an Indo-European theme: *wódr (Greek húdōr giving hydro, Gothic watt meaning "water") hence Proto-Celtic *udnā meaning "water" giving unna then onno in the glossary of Vienne.Xavier Delamarre, Dictionary of the Gallic language. A linguistic approach to continental old Celtic, éditions Errance, Paris, 2003, , p. 48 Unna therefore would refer to the Adour. This toponymic type evoking a river traversing a locality is common. The appellative unna seems to be found in the name of the Garonne (Garunna 1st century; Garonna 4th century). However, it is possible to see a pre-Celtic suffix -ona in the name of the Charente (Karantona in 875) or the Charentonne (Carentona in 1050).General Toponymy of France, Ernest Nègre, 28 July 2014
It could also be an augmentative Gascon from the original Latin radical Baia- with the suffix -ona in the sense of "vast expanse of water" or a name derived from the Basque bai meaning "river" and ona meaning "good", hence "good river".
The proposal by Eugene Goyheneche repeated by Manex Goyhenetche and supported by Jean-Baptiste Orpustan is bai una, "the place of the river" or bai ona "hill by the river"—Ibai means "river" in Basque and muinoa means "hill".
"It has perhaps been lost from sight that many urban place names in France, from north to south, came from the element Bay- or Bayon- such as: Bayons, Bayonville, Bayonvillers and pose the unusual problem of whether they are Basque or Gascon" adds Pierre Hourmat.p. 3. However, the most ancient form of Bayonne: Baiona, clearly indicates a feminine or a theme of -a whereas this is not the case for Béon or Bayon. In addition, the Bayon- in Bayonville or Bayonvillers in northern France is clearly the personal Germanic name Baio.General Toponymy of France, Ernest Nègre, 28 July 2014
Old attestations The names of the Basque province of Labourd and the locality of Bayonne have been attested from an early period with the place name Bayonne appearing in the Latin form Lapurdum after a period during which the two names could in turn designate a Viscounty or Bishopric.Jean-Baptiste Orpustan, New Basque Toponymy, Presses universitaires de Bordeaux, 2006, p. 19, 26
Labourd and Bayonne were synonymous and used interchangeably until the 12th century before being differentiated: Labord for the province and Bayonne for the city. The attribution of Bayonne as Civitas Boatium, a place mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary and by Paul Raymond in his 1863 dictionary, has been abandoned. The city of the Boïates may possibly be La Teste-de-Buch but is certainly not Bayonne.Achille Luchaire, Annals of the Faculty of Letters of Bordeaux (1879), note 12 and 24, regarding the Notitia Provinciarum mentioning the civitas Boatium (var. Boasium, Bohatium, Boaccensium, Boacium) "whose identification with Bayonne, proposed by Scaliger and Valois, is absolutely inadmissible (see Desjardins, Gaule rom., II, 874, note 1)" .
The following table details the origins of Labord, Bayonne, and other names in the commune.
Name Spelling Date Source Page Origin Description Bayonne Tribunus cohortis Novempopulanoe: Lapurdo Raymond Notary of Provinces City In provincia Novempopulana tribunus cohortis Novempopulanæ in Lapurdo fifth century Goyheneche Lapurdum sixth century Raymond Gregory of Tours Episcopatus Lasburdensis 983 Raymond Chapter Sancta Maria Lasburdensis 983 Raymond Chapter Sancta Maria Baionensis 1105 Raymond Cartulary civitas de Baiona 1140 Raymond Cartulary Baione 13th century Raymond Duchesne Bayona 1248 Raymond Camara Bayone 1253 Raymond Camara Baionne 14th century Guiart Bayonne 1750 Cassini 1750 Bayonne 1790 Cassini 1790 Baiona 19th century Lhande Balichon Molendinum de la Mufala, Balaisson 1198 Raymond Cartulary Old mill Balaichon 1259 Raymond Cartulary Molin de le Muhale 1259 Raymond Cartulary Molin de la Muffale 1259 Raymond Cartulary lo pont de Belaischon 1259 Raymond Cartulary Baleyson 1331 Raymond Gascon roles Baleychoun 1334 Raymond Gascon roles Bénac Bénac 1863 Raymond Farm Bouroutchourry Bouroutchourry 1863 Raymond Farm Glain Fons de Coquoanhea 1387 Raymond Chapter Farm Camps 17th century Raymond Archives of Bayonne Jean-d'Amou Jean-d'Amou 1863 Raymond Hamlet Lachepaillet Lo portau de Lachepailhet 1516 Raymond Chapter District; it was once the name of one of the city gates which was previously called the Portail de Tarride. Largenté Largenté 1863 Raymond Farm Les Lauriers Les Lauriers 1863 Raymond Hamlet Lesperon L'Esperon 1246 Raymond Cartulary Farm at Saint-Esprit Les Murailles Les Murailles 1863 Raymond Farm Panecau Port de Bertaco 13th century Raymond Cartulary Bridge Pé-de-Navarre Pé-de-Navarre 1863 Raymond Farm Château Weymann Château Weymann 1863 Raymond Château
Sources: Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, Paul Raymond, Imprimerie nationale, 1863, Digitised from Lyon Public Library 15 June 2011 Goyheneche: according to the Notitia Dignitatum Imperii dating from 340 to 420Eugène Goyheneche, Goyheneche, 1973, "Lapurdum ...", p. 85–92 Guiart: Guillaume Guiart, around 1864 Lhande: Basque-French Dictionary by Pierre Lhande, 1926. Cassini 1750: 1750 Cassini Map Cassini 1790: 1790 Cassini Map
Origins: Chapter: Titles of the Chapter of BayonneChapter of Bayonne in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Cartulary: Cartulary of Bayonne or Livre d'Or (Book of Gold)Manuscript from the 14th century in the Departmental Archives of Pyrénées-Atlantiques Camara: Chapters of the Camara de Comptos.Titles published by don José Yanguas y Miranda in Diccionario de Antiguedades del reino de Navarra, 1840, Pamplona,
History
Prehistory