Viscounts · Lands of John and Eleanor · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Tartas and Dax

The viscounts of Dax lost their city to Richard in 1177, and the line passed by the marriage of its heiress Navarre to the viscounts of Tartas, whose castle on the Midouze commands the road from Bordeaux to Dax.

In 1193-1194 the viscount of Dax gave Orthez to Gaston VI of Bearn and took in exchange Mixe and Ostabarret, the Basque hill country north of the Navarrese lands. So the house holds two blocks: Tartas in the Landes and Mixe-Ostabarret below the passes.

Who he is

Name
Raymond-Arnaud of Tartas or his son Arnaud-Raymond (not pinned)
Title
Viscount of Tartas and (titular) viscount of Dax, lord of Mixe and Ostabarret
Since
Not pinned
Born
Not pinned
Family
A Raymond-Arnaud of the Tartas house married Navarre, heiress of the viscounts of Dax; an Arnaud-Raymond, viscount of Tartas, is father of Assalide, who marries Amanieu VI of Albret about 1215.
Confidence
low

English Wikipedia ('Guiraude de Dax') for the Dax-Tartas marriage; FMG chapter titles ('Vicomtes de Dax (Seigneurs de Mixe et d'Ostabaret)'); French Wikipedia and FMG on Gaston VI's exchange of 1193-1194, by which the viscount of Dax gave up Orthez and took Mixe and Ostabarret.

Overlord

The duke of Aquitaine.

What it holds

  • Tartas and its castle on the Midouze, with the parishes round it
  • Mixe round Saint-Palais and Garris, and Ostabarret round Ostabat on the Santiago road (since 1193-1194)
  • The title of Dax, without the city (ducal since 1177)

How it was acquired

Tartas inherited; Dax by marriage; Mixe and Ostabarret by exchange with Gaston VI in 1193-1194.

Allies and rivals

Gaston VI of Bearn (exchange partner and neighbour); the Navarrese tenente at San Juan and the lords of Arberoue next to Ostabarret; the Albret to the north; the ducal prevot of Dax.

How things stand that morning

Holds Tartas and Mixe-Ostabarret of the duke. Mixe and Ostabarret lie on the pilgrim roads that meet at Ostabat and will drift towards Navarre in the 13th century.

Wealth

Tolls on the Midouze and the Landes road at Tartas; pilgrim traffic through Ostabat and Garris; pasture.

Military

Castle of Tartas; the castle of Garris in Mixe (not pinned for 1200).

Threats

  • Navarrese pull on Mixe and Ostabarret
  • Bearn on the Gave

Places of note

  • Tartas: Viscount's castle on the Midouze.
  • Ostabat: Meeting point of the pilgrim roads before the passes.
  • Garris: Castle and market of Mixe.

Where the sources disagree

  • The identity of the viscount on 1 January 1200 is not pinned; the sources we could read name Raymond-Arnaud (married to Navarre of Dax) and Arnaud-Raymond (father of Assalide) without dates.

Evidence: The 1193-1194 exchange is well attested; the holder and limits are not.

On the map: Both blocks follow later pays limits; the city of Dax is drawn by its town record.

Primary sources for Angevin lands

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
  • Chronicles of Saint-Martial of Limoges, Bernard Itier and other monks of Saint-Martial; Geoffrey of Vigeois for the earlier chronicle (Geoffrey's chronicle to 1184; Bernard Itier's notes about 1195 to 1225). Bernard Itier, librarian of Saint-Martial, kept dated notes through 1200 of what reached Limoges: Richard's death at Chalus in 1199, the viscounts of Limoges and the lords of the Limousin, John's passage through Aquitaine in 1200 and the affairs of Angouleme and the Lusignans, and the abbey's own elections and prices. Read online
  • Chronicles of the Churches of Anjou (Saint-Aubin, Saint-Serge, Saint-Florent and others), Various (monks of Angers and the Loire) (11th to 13th centuries; the Saint-Aubin annals run to the 1220s). The Angevin houses' own annals of the succession crisis in their city: Arthur received at Angers in 1199 with Constance and the Breton and Angevin barons, John's counter-moves, the defection of William des Roches and the Angevin lords to John, and the peace of 1200 that left Arthur John's vassal. Read online
  • The Great Chronicle of Tours, Anonymous (a canon of Saint-Martin of Tours) (about 1227). The Loire valley's view of the Angevin succession. Read online
  • Universal Chronicle of the Anonymous of Laon, Anonymous (an English-born canon of Laon) (about 1219). A Picard chronicle whose author had lived in England and keeps an eye on both kingdoms. Read online
  • Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
  • Chronicle; Deeds of the Kings, Gervase of Canterbury (Chronica about 1188 to 1199; Gesta Regum about 1199 to 1210). The Chronica stops in 1199, so for 1200 the witness is the briefer Gesta Regum, which notes John's peace with Philip, the coronation of Isabella at Westminster on 8 October 1200, and matters touching Canterbury: the archbishop Hubert Walter as chancellor, the cathedral priory's quarrel with him, and the Lambeth college dispute lately settled by the pope. Read online
  • English Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, Ralph of Coggeshall (about 1200 to 1224, in stages). Short but independent entries for 1200 from a Cistercian house in Essex: John's levy on the Cistercians and the carucage, the peace with Philip, the king's new marriage and the queen's coronation, and the death of Hugh of Lincoln. Read online

14 more in the sources library for France and Iberia.

Sources and studies

  1. English Wikipedia, 'Guiraude de Dax'
  2. French Wikipedia, 'Gaston VI de Bearn'
  3. FMG Medieval Lands, Gascony: Atlantic Gascony (table of contents)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.