Gascony

Gascony, an old province of France containing 10,000 square miles, was the Aquitania Tertia of the Romans, and seems to have been settled by "Vasques" or "Vascons" from Spain. These were defeated in 602 by the Franks, but retained their independence, and were governed by their own dukes. In 872 we find them defying the authority of the French kings. The line of dukes became extinct in 1054, and the duchy came into the power of the Dukes of Guienne.