[MR] Wikipedia: Birth of Gaston III, aka “Gaston Phoebus"

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble friends,

On this date in 1331 Gaston III, Count of Foix and Viscount of Béarn was
born.

Gaston built Foix and his other northern Pyrenees territories into a
semi-independent power block during the Hundred Years' Wars. He generally
allied with the English, though he stuck it to the Black Prince when it was
to Gaston's advantage.

In 1349 Gaston married Agnes of Navarre, sister to that notorious bad actor
King Charles II of Navarre (aka "Charles the Faithless" or "Charles the
Bad"). True to form, Charles failed to pay his sister's agreed dowry.
Shortly after Agnes gave birth to a son (Gaston IV) in 1362, Gaston
repudiated their marriage and sent her into penniless permanent exile in
Pamplona. Charles and Gaston III thus became bitter enemies. Charles later
used Gaston's only legitimate son as a cat's paw in an attempt to poison
his father. Gaston III had Gaston IV thrown into prison where
he died, possibly of starvation. Great family drama here!

After Gaston participated in a 1358 crusade with the Teutonic Order, he
grandly renamed himself Fébus, the Occitan spelling of "Phoebus" (aka the
Greco-Roman deity Apollo). He is generally known today as "Gaston Phoebus",
but this is in error. He apparently never used the two names together.

Gaston, or Fébus, was an avid huntsman. He is best known for *Livre de
chasse* or "Book of the Hunt", a manual for the proper conduct of such
blood sports. His book became a medieval best seller, and is known through
many surviving editions. The huntsmen's tunics shown in the book's
illuminations are popular garb in the SCA, and are known somewhat
incorrectly as "Gaston Phoebus tunics". See
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=livre+de+chasse&title=Special%3AMediaSearch&type=image
. Also note the rider's hat, a *chapeau à bec.* (The dog handler's tunic
and the rider's hat are my go-to garb.)

You can read about Gaston/Fébus' complicated but fascinating life at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_III,_Count_of_Foix .

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.