Forcade

Etymology

The etymology of the word Forcade (also Hourcade), in the Béarnese dialect, means "oakwood" in English (French: bois de chêne.) Hourcade can also mean the quantity of straw (or other things) that one can pick up at one time with a pitchfork.

La Horcada in the Gascon dialect, means "oak forest" in English (French: forêt de chêne.)

Forcade as Toponym

There are three fiefs in Béarn that are called "Forcade". In the 1863 Topographical Dictionary of the Lower Pyrénées, these were "Fourcade", a fief in the commune of Lespielle-Germenaud-Lannegrasse, known as "La Forcade" in the Census of 1385 and "Forgade" c. 1540 during the territorial reform of Béarn. The second is "La Fourcade", a fief in the commune of Asson. The third is "La Fourcade-Meyrac", a fief in the commune of Pontacq. The latter was the only noble dynasty of "Forcade" identified in the Census of 1385 in Béarn.

In addition, there is a hamlet called Lahourcade, part of the commune of Monein. It is surrounded by Lagor to the north, Pardies to the east, Monein to the southeast, and Lucq-de-Béarn to the southwest. The toponym Lahourcade has taken many forms over the centuries. It appeared as Lo Casteg et la Mote de Pardies (1344), Laforcade de Pardies (1438), Laforcade deu Casterot de Pardies and Laforcada, in 1546 and 1572 respectively, during the territorial reform of Béarn, Lafourcade (1607), Sainte Agathe de Lahorcade (1678) and Lafforcade (1704). In 1385, Lahourcade had 48 feux and was a part of the Bailiwick of Lagor. Lahourcade is also the home of the Château Forcade.

Summary History

The noble house of "de Forcade" (also "de Laforcade" and "de La Forcade") from the town of Orthez, in Béarn, is one of the oldest families of the province, with one of its members in the 12th century, figuring among those Lords of Béarn possessing fiefs and giving tithes to the church in Orthez. It always held rank at the Order of nobility of the Estates of Béarn, as evidenced in a 1656 judgment by the Court of Aids of Guyenne in Libourne. They served the Foix and Viscounts of Béarn during the English Wars; participated in the oversight of proofs and reviews of nobility during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, and continued into the 19th century providing France with governors, judges and distinguished military officers, many of whom were killed on the battlefield in the service of their country.

The family's nobility was reconfirmed in various judgments by the Intendants responsible for the royal administration of Béarn, by judgments of the Court of Aids (the Court of Appeals) of Guyenne and the French Conseil d'Etat. It was summoned to the General Assemblies of Nobility of Agen, Bazas and Condom; it is inscribed in the roles of the Knights of Malta, the Order of Saint Louis, the Knights of the Order of the Black Eagle, the Knights of the Kingdom of Prussia's Order of Pour le Mérite, the Knights of the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the Knights of the Cross of the Royal Prussian Order of St. John Bailiwick of Brandenburg, and the Legion of Honor. Among the family's most notable representatives are a French Senator and government minister, two of the more famous 17th century Prussian Lieutenant Generals, and a German Supreme Court Judge and Member of Parliament in the German Reichstag.

Over the centuries, family branches and property holdings multiplied and expanded. Descendants of these noble branches could be found in Guyenne (Béarn and Bordeaux), Gascony (Agen, Armagnac, Bazas at the entrance to the Landes forest, the Brulhois and Condom) and in the Lannes. This article focuses on the most notable of these branches, all interconnected, and all of which trace their shared roots to the Forcade family in 15th century Orthez. They are:

Forcade and La Forcade, from the communes that make up present day Orthez and from Bordeaux, from which the other noble family branches originate

La Forcade de La Fitte and La Forcade de La Fitte-Juson in Béarn (Guyenne) and Armagnac (Gascony), two generations that connect the other noble family branches to the earliest verifiable authors in 14th century Guyenne (Orthez and Bordeaux)

Forcade de La Grézère and Forcade de La Roquette, in Guyenne

Forcade de Biaix, in Béarn (Guyenne) and in Prussia, of which, the only surviving branch in 1922 was alleged to have been in Prussia

La Forcade de Tauzia, La Forcade de la Prade, La Forcade de Martiné and La Forcade du Pin, in Gascony

At different times throughout the family history other variations within these branches can be found, in particular those based on short-term property holdings.

There is much written about the family in the manuscripts of Hozier (1640 (1640)–1732 (1732)) and fr:Bernard Chérin (1718 (1718)–1785 (1785)). Pierre Jules de Bourrousse de Laffore provided an early detailed genealogy in Volume III of his Nobiliaire de Guienne et de Gascogne published in 1860, but this work also contains serious errors. Contemporary authors have also contributed incorrect and unsourced information, in addition to their own subjective misinterpretations of older published information, about the family. Among the incorrect, misinterpreted and unsourced information published are statements that the Forcade family of Orthez is extinguished, and that the main branches discussed in this article do not all originate from the same family in Orthez. These claims and opinions are not supported with factual data or source citations.

Some branches of the family were stripped of their nobility, and of their lands, titles and privileges, shortly before 1616, as the result of an alleged dérogeance committed by Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson, but restored to nobility forty years later through "letters of rehabilitation" in 1656.

12th century

The Seigneur de Forcade, Seigneur de Baylens and Seigneur de Cando were three Béarnais Lords, who, c. 1170, gave the tithes of the parish of Castétarbe, in Orthez, to Guillaume-Bertrand, Bishop of Dax, son of Bertrand, Viscount de Labour and brother of Viscounts Pierre and Arnaud.

de Forcade, co-Seigneurs de Castétarbe in Orthez in the 12th century

Notable 14th-century family members

Pierre de Forcade aka Pierre de La Forcade, born at the beginning of the 15th century, was a man-at-arms for Gaston IV, Count of Foix, who took part in the conquest of the towns of Bourg and Blaye, and who fought the English near Saint-Sever, department of Landes, on 8 September 1339 (or 8 September 1559.)

Other 14th-century family members

C. 1318–19, Bernard Forcade, from Castaing, and Guilhem-Raymond Forcade, from Baillenx, submit to the fine imposed on them by Margaret, Viscountess of Béarn, for failing to participate in the military revue in Lembeye.

Between 1343 and 1345, the creation of a fief near the Mount (or hill) of Pardies, by Gaston X, Viscount of Béarn, aka Gaston Phoebus, for Johannot de Forcadé, from Lacq. This fief will later become known as Laforcade de Pardies, still later known as Lahourcade.

C. 1371–76, Sansue de Forcade, bourgeois from Orthez, puts himself at the mercy of Gaston X, Viscount of Béarn, aka Gaston Phoebus for the murder of Bidon de Baulat.

C. 1371–76, written acknowledgements concerning military service made to Gaston X, Viscount of Béarn, aka Gaston Phoebus by Vidau de Laporte, Seigneur de Forcade, from Baillenx, and Jordanet de Forcade, Seigneur de Poey,-Medon.

A 1382 notarial act at the notary Pierre de Lafargue in Pardies near Monein mentions Berdot de Forcade from Abidos in respect to a bilateral ceasefire signed between him and Arnaut de Barber from Lagor.

A 1394 notarial act at the coadjutor Guiraud de Campagne in Lucq-de-Béarn in which one finds a sworn commitment made to Berdolet of Casenave, Wheelwright in Lamidou, taken by Sansolet de Lafourcade, from Saucède, not to gamble at any game for three years, under penalty of 3 écus in gold.

Before 1398, an exchange of land between Berdolet de Forcade and Arnaud, Seigneur de Claverie, Knight, both from Loubieng.

The Reculhide of Vielleségure in 1373

In 1373, Gaston Phoebus ordered the creation of a Reculhide of Vielleségure, in the Bailiwick of Lagor, that listed 143 houses and the heads of families in the neighboring villages, who were taxed for their responsibility to maintain the small enclosure (le clauson). Listed were:

Gassiot de Forcade in Guoze, who was also listed as swearing that the taxes for the 11 houses were paid.

Guilhem-Arnault de Forcade in Lac, with a note listing him as one of the jurats for the village, swearing that the taxes for the 43 houses were paid.

Saubadine de Forcade also in Lac.

Pes de Forcade, Jurat, in Audeyos (Audéjos) with two houses, one listed as a barn, and also cited as swearing that the taxes for the 33 houses were paid.

Census of 1385

The Census of 1385 ordered by Gaston Phoebus, lists several branches of the family in various locations. A closer look at the family provides a few statistics.

A total of 127 different family heads are cited, broken down as:

Forcade (de), one noble household headed by a squire is identified, in Pontacq, in the Bailiwick of Montaner

Forcade (de), 94 different family heads are cited, in 86 different localities, of which four houses are vacant and two had two houses

Forcade, two family heads are cited, in two different localities

La Forcade/Laforcade (de), 29 family heads, in 28 different localities, who which one had four houses and one house was inhabited by a woman.

Laforcade (de), 15 different family heads are cited, in 15 different localities, of which one had four houses

La Forcade (de), 14 different family heads are cited, in 14 different localities, of which one house is inhabited by a woman

Laborde de Forcate (de), one family head is cited

Forcade is the most common variation, representing 76.4% of the total of 127 names cited; La Forcade and Laforcade representing 22.8% and others 0.8%. The variations appear to be used interchangeably. How the variations La Forcade and Laforcade were written, depended on who was writing it. The three most important variations are all present in almost every reporting district, all but eliminating regional influences. In some villages, both Forcade and a variation of La Forcade or Laforcade are present in different households. The neighboring Bailiwicks of Pau and Monein, which also include present day Orthez, account for 37.8% of all households. If the Bailiwicks of Navarrenx and the Ossau Valley are added to this, the four districts account for 59.8% of all Forcade households.

Census of 1388

The Census of 1388 lists a loc de Forcade (a Domaine of Forcade) in Andrein abandoned since 35 years, without an heir.

Notable 15th-century family members

Noble Jean de Forcade aka Jean I. de Forcade, Squire, First Jurat of Orthez, born c. 1440 in Orthez, under the reign of Charles VII and married under the reign of Louis XI with Radegonde d'Ezpeleta. In early books dedicated to the topic of genealogies of the noble families of France, he is invariably named as the earliest verifiable author of all "Forcade" family lines.

His family was among the most important families of Orthez, because under Louis XII, he possessed fiefs in Béarn and Bordeaux, including the Catsies (de Gassies) Tower, constructed on the fortress walls of Bordeaux. In his testament dated 21 July 1505 he established his four male children, all born in the second half of the 15th century, named in the following order, as his heirs: François, Gaston, Arnaud and Raymond. With regard to the distribution of his properties, he declared to have given, among other things, the Gassies Tower, to his second son, Gaston, already married to Guionne de Couso aka Guionne de Cousseau in 1505.

Gaston de Forcade, born before 1480 in Orthez, married Guionne de Couso before 21 July 1505. Bourrousse de Laffore identifies only one son born from this marriage, Jean II. de Forcade aka Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte, discussed later under the headings of the 16th century and the branch de Forcade-La Fitte, who carried on the family's lineage, however, the lack of source citations combined with other information available, casts serious doubts on the father-son connection between the two men.

Arnaud de Forcade is cited in 'Monenh in 1496 and said to already owned properties in both Monein and Pau.

Peyrot de Forcade, Archer, was among the ranks of the Bearnese, Gascon and Basque gentilhommes cited when Prince Louis de Ligny, Seigneur de Luxembourg, aka Louis de Ligny, Seigneur de Luxembourg, paraded his company of 100 lances, formed under the late Messire Philippe de Crèvecœur d'Esquerdes, while living a Knight of the Order of the King and Marshal of France, on Friday, 13 June 1494, in Villefranche de Beaujolais. Also cited together with him were: Bernard de Sanguinède, Lancelot de Poy, Arnauton de Cazaux, Peyrot de Poyanne, the cadet de Benesse, Martin d'Aguerre, Gracian de Saint-Martin, Bertrand de Montlezun, Gabriel d'Arzac, men-at-arms, Jean le Basque, the bastard d'Amou, Arnaud-Guilhem de Poyloault, Peyrot de Basterrcde, Harriette, Arnaud-Guilhem de Saint-Martin, the Gascon, Jean de Burosse, Emanion de la Borde, Menjolet and Arnaud-Guilhem de l'Abadie, and Michel d'Aguerre, archers.

Other 15th-century family members

Circa 1401–12, Pierre de La Forcade, cited by his signature as a Franciscan monk in the Frères-Mineurs in Morlaàs, in a letter to Isabelle, Viscomtesse of Béarn.

In 10 March, a piece of land located in lo territori Forcade deu Casteg Pardies (present day Lahourcade), bordering on Monein to the north, was sold. At this same time, the Aldermen, or Jurats, are so-called "Laforcade". As late as 1481, all inhabitants of Pardies are referred to as either from Casteg de Pardies or from Laforcade de Pardies.

Between 1479 and 1494, the creation of a fief for land in Bérenx granted by Madeleine de Béarn, Regent of Navarre, for Jean de Forcade, from Orthez.

Between 1482–99, sale of a vineyard by Menjine Junca, widow of Sansolet de Forcade, to Mathieu Duboy, a licensed (or degreed) graduate and bourgeois from Orthez.

Notable 16th-century family members

The most notable family members of the 16th century were, without doubt, Noble Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte and his son Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson. So important were they, both in terms of their influence on history and their pivotal role in spawning subsequent branches, that they are discussed in detail here under the heading of the sieurs de Lafitte.

The 1590 testament of Jean de Lassansaà, from Billère, notarized at the notary Jean de Larroque in Pau, cites his wife, Jeanne de Fourcade, from Assat, formerly the wet nurse to Henri IV of France during his infancy, aged more than 80 years.

Other 16th-century family members

About 1501, Gaillard de Laforcade, Priest in Lasseubetat loans 1,500 écus in a notarized contract from Bertrand de Simceu.

Between 1501–04, a receipt in the amount of 40 écus by Jean Des Tornès, Archpriest of Pardies, Secretary to the King and Queen of Navarre, made out to Bertand de Forcade, for payment of the rent of his parishes.

Between 1504–11, a notarized loan of 50 florins by Jean de Forcade, alias de La Balance, from Arthez, to Arnaud de Lamarque, Commandant of Poeylas.

Bernard de Forcade is mentioned as one of 14 children who were students at the school in Monein, in and agreement between Arnaud de Lavigne, Schoolmaster, and Johanolet de Bétoret, from the hamlet of Candeloup in Monein, concerning the apportioning of the school's salaries on 24 July 1507. Among the witnesses to the agreement were Johanicot de Cassamayor and Johan de Monbiele.

Before 1518, an investigation conducted by order of the Seneschal of Béarn concerning the verbal testament of Marianette de Forcade, from Susmiou, deceased during the plague, that caused the notary, the curate and the vicar of this locality to flee.

Between 1523–25, a sale of livestock between Guillaume de Forcade and Claudin de Barr, from Pau.

In 1524, a notarial act concerning the sale of a piece of land situated in Castagnède by Ramonet, a cagot from Castagnède, names the purchasers as Bertrand de Forcade, Seigneur de Bags de Mur, and his full brother Jehan de Forcade.

On 14 April 1533, the sale to Bernard de Forcade of a vineyard called "de Bergers" situated in Lagor, by Marguerite de Bergers.

In 1534, Guilhem Forcade is among those cited as giving recognition for the fiefs and "censives" of Lectoure in Armagnac, made to the Duc d'Alençon and Marguerite de Navarre, Count and Countess d'Armagnac.

Between 1534–51, the creation of a fief in favor of Jonaolou de Forcade, from Orriule.

About 1536, the notarized testament in Monein de Ramon de Forcade, Priest.

After 1537, a land sale by Marguerite de Forcade, from Bielle, to Jean de Maisonnabe, Curate of the parish of Laruns.

Between 1538–39, an inventory of noble assets provided by Gaillard de Forcade, Prior in Assat.

Before 1539, a contract for the revenues of the archparish of Boeil, given for two years by Jean de Bilhères, Abbé de Larreule, to Bertrand de Forcade and to Bertrand de Forsans.

12 May 1539, Court pleadings concerning the matter of the markings of the boundaries of the half of the property called "de Bergers" in Lagor owned by Peyroton de Laforcade, son and heir of Bernard de Laforcade, brother and heir of Jean de Laforcade, the husband of Marguerite de Bergers.

Circa 1548–52, Arnauton de Forcade, from Castagnède, purchases a woodland from Bertrand, Seigneur de Membrède.

Foundation of a prebend in the church of St. Blaise in Lagor, by Peyroton of Laforcade, in 1550.

4 August 1562, a land sale, by Guilhemot de Sorgras, to Francès de Forcade from Lagor.

1570, a declaration by Bernard de Laforcade, Peyrot de Forcade, his father, and Antoine de Tolas, all three surgeons in Aubertin, confirming that Bertrand Du Hauret did not die from the wounds inflicted on him by Jehandet de Ségals, but instead from venereal disease.

The 1573 notarized testament of Astrugue de Laforcade, from Uzein, wife of Ménion d'Arribey, Counsellor of Béarn, witnessed by Gratien de Lostau, Guardian of the Archives of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau, and Bernard Du Plaà, Tax Collector in the district of Oloron.

1574, the court pleadings between Jean de Pee from Laborde and Arnaud de Laforcade, inhabitant of Fourré.

25 June 1576, a land sale, by Peyrot de Berdoy to Arnaud de Laforcade, inhabitant of Fourré.

A note from Henry III of Navarre written on a paper with borders gilded in gold on which the King invites the sieur Laforcade to pay his squire, sieur Frontanac, the sum of thirty écus, dated 26 October 1579, signed: Henry.

1584, among the members of the Estates of Béarn present at the ceremony for a loan of 40,000 livres by Henry III of Navarre to the Estates of Béarn, was Gaillardet de Laforcade, from Monein.

1585, Bernard de Laforcade from Vignes, having squandered half of his inheritance on gambling and on debauchery, makes a declaration renouncing the administration of his assets.

Isabelle de Marca in Bizanos is identified as the wife of Bertrand de Forcade on 27 December 1596 and in 1598. She made her testament on 9 September 1605. A daughter, Madeleine de Forcade, aka de Marca, is cited in Bizanos in 1619.

Notable 17th-century family members

Pierre de Forcade (died after 1636), lawyer, Jurat in Pau (1626), and Garde en la monnaie de Pau (1622–36). The Bourgeois Pierre Fourcade, resident of Pau, is cited as one of the 38 original founding members of the "Venerable and Devote Confraternity of the Eucharist of the Altar and of the Glorius Virgin Mary" ("la Vénérable et dévote Confrérie du Très Saint-Sacrement de l'autel et de la glorieuse Vierge Marie") in the Chapel of St. Esprit of the church of St. Martin of Pau, on 20 October 1630. In the list of members for 1632, he is listed simply as de Forcade. On 11 June 1632, de Forcades is listed as an officer during their elections. He married before 1601 with Marie de Maserolles. His grandson, Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix is the founder of the Forcade-Biaix family line.

Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Saint-Genest, Squire, son of Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson. Together, he and his son are the founders of the elder branch of the sieurs de Saint-Genest, de Caubeyran.

Louis de Forcade, Seigneur de Caubeyran, born in the first quarter of the 17th century. He married on 5 October 1653 with Bertrande Ferran. Together with his uncle, Étienne I. de Forcade, he obtained a decree from the Court of Aids of Guyenne in Libourne on 27 March 1656 or 27 May 1656 ordering the registration and recognition of his nobility, only to have it revoked again in 1667 and be convicted and fined as a usurper of nobility. It was not until 1696 that he was finally restored to his nobility.

Étienne I. de Forcade, Squire, son of Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson. Together, he and his sons are the founders of the cadet branch of the sieurs de La Grézère, de La Roquette.

Other 17th-century family members

1600–09

Between 1600–07, Pierron de Laforcade, from Orthez acquired a piece of land from Marie de Martin, daughter of the Captain de Martin, Jean de La Salle, her husband, and Miramonde de La Salle.

In 1601, a land lease by Marie de Sacaze, Dame d'Arette, and Henri de Béarn, Seigneur de Bonasse, to Bernard de Forcade, from Arette.

About 1603, Arnaud de Forcade, from Orthez, sold a piece of land to Daniel de Marmont, Seigneur de Départ.

1610–19

On 16 May 1610, Noble Arnaud de Laforcade, Captain, assisted his step-son, Nicolau de Monaix, Abbé et Domenger de Meyrac, Seigneur de Sévignac, at his marriage by notarized contract to Gabrielle d'Espalungue, daughter of Henry d'Espalungue, Seigneur of the abbaye of Béost et domenger de Casaus de Louvie-Juzon, Captain, Commandant of the militia for the Protestant parish of Ossau, and his wife Suzanne de Nay. The bride was assisted by her father and mother, Jean de Saint-Cricq, Attorney General for the King on his Conseil Souverain of Navarre and Béarn in Pau and at the Seneschalty, Noble Timothée de Béarn, Noble Jean de Rague, sieur d'Espalungue, Noble Jacques d'Arros, sieur de Viven, Bernard de Sayous, from Beuste, Noble Jean d'Abbadie d'Igon, sieur de Disse, and Berthomiu de Fondeire, from Louvie-Soubiron, all her close family. The Bridegroom was assisted by his step-father, Damsel Isabé de Monaix, his mother, Gaillard de Casavielhe, his grandfather, Jeandon de Casavielhe and Bernard de Moras, both uncles, and Nicolau de Monaix, Abbé d'Izeste, also his uncle.

A receipt dated 24 November 1611, made out on behalf of Maître de Laforcade, in Lagor, and Catherine de Touya, his wife, daughter and heir of the late Maître Jean de Touya, while living a Minister of the Word of God, for the amount of 2,500 Bordeaux francs, that constituted the dowry of Damoiselle Rache de Touyaa in her notarized contract at the notary Jean de Lenfant in Monein, on 21 February 1610, with Maître Jean de Balguer, Huissier at the King's Conseil Ordinaire, provided by Maître Arnaud de Laforcade, father, on behalf of the aforementioned de Laforcade.

A terrier in 1612 for the parish of Gurmençon made for Nathaniel de Saud, Seigneur de Gurmençon lists, among others, Forcade, Minvielle, Casamajour, Casaux, Salles, Domec, etc.

A notarized commitment of a piece of land by Gaston d'Abbadie, Abbé de Susmiou, to Peyrotou de Forcade, from Camblong.

1614, sale of a piece of land by Pierre de Navailles, Seigneur de Saint-Saudens, to Arnaud Forcade.

A terrier in 1614 for the parish of Lay made for Jacques d'Abbadie de Gurs, Seigneur d'Oroignen, Préchacq et Lay by Jean de Carsuzan, from Sauveterre, Royal Surveyor, lists, among others, Jacques de Forcade

Pierre de Laforcade was appointed as the priest in Gurs between 1612 and 1624.

1620–29

Between 1621 and 1627, a sale of land by Jeanne de Pargade, wife of Pierre de Laforcade, from Uzein, a lawyer at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, to Jean de Morlanne, from Fichous.

Before 1623, Catherine de Forcade married with Israël d'Andoins, who acquired the noble manor house of Labat d'Estos from the Baron d'Arros on 14 September 1620 and was received into the Estates of Béarn for this fief on 9 June 1622. From their marriage resulted five children.

C. 1623–24, a notarized exchange of land between Guilhem de Forcade and Arnaud de Lane, Seigneur de Soumoulou.

A 1624 land sale by Pierre de Pinsun from Laà, assisted by Timothée de Salettes, Minister of the church of Lescar, to Pierre de Forcade.

C. 1624, Jean de Forcade assisted at the marriage in Castetner by notarized contract between Jacob de Lacoste, from Monein, et Antoinette de Vibaron. Also assisting were Jean d'Angaïs, Jean d'Abbadie, Jeanne de Saint-Germain, Bertrand d'Arnaudat, Raymond de Marsillon, David de Pinsun from Laà, Pierre de Ramongassie, and Catherine, Marie and Marthe de Vibaron; witnesses were: Thomas Du Fréchou, Pierre de Minvielle, Priest, Pierre de Camgran and Noble Jean de La Salle, Jurat from Larbaig.

C. 1625, the deliberations of the inhabitants of Bordes concerning the payment of the premices ("first fruits") demanded by Gaston de Laforcade, their Priest.

1626, the marriage by notarized contract between Jean de Forcade, from Louvie-Soubiron, and Catherine de Souler, from Béost.

1627, the marriage between Barnardine de Laforcade and Bernard de Laboye, notary in Larreule, by notarized contract in Larreule. Assisting at the marriage was Jean de Laforcade, Canon of Lescar.

C. 1627, a payment to Pierre de Forcade, merchant in Pau, for 34 livres by the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau for one thousand brass tokens for their use.

C. 1627–29, the testament of Captain Arnaud de Laforcade, in the Ossau Valley.

1630–39

C. 1630, an exchange of land between Pierre de Laforcade and Jean de Pédemont, Civil and Criminal Registrar at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre.

The sale of a house destined to serve as a temple for the Protestants, by Pierre de Laforcade to Pierre de Lafite, Minister, and to the elders of the church in Lagor c. 1634–35.

C. 1635, the sale of a house by David d'Abbadie, Seigneur d'Oroignen, to Guillaume de Forcade, Priest in Gurs.

1638, in the records of the court auction of the assets of Jean de Lostalot, the petitioner is named as Pierre de Forcade, Prosecutor for Charles de La Teulade, Baron de Laà.

1638, the sale of a pasture by Arnaud de Maisonnave, from Gurs, to Guillaume de Forcade, Priest in Préchacq.

1638, the sale of a piece of land by Pierre de Laborde, Seigneur de Mourenx, Bastanès et Méritein, to Jeanne de Forcade.

In 1639, Pierre de Forcade, jailer in Pau is cited in various records.

1640–49

C. 1640, a sales of land in Arette, by Henri de Maubagès and Françoise de Lacues, his wife, to Bernard de Laforcade.

1645, the marriage between Élisabeth de Laforcade, from Uzein, and Gassiot d'Abbadie, Abbé de Saint-Armou by notarized contract in Larreule. Assisting at the marriage were: Pierre de Laforcade, lawyer at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, Jeanne de Pargade, Jacques de Laforcade, Priest in Bordes by Nay, Gaston de Laforcade, Priest in Boeil, Arnaudine de Madaune, Jérôme de Capdeville, Seigneur d'Aydie et Brassempoey, Gassiot de Saint-Laurent, Jean de Baset, Jean de Forgues and Bertrand de Lavie, from Garlède.

Maître Pierre Laforcade, lawyer at Parliament, is described as close family when he assisted Jean de Lostau (died 1667), son of Noble Pierre de Lostau, Abbé de Gelo at his marriage notarized contract with Marguerite de Salinis, daughter of Guillaume de Salinis, Seigneur de Doazon, on 9 September 1646.

C. 1648, the testament of Bernard de Laforcade from Ance is notarized.

1650–59

Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Sauroux (died after 1656), in or near the town of Sauveterre, is named and cited as a first cousin in article eight of the 1656 judgment by the Court of Aids of Guyenne that restored Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Saint-Genest and his brother Étienne I. de Forcade, and their lineage, to their ancient nobility.

1660–69

In 1660, Jacob de La Forcade, Seigneur de Cassaet is received as a member of the Estates of Béarn in Pau.

Noble Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Béarn provided a declaration of his estate in Pau to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 15 March 1666.

Declaration by Daniel de Forcade in Magret, for the noble house called Chantine and other lands situated in Magret to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 16 March 1666.

C. 1667, a land sale by Pierre de Casamajor, Lieutenant General in the Seneschalty of Sauveterre, in favor of Nicolas de Forcade, merchant in Pau.

A ruling issued by the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre on 19 September 1667 orders Fourcade (sic) and Gassie to present themselves to explain the omissions caused by them in the echarcettes (sic) accounts.

In a declaration furnished to the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre by Tristan d'Aisaguer, notary in Saint-Palais, of persons who assumed the quality of nobles in contracts, c. 1669–70, he lists, among others: Jacob de Laforcade, Seigneur de Bardos.

1670–79

C. 1670, Catherine de Forcade, from Ozeux (sic), acquired a piece of land from Pierre, Seigneur de Barraute, sold in the name of Antoine de Bachoué, his father.

Daniel de Forcade, Seigneur de Chantine provided a declaration for his noble assets to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau in 1672.

Jean Lafourcade, Seigneur de de Barthe et Conchez in Conchez, provided a declaration for his estate to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 15 June 1675.

Jean de Forcade from Jasses, provided a declaration for his noble assets situated in the Seneschalty of Sauveterre to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau during the reform of the domaine of Béarn in 1674.

Jean de Forcade from Gurs, provided a declaration for his noble assets situated in the Seneschalty of Sauveterre to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau during the reform of the domaine of Béarn in 1674.

Isaac de Claverie-Laforcade, the husband of Françoise de Laforcade, provided a declaration for his noble assets situated in the Seneschalty of Orthez to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau during the reform of the domaine of Béarn in 1674.

Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Herrère provided a declaration for his noble assets situated in the Seneschalty of Orthez to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau during the reform of the domaine of Béarn in 1674.

Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Argagnon (sic) provided a declaration for his noble assets situated in the Seneschalty of Orthez to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau during the reform of the domaine of Béarn in 1674.

Daniel de Forcade provided a declaration for his noble assets situated in the Seneschalty of Orthez to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau during the reform of the domaine of Béarn in 1674.

Abraham de Laforcade in Saint-Gladie, provided declaration of his assets there to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 21 November 1674.

Jacob de Forcade, owner of a noble property in the Domaine of Béarn, provided declaration of his estate to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau in 1675. Jacob de Fourcade, from Audaux, provided a declaration for a piece of land he owned in Geus to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 9 December 1675.

Jean de Fourcade, from Gurs, provided a declaration of all assets he owned to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 11 March 1675.

Isabeau de Lafourcade, aka Isabelle de Lafourcade, widow of the sieur Dabbadie in Saint-Armou, provided a declaration for the half of the tithe of Saint-Armou to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 8 February 1676.

Sale of a piece of land by Jean-Côme de Claverie, Counsellor at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, to Pierre de Forcade, at a notary in Ossau Valley (Vic d'en bas).

C. 1678, sale of a piece of land by Daniel de Lafutzun, Abbé d'Araux, Baron de Lacarre, to Pierre de Forcade, notary in Maslacq.

Before 1678, sale of Magret's land by David de Bordenave, Seigneur de Cassou, to Pierre de Forcade, merchant, concluded in Castetner.

Before 1678, land sale by Daniel de Lafutzun, Abbé d'Araux, Baron de Lacarre, to Pierre de Forcade, Notary in Maslacq, concluded in Castetner.

A sieur de La Forcade, lawyer, was married to Suzanne de Vignau, from Bizanos, elder sister of the aforementioned Marie de Vignau, daughter of Noble Samson de Vignau and of Marguerite du Pac. Suzanne de Vignau alias Suzanne de Bizanos was living as a widow on 12 September 1679

By the end of the decade, there were only nine remaining noble houses headed by Forcade males in the Province of Béarn, as evidenced by the enumerations of noble assets made with the framework of the reform of the territory of Béarn between 1670 and 1676, and provided to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre. These were:

1. one property in the Seneschalty of Oloron, headed by David de Forcade, at the Château du Domec de Dognen;
2. two properties in the Seneschalty of Sauveterre, headed by Jean de Forcade, for a property in Jasses, and another Jean de Forcade, for a property in Gurs;
3. four properties in the Seneschalty of Orthez, headed by Daniel de Forcade, at the fief of Chantine, Pierre de Forcade, at the Château de Baure and the fief of Herrère, and by another Pierre de Forcade, for the fief of Aragnon;
4. one property in the Seneschalty of Morlaàs, headed by Jean Lafourcade, at the house of La Barthe in Conchez-de-Béarn.
5. one property in the Seneschalty of Pau, headed by Jean de Forcade, at the house of Biaix in the city of Pau.

1680–89

Between 1680 and 1684, Pierre de Forcade was a notary in Castetner, in a practice with Daniel de Laborde.

Declaration of the profession of faith by Jean Laforcade of Orthez on 16 November 1682.

Declaration made concerning the tax levied on the church for one-tenth of their revenues (i.e. droits décimaux) made in front of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre de Pau par Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Aragnon, in the domaine of Béarn, in 1683.

Declaration made concerning the tax levied on the church for one-tenth of their revenues (i.e. droits décimaux) made in front of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre de Pau par Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Baure, in the domaine of Béarn, in 1683.

Declaration made concerning the tax levied on the church for one-tenth of their revenues (i.e. droits décimaux) made in front of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre de Pau par Jean Forcade, Priest in Tilhouse, in the domaine of Bigorre, in 1683.

Declaration made concerning the tax levied on the church for one-tenth of their revenues (i.e. droits décimaux) made in front of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre de Pau par Pierre Forcade, Archpriest of Burg, in the domaine of Bigorre, c. 1683.

C. 1684, a concession of the right of burial in the church of Saint-Germain-d'Auxerre in Navarrenx granted to Jean de Laforcade, Jurat in Navarrenx, by Jacques-Pierre de Labatut, Priest.

Catherine de Forcade from Orthez, who, forced to convert to Catholicism, refused to receive the Sacraments of the Catholic Church and to perform Catholic rituals before dying in March 1688, was condemned to have her properties confiscated, her cadaver dragged through the streets of Orthez on a rack and then left on the road instead of being buried.

1690–99

A court case in the Seneschalty of Orthez initiated by David de Broustau, from Castétarbe, against David de Forcade.

Sales of two pieces of land by Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Baure to Bertrand de Mélion aka Couechot in the hamlet des Soars in Castétis on 5 August 1692.

Date unknown between 1600–99

Listed in the tax roles concerning the taxation of the noble of Béarn for "the world and his wife" were Forcade-Biaix for 6 écus and de Forcade de Disse.

Judgments and rulings affecting the family's nobility

On 11 July 1651, or, on 13 June 1655, Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Saint-Genest and his brother Étienne I. de Forcade, allegedly grandsons of Gaston de Forcade, received letters of rehabilitation issued by King Louis XIV of France that reestablished them in their ancient nobility and "...forgave them of the dérogeance committed by their father...".

On 27 March 1656 or 27 May 1656, the preceding letters patent were registered in a judgment by the Court of Aids (the Court of Appeals) of Guyenne in Libourne, who, in justifying their decision found that the appealing party's representatives had established, by title, their parentage to Jean de Forcade, Squire, First Jurat of Orthez, who possessed fiefs in Béarn and Bordeaux, whose family had been among the important families of these regions since the reign of Louis XII of France, at which time the family was already in possession of the Tour de Catsies (Gassies Tower), built on the walls of Bordeaux (from which hence the present day street name Rue de la Tour de Gassies originates). The principal clauses of this judgment, translated into English, read:

          "Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre to all who
          shall see these presents, greeting. Let it be known that Étienne de
          Forcade, Squire, and Louis de Forcade, also Squire, son of the late
          Jean, uncle and nephew, have submitted a petition to our Court of
          Aids of Guyenne, 31 March 1656, and with it exposed that they are of
          noble birth, and that both they and their ancestors have lived nobly,
          borne arms in the service of the deceased kings our predecessors,
          had entered the Order of the Nobility of the Estates of our land of
          Béarn, from which they originate, held several offices and positions
          worthy of their [noble] quality, as do now also their children;
          however, certain enemies of the petitioners, of the aforesaid late
          Jean de Forcade, father of said Louis, having wanted to cast doubt
          on their noble quality, under the pretext that they presupposed
          that the other late Jean de Forcade, father of said Étienne and
          grandfather of said Louis, had committed some alleged act of
          dérogeance, the petitioners have appealed to us and have obtained
          letters of rehabilitation dated 11 July 1651.
           Following which, the petitioners, to prove their nobility, have,
          as a first piece of evidence, produced the last will and testament
          of Jean de Forcade, Squire, First Jurat of the town of Orthez, which
          proves he left various children, and, among others, Gaston de
          Forcade, married to Guionne de Couso, to whom he declared to have
          previously given, among other things, the Catsies tower, located on
          the [fortress] walls of Bordeaux, dated 21 July 1505…

          …Eighth, they have produced an investigation conducted in the town
          of Sauveterre in Béarn, by the authority of the elected officials of
          Guyenne, at the request of Jean de Forcade, Squire, Seigneur de
          Sauroux, first cousin of the petitioners, by which it is amply
          verified that their ancestors were genuine nobles, and as such have
          always held rank at the [Order of the Nobility of the] Estates of
          the land of Béarn…

          …And all things considered, our said Court, with the consent of the
          Attorney General, rightly upholds the requests and conclusions of
          the petitioners, has ordered and directed that the letters of
          rehabilitation obtained by them on the aforementioned day of
          10 July 1651, shall be recorded at the Registry of this Court on
          behalf of said Étienne and Louis de Forcade, and their children born
          and yet-to-be born of loyal marriage, [so that they shall] enjoy
          therewith and therefrom, in its form and content, the privileges,
          franchises, exemptions and immunities that are enjoyed by other
          nobles of our kingdom.

In August 1664, Louis XIV of France issued an edict removing all letters patent and confirmations of nobility issued by himself or his predecessors since 1 January 1614 in the province of Normandy, and since 1 January of the year 1611, elsewhere in the kingdom. This was swiftly followed on 8 August 1664 by regulations issued by the Conseil d'´État concerning the treatment of, and penalties for, those convicted as usurpers of noble titles. This edict and the ensuing regulations affected almost all living members of the Forcade family.

The first great search for usurpers of noble titles (1666)

During the first grande recherche des usurpateurs des titres de noblesse, all members of the de Forcade family were summoned to prove their noble family lines. Among them:

On 29 July 1666, by order of Mr. du Puy (or Dupuy), subdelegate of Claude Pellot, Intendant of Guyenne in Bordeaux, Louis de Forcade, Seigneur de Caubeyran, Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Saint-Genest, Jean-Silvestre de Forcade, Seigneur de Lastranencq, Mathieu, Pierre and Bertrand de Forcade, brothers, Squires, were all relieved of the summons that had been given to them at the request of Nicolas Catel, commissioner responsible for the research, and maintained in their nobility, after proving their lineage from those mentioned in Jean de Forcade's 1505 testament, and paying 180 livres as a confirmation fee for enjoying the benefit of the letters of rehabilitation accorded to their fathers.

On 3 September 1666, or 9 September 1666, by order of Mr. Dupuy (or du Puy), subdelegate of Claude Pellot, Intendant of Guyenne in Bordeaux, Philippe de Lafourcade, Seigneur de la Prade, was reconfirmed in his nobility. The judgment states that it was confirmed that he descended from the noble house of de Forcade in Orthez, Béarn.

On 6 December 1667, in a new order issued by Pellot, the order of 29 July 1666 was revoked and all of six named family members were convicted and fined as usurpers of noble titles.

The second great search for usurpers of noble titles (1696)

During the second grande recherche des usurpateurs des titres de noblesse, certain members of the de Forcade family were again summoned to prove their noble family lines. These included:

Isaac de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix, Jurat of the city of Pau, and Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Baure, from Orthez, were both summoned to produce proof of their nobility to the Intendant of Guyenne in Bordeaux. Apparently, they were both maintained in their nobility because both they and their descendants continued carrying noble titles.

Armand de Lafourcade, Seigneur du Pin, son of Philippe de Lafourcade, Seigneur de la Prade, was reconfirmed in his nobility on 20 June 1696, by order of Claude Bazin de Bezons, the Intendant of Guyenne in Bordeaux, Pellot's successor.

This judgment discharged him from payment of the 130 livres that he was taxed because of franc-fief "…in consideration of his noble quality, justified by the letters patent he presented to the said Intendant, to whom he also showed that in 1666, his father, Philippe, Seigneur de la Prade, was subpoenaed to produce his letters patent before two Deputy Commissioners, those of the Intendant of Montauban and the Intendant of Bordeaux (Dupuy), and that because his father could not produce these in the two places, he produced a certificate from the Consuls of Condom attesting that he was recognized as noble and that his family resided in Condom, in witness thereof he produced his noble titles before Dupuy, who gave him a certificate of remittance…".

The original 9 September 1666 order reconfirming Philippe de Lafourcade, Seigneur de la Prade and this 20 June 1696 order would not stop Armand from being the target of further persecution by Mr. de la Cour de Beauval, subdelegate of Claude Bazin de Bezons, who alleged that the two orders had been obtained as favors, because the family could not furnish their original letters patent to support their claim of nobility. As a result, Armand was forced to turn to King Louis XIV of France, from whom, in March 1700, he obtained original letters patent. This was widely reported in the Nouveau d'Hozier, who also made the observation that these letters patent resembled more an ennoblement than a confirmation.

On 5 April 1697 (or 6 December 1697), the families of the six persons affected by the orders of 29 July 1666 and 6 December 1667 were finally restored to their nobility, by order of Claude Bazin de Bezons, Pellot's successor, after he personally viewed and accepted the original letters of rehabilitation from King Louis XIV of France, despite the edict of 1664 that revoked all letters of nobility issued since 1611.

18th-century family members

See Forcade-Biaix below.

1705, the court pleadings of Joseph de Pœy heir to the properties and assets of de Laforcade, in Lagor, in the matter against Jean Larmanou, in Lagor, concerning a path.

The widow of Mister de Laforcade in Nay, Hébanie de Rey, who, forced to convert to Catholicism, refused to receive the Sacraments of the Catholic Church and the spiritual salvation of the priest before dying in September 1716, was condemned to have her properties confiscated.

Pierre de Forcade-Baure, Seigneur d'Aragnon provided an inventory of his assets in 1728.

Dame Marthe de Laforcade, widow of Sir Jacques-Joseph de Doat, Counsellor to the King on his Councils and Président à mortier of the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, is listed as the Godmother at the baptism of her granddaughter, Marthe Josephe de Doat, on 22 May 1729 in the church of St. Martin of Pau in Pau.

Jean de Laforcade provided a declaration for the Lay Abbeys of Bedous and Lescun, near Oloron-Sainte-Marie, a vassal of the Viscounty of Béarn, to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 18 July 1748, with a judgment of verification.

A land sale by Jacques de Lafourcade, Seigneur du Poey, to Jean Ducos.

Jean Forcade and his wife provided a declaration for the fourth of the tithe that they owned in the hamlet of Saint-Germes and its outbuildings to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 20 December 1755, with a judgment of verification.

Étienne de Forcade, Seigneur de Caubeyran, Squire, submitted documentation of the various noble titles he held in the jurisdiction of Galapian in Agen to the Court of Aids of Guyenne in Bordeaux on 25 December 1759.

Jean Forcade provided a declaration for a piece of the tithe that he owned in Arcizans-Dessus to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 19 December 1772, with a judgment of verification.

A sieur de Laforcade, Seigneur de Sarremone (sic) is among those on the 1754 member list of the "Confraternity of the Blue Penitents" ("Conférie dite des Pénitents bleus") in Pau. The fief of Serramone (Serramona in 1538 and Sarramonne in 1675 during the reform of the territory of Béarn) was a vassal of the Viscounty of Béarn and was located in the commune of Aurions-Idernes.

18th century judgments and rulings affecting the family's nobility

In 1785, Étienne II. de Forcade, Seigneur de La Grézère applied for letters patent to King Louis XVI of France to be maintained in his nobility, citing the July 1651 letters patent obtained by Étienne I. de Forcade. The King's genealogist in charge of the application, Berthier, sent the request to the Count of Vergennes with the following opinion:

          "...The judgment by Mr. Pellot against Mathieu de Forcade produced
          two effects… the first being that he can only be judged by the King
          himself, and the other being to deprive his descendants of the
          benefit of the declaration of 16 January 1714, which limits to 100 years
          the proofs of nobility, when it [i.e. the period of past nobility] was
          peaceful and without trouble. It follows that Monsieur de Forcade can
          invoke in his favor neither the 1714 declaration nor the judgments of
          Messieurs Dupuy and de Bezons of 29 July 1666 and 5 August 1697.
          There remains no other way for him succeed in his application than to
          trace his noble lineage to the time when his great-grandfathers would
          have carried noble titles, that is to say to the year 1560, and one does
          not see that he could promise success…It seems to be justice to
          observe that since 153 years its authors assumed noble qualifications,
          formed alliances either noble or notable, owned noble properties and
          enjoyed in their lands the consideration normally only accorded to
          those whose nobility is certain, and finally that his branch includes nine
          officers, of which one who died from wounds received in service. If
          these facts seem to the King to be points of consideration and could
          dispose His Majesty to treat Monsieur de Forcade indulgently…, it
          would suffice that His Majesty order the execution of the letters patent
          and the judgment ordering their registration, without regard to Monsieur
          Pellot's judgment and the dispensation of proof."

That same year, Étienne obtained the letters patent he applied for, and he successfully passed further tests of nobility in order to obtain admission for two of his sons, René-Étienne and Jean-Gaston, to the Military Academy.

19th-century family members

See Forcade-Biaix below.

The family de Forcade, Seigneur d'Arrance

21st Century

With the vast record collections of archives in France increasingly digitized and available for searching with text search tools, more and more records related to the family can be found.

From these records, it can be seen that not all noble family lines trace to Jean de Forcade in Orthez. Instead, some point to noble family lines in Pon and Monein, the location of Château Forcade, and the residence of Arnaud de Forcade, in the same period at the end of the 15th century.

The Forcades of Pon and Laruns

Based on the close family and marital relationships with the families d'Espalungue, de Beyrie, and others, the Forcades of Pon are believed to be the ancestors of the Forcades of Orthez, however no known document confirms this lineage.

Family members in Pon and Laruns

1. Monicolo de Forcade, born before 1360, who is listed as the head of a household in the Census of 1385, from the hamlet of Pon near Laruns. The name of his spouse is unknown.
   1. Guilhem de Forcade, aka Guilhamolo de Forcade, who married before 23 October 1479, probably before 1440, with Miramonde de Salabert, aka Miramonde d'Espalungue after 29 January 1496, daughter of Johanet de Poey, aka Johanet de Salabert, Seigneur d'Espalungue, de Beyrie, d'Estussau, de Pelom, etc, and Mariou de Salabert de Baig. In his testament dated 3 October 1520, Jean de Salabert, qualified simply as noble Johan, seigneur d'Espalungue, named two or three other de Forcades among the executors of his estate. Because of the historical value of this document, it was reproduced in its entirety.

Chronology of historical sources in Pon and Laruns

A notarial act dated the last day of October 1375 related to work performed during the construction of the Château de Pau names Arnauton de Forcade from Laruntz (sic).

Guilhem de Forcade, aka Guilhamolo de Forcade, son of Monicolo de Forcade, who is listed as the head of a household in the Census of 1385, from the hamlet of Pon near Laruns, born in the late 14th or early 15th century, married Miramonde de Salabert, daughter of Johanet de Poey, aka Johanet de Salabert, Seigneur d'Espalungue, de Beyrie, d'Estussau, de Pelom, etc, and Mariou de Salabert de Baig, before 23 October 1479. More than one published genealogy cites Guilhem de Forcade as the father of Jean I. de Forcade in Orthez, without citing sources. Jean de Poey purchased the Seigneurie d'Espalungue, situated in Laruns in the Ossau Valley on 29 January 1496 and was also known as Jean d'Espalungue after that date.

After 1507, an obligation of 34 écus consented by Gabrielle d'Arignac to Guilhem de Forcade, from Pont (sic).

Bertran de Forcade, Curate of the church Saint-Pierre in Laruns, from Pont (sic), is cited in an act dated 15 September 1518 related to the contract with two painters/gilders, Johan de Labat, from the village of Sarniguet, and Peyrotoo de Sperebees, from Ogeu-les-Bains near Oloron, concerning the manner in which the retable was to be painted and gilded by them. In this same register, he is later cited as having made a loan of 10 florins from Guilhem de Hondaà, from Assouste.

Raymond de Forcade, son of Jean I. de Forcade and younger brother of Gaston de Forcade, born in the last quarter of the 15th century, may have, for a period, also used the name Ramon de Badie (perhaps d'Abbadie) based on his ownership of the property. He is named in the 11 December 1520 testament of Jean de Salabert, aka Johanet de Poey, whose daughter Miramonde de Salabert married Guilhem de Forcade, from Pon near Laruns. In this testament

dated 3 October 1520, Jean de Salabert, named two other de Forcades among the executors of his estate (original text in Béarnese):

          «Item mes, testa, ordena et dixo que constituere et lexaba per soos tes-
          tementers et ordeners et complidors de quest son testament et primo lo
          percurayre de la animes de nostre Daune d'Oloron, mossen Alarthoo Aves-
          que, de Salhent, mossen Ramon de Badie, de Beost, Arnaut de Forcade, son
          fray, mossen Dersizaas, mossen Bernat de Forcade, rector de Gabas,
          Arnaut deu Pcberer, Jacmes de Domec, aus quoaus pregue et lexa pregatz,
          per honor de Diu, que los plassie de prener lo carcq dequest présent son
          testament et de ly far complir, ausquoaus balha et lexa poder et facultat de
          crexer o amiemar so qui boo et vist los sera ; ...

In English: "…Mister Ramon de Badie, from Béost, Arnaut de Forcade, his brother, … Mister Bernard de Forcade, Rector of Gabas…" In the absence of further evidence, experts are divided as to whether "…his brother…", as written here, is meant to mean Ramon de Badie (aka Raymond d'Abbadie), the preceding name, or to mean Jean de Salabert, Seigneur d'Espalungue, the subject and author of the testament.

Borgine de Sacaze, from Asté, cousin of Bertrand de Forcade, Rector of Gabas, married by notarized contract with Julien de Lostau on 15 December 1521, assisted by Noble Jacmes or Jaymes de Salabert, alias d'Espalungue, sole heir to the house of Salabert in Laruns.

Between 1540–53, an agreement between Guilhem de Forcade, from Pont (sic), and Pierre Canard, embroiderer from Condom, who should make for 70 livres tournois "four robes for the service of God" destined for the church of Saint-Pierre in Laruns.

Bertrand de Forcade, Rector of Gabas, from Pons, assisted at the signing of the notarized post-nuptial contract, in the noble house of Casaus de Louvie-Juzon, on 19 January 1546, between Bertrand d'Espalungue and Catherine de Casaus, first heiress in line of the noble houses of Casaus and Carrère-Dessus, daughter of the late Noble Antoine de Casaus and the Honest Dame Marie de Casaus, his widow. Also assisting the bridegroom, were Noble Jean d'Albret, Seigneur et Baron de Miossens, Noble Roger de Bescat, Seigneur d'Espalungue, the Venerable Noble Monsieur Raymond de Badie, from Béost, Rector of the said place, and Jacmes de Salabert, from Laruns. Bertrand de Forcade was also one of the guarantors of the 500 écu petits that Bertrand d'Espalungue promised in the contract to bring in favor of this marriage.

About 1547, Bertrand de Forcade, Curate of Gabas, assisted at the marriage by notarized contract between Catherine de Plasence and Jaymes de Trésarriu.

1599, Jean de Forcade is named in the testament of Damoiselle Jeanne de Salies, de Laruns, dated 14 January 1599, as the husband of Isabelle de Salies, her daughter, who received 500 francs, a cow, a pregnant mare and ten sheep. He is also named in this same testament as her son-in-law, and an executor of her will, together with Jean de Raque, Seigneur d'Espalungue.

Noble Jacques de La Fourcade assisted his first cousin, Damoiselle Isabelle de Médevielle (sic) from Pon, daughter of Noble Jean de Médevielle (sic) and Damsel Marie de Souberie, at her marriage by notarized contract at the notary Jean de Bareilhes in Ossau on 8 January 1602, to the widower, Jean de Rague-Labadie, Seigneur d'Espalungue and the abbayes of Laruns.

Jean de Forcade, from Pon, assisted Isabelle de Chone, from Laruns, at her marriage by notarized contract with Pierris de Medalon, from Arudy, on 16 February 1603. Also assisting the bride were Jean de Bordeu, Abbé de Salies, Jean de Arodiguo alias Beigbeder, from Laruns, Mathieu de Carrère, from Arudy, Jeanne de Chone, the bride's mother, and Jacob de Mazères, the bride's brother.

Jean de Forcade, from Pon, assisted Isabelle de Rague d'Espalungue, daughter of Jean de Rague and of Catherine de Casabant d'Espalungue, married in her first marriage, by contract, in the seigneurial manor of Espalungue on 11 March 1607, to Noble Jean de Laborde, Seigneur de Gère, Also assisting her at the signing of this contract were Noble Jean de Rague, Seigneur d'Espalungue, her father, Damoiselle Anne de Rague, her grandmother, Noble Antoine d'Incamps and Henri d'Incamps, his son, Noble Bernard d'Engassaguilhem, Seigneur d'Arros, Noble Henri d'Espalungue, Pierre de Soler, from Bruges, and Bernard de Bescat, from Buzy.

The Forcades of Orthez

17th century branches of the Forcades of Orthez included Forcade d'Aragnon, Forcade de Baure and Forcade de Chantine.

12th–14th-century family members

The Seigneur de Forcade, Seigneur de Baylens and Seigneur de Cando were three Béarnese Lords, who, c. 1170, gave the tithes of the parish of Castétarbe, in Orthez, to Guillaume-Bertrand, Bishop of Dax, son of Bertrand, Viscount de Labour and brother of Viscounts Pierre and Arnaud.

C. 1371–76, Sansue de Forcade, bourgeois from Orthez, puts himself at the mercy of Gaston III, Count of Foix for the murder of Bidon de Baulat.

Between 1479 and 1494, the creation of a fief for land in Bérenx granted by Madeleine de Béarn, Regent of Navarre, for Jean de Forcade, from Orthez.

Census of 1385: noble Forcade households

The Census of 1385 ordered by Gaston Phoebus, lists family members in locations where they can still be found 300 or more years later. Orthez and Sainte-Suzanne were separated only by the Gave de Pau, with Orthez on the right bank and Sainte-Suzanne on the left bank. The two towns merged to form present day Orthez in 1972. From those that were in Orthez or its immediate vicinity.

While the Census of 1385 lists a number of Forcade households in and around Orthez, none of these households are identified as noble.

Census of 1385: other Forcade households

l'ostau d'Arnauto de La Forcade in Orthes, foecs vius

l'ostau de Johanet de Forcade in Orthes, foecs vius

l'ostau de Guilhem-Aramon de Forcade in Orthes, foecs vius

l'ostau qui fo de Johanet de Forcade in los ostaus d'Orthes en que no fon trobatz foecs

l'ostau de Forcade in Casteg-Thiis, followed shortly thereafter by l'ostau de Marquese de La Hitte, a noble marquisat

l'ostau de Johanet de Forcade in Fferrere (Herrère), foecs vius, present day Orthez

l'ostau de Sancho de Forcade in Sancta-Susane, foecs vius, present day Orthez

l'ostau de Guilhemot de Forcade in Rontun, later merged into Sallespisse, present day Orthez

l'ostau de Guilhem-Arnaut de Forcade in Sales-Pisses, present day Orthez

A fief in deu diit loc Lafiite, later called Lahiite, is also recorded in Sallespisse, present day Orthez

Census of 1388

The Census of 1388 lists ''…l'ostau de Forcade, de Ferrere pres Sente-Susane, loc franc et de gentiu…" (in Béarnese).

The qualification of "…loc franc et de gentiu…", or "…a place free and gentilhomme…" confirms the place as benefiting from the exoneration of certain taxes and payments for apparent rights, and that the owner is a legitimate noble by birth, as opposed to by charge.

15th-century family members

Under Louis XII (1462–1515), the family of Noble Jean I. de Forcade was among the most important families of Orthez, because he possessed fiefs in Béarn and Bordeaux, including the Catsies (de Gassies) Tower, constructed on the fortress walls of Bordeaux. In his testament dated 21 July 1505 he established his four male children, named in the following order, as his heirs: François, Gaston, Arnaud and Raymond. With regard to the distribution of his properties, he declared to have given, among other things, the Gassies Tower, to his second son, Gaston, already married to Guionne de Couso aka Guionne de Cousseau in 1505.

1. Noble Jean de Forcade aka Jean I. de Forcade, Squire, First Jurat of Orthez, born c. 1440 in Orthez, under the reign of Charles VII and married under the reign of Louis XI' with Radegonde d'Ezpeleta.
   1. François de Forcade. Nothing is known.
   2. Gaston de Forcade, born before 1480 in Orthez, married Guionne de Couso aka Guionne de Cousseau before 21 July 1505. At least one son born from this marriage, Jean II. de Forcade, who carried on the family's lineage.
      1. Jean II. de Forcade. Most of the difficulty for all of the various family branches, as highlighted by authors of books on the topic of noble genealogies, results from this person, who, would have been born between 1500 and 1525, but by some accounts was still alive in 1639. Facts resulting from 21st-century research indicate that this is not one person, but instead two, a father and son with the same name.
   3. Arnaud de Forcade, younger brother of Gaston de Forcade, is cited in Monenh (Monein) in 1496 and said to already owned properties in both Monein and Pau.
   4. Raymond de Forcade, the youngest son of Jean I. de Forcade, may have assumed the name Ramon de Badie (perhaps d'Abbadie), cited in the 11 December 1520 testament of Jean de Salabert aka Johanet de Poey, whose daughter Miramonde de Salabert married Guilhem de Forcade, from Pon near Laruns.

16th–17th-century family members

By the second half of the 16th century, all Aquitaine above the Garonne except for Bordeaux was in Protestant hands. At that time, Orthez was the largest and most dynamic city of Béarn. It was a market town and served as the main funnel for products making their way to Bayonne for export. As such, it was quite wealthy. The Huguenots were therefore desirous of capturing this important and wealthy town.

By 15 August 1569, after a relentless siege, Gabriel de Montgomery had weakened Orthez greatly. The Battle of Orthez was fought during the French Wars of Religion, at Orthez on Wednesday 24 August 1569. Huguenot forces under the leadership of Gabriel de Montgomery defeated Royalist forces under General Terride in (Lower) Navarre, capturing Orthez and massacring many of the imprisoned Catholics. A special death was contrived for the clergy; they were thrown to their deaths from the heights of Orthez's Old Bridge ("Le Pont-Vieux") over the Gave de Pau. In addition, the local Château Moncade was destroyed as well as the town's churches and many homes.

The massacre at Orthez occurred three years to the day before the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris, which some historians suggest may have been a revenge killing for the massacre of Catholics in Orthez. In all, both events fit into the bigger picture of the French Wars of Religion.

As late as 1754, the quarter of Castérot was called "La Forcade Casterot".

1. Noble Daniel de Forcade, Seigneur de Chantine, qualified simply as a lawyer in 1648, and his wife Damoiselle Barthélémie de Bonnecaze, from which marriage: twins Étienne and Jean (1643), Marie (1645) and Jean (1648).
   1. Noble Étienne de Forcade, Seigneur de Chantine, baptized 8 February 1643 at the Protestant Temple in Orthez, married with Marie de Majendie in the Protestant Temple in Baigts on 20 January 1669, From this marriage was born Pierre (1673), Jacques (1679) and Estienne (1681). The fief of Chantine is located the Magret quarter of Orthez and was created in 1655.
2. Noble Pierre de Forcade aka Pierre de Fourcade, born c. 1615, married Damoiselle Jeanne de Touyaa aka Jeanne de Touzaa at the Protestant Temple in Orthez in October 1647. She was the daughter of Jacob de Touyaa and Jeanne de Ségalas, born c. 1619 and died in February 1672. The couple baptized ten children, of which eight sons, from this marriage at the Protestant Temple in Orthez: Pierre aka Seigneur de Baure (1649), Jacob (1651), Daniel (1653), Barthélémie (1655), Goaillardine (1657), François (1659), Pierre (1662), Jean-Pierre (1664), Pierre (1666) and Jacob (1670).
   1. Noble Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Baure, baptized at the Protestant Temple in Orthez on 11 June 1649 and died after 1728. He was received into the Estates of Béarn in 1678 for the fief of Baure. He married before 1679 with Damoiselle Catherine Aymée de Brosser de Herrère, and baptized four daughters at the Protestant Temple in Orthez between 1679 and 1683: Jeanne (1679), Marie (1680), Marthe (1681) and Marthe Anne (1683).
   2. Noble Jacob de Forcade, Seigneur de Hitau, baptized at the Protestant Temple in Orthez on 5 February 1651 and married before 1678 with Damoiselle Marie de Romatet, baptized three children at the Protestant Temple in Orthez between 1678 and 1681: Pierre (1678), Jeanne (1681) and Catherine (1684). At the baptism of the last child, he was qualified simply as a merchant, living in the quarter called Départ. There is no fief called Hitau anywhere in the Lower Pyrénées. There is however a fief called Lahitte in Sallespisse, in Orthez.
3. Noble Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de d'Aragnon, who is mentioned as a godparent together with Damoiselle Jeanne de Casenave, at the baptism of Jeanne de Fourcade in 1679, daughter of Noble Pierre de Fourcade, Seigneur de Baure and his wife Damoiselle Catherine de Brosser Baure. He was received into the Estates of Béarn in 1678 for the fief of Aragnon in Sainte-Suzanne.

Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Baure provided a declaration for the Château de Baure and all of its outbuildings, in communes of Sainte-Suzanne and Salles-Mongiscard, to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 1 March 1683. The fief of Baure was a dependence of the Bailiwick of Larbaig and was within the Viscounty of Béarn. It was not listed on the Census of 1385.

Pierre de Forcade provided a declaration for the lands and the seigneurie d'Argagnon (sic) in Sainte-Suzanne, to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 1 March 1683. The fief of Aragnon was a dependence of the Bailiwick of Larbaig and was within the Viscounty of Béarn.) In the Census of 1385 …loc deu Aranhoo counted 14 fires (feux)

Sr. Pierre de Fourcade, sieur d'Aragon is cited as a religious refugee in Amsterdam in 1690.

How family branches link to Orthez

All noble branches of the Forcade family in this article claim a common lineage from the noble Forcade family of Orthez, where the family is recorded as early as the 12th century.

The branch Forcade du Tauzia, Forcade du Pin and Lafourcade de la Prade was confirmed in two 17th century judgments to descend from the Noble family of Forcade in Orthez. The founder of this branch is identified as Jean Laforcade, Seigneur de Lafitte. This is almost certainly the Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte, who is believed to be the son of Noble Gaston de Forcade, not the son of Noble Odet de Forcade born and residing in Orthez, as Bourrousse de Laffore alleged he learned from an unnamed heraldry practice in Bordeaux.

The branch Forcade de La Grézère, Forcade de La Roquette, Forcade de Caubeyran, Forcade de Saint-Genest and Forcade de Lastranenq was confirmed in several 17th century judgments to descend from a Noble Jean de Forcade, who was stripped of his nobility in the first half of the 17th century, for the dérogeance of having acquired some farms in the Pays de Marsan. This is presumably Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson, son of Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte.

The branch Forcade de Biaix and a little known, but closely related, branch Forcade de Baure, both also claimed a common lineage from ancestors in Orthez in the late 17th century, however, the authors of early books on the topic of genealogies of noble families are silent about the ancestry of the Forcade-Biaix branch's founder, Noble Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix. These same early books name only one person in the Forcade-Baure branch, Noble Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Baure. Recent 21st century research, however, demonstrates that Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix, Fermier des monnaies de Béarn et (Lower) Navarre (Lessee of the Mints of Béarn and (Lower) Navarre), was the grandson of Pierre de Forcade, lawyer, Garde en la monnaie de Pau (1622–36), a resident of Boeil in 1624. Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Baure was his eldest son. The elder Pierre was also the son of the same Noble Jean de Forcade aka Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson, who was stripped of his nobility in the first half of the 17th century, for the dérogeance of having acquired some farms in the Pays de Marsan.

Much has been written in books about the first two of the preceding branches of the Forcade family. These genealogical texts typically focus directly or indirectly on proving their lineage from a family member in Orthez, either by drawing upon letters patent that were issued, the opinions issued by royal genealogists or from the decisions and judgments of judicial entities. Much less has been written about the third of the preceding branches, or about the Forcades of Orthez themselves. Whereas the first two branches were required at various times throughout history to prove their lineage from the family in Orthez, many generations or several hundred years earlier, the third branch and the core of the family, who are essentially one and the same, had little difficulty proving their lineage. During the 17th century, the third branch and the core of the family were still geographically situated in or near Orthez and Pau.

Bourrousse de Laffore made the unproven and unsourced claim that the first of the three preceding branches descend from a Noble Odet de Forcade. Both he and Chaix d'Est-Ange alleged, without citing sources, that the latter two branches both descend from Noble Gaston de Forcade. Neither could not identify the ancestry of the third branch.

Early attempts to link branches failed

Chaix d'Est-Ange and other early genealogists and authors not only complained about problems with each others' published works regarding the Forcade family, they also published erroneous, incomplete and unsourced information in their own works in trying to substantiate the family's nobility and disprove each other. Although they were supposed to cite concrete, if not irrefutable, proof of lineage and ancestry in their published works, it was neither they nor their published works that determined the Forcade family's nobility. They simply reported it.

The King's own genealogist determined the legitimacy of each claim by reviewing both the claimant's documentation and the information already collected in his archives from previous letters patent for the Forcade family. After reviewing both new documentation and archive material, he submitted his opinion to the King regarding the issuance of new letters patent. After letters patent were issued by the King, a mandatory second step was to have them recognized and registered by the responsible court. In the case of the Forcade family, the responsible court was the Court of Aids of Guyenne. Once the court recognized the letters patent, a public decree was issued, providing the final legitimacy.

Whereas Chaix d'Est-Ange and other authors may not have the documentary evidence they wanted when publishing their works, the King's genealogist, the Court of Aids of Guyenne and the Intendant of Guyenne responsible for the search for usurpers of noble titles and the reconfirmation of true nobles, each did consider they had sufficient documentary evidence to justify their decisions, based on documents individuals submitted and documents in archives from prior letters patent.

The central document in the Forcade family's claim to nobility is a copy of the 1505 testament from Noble Jean I. de Forcade naming his four sons as his heirs. In each case, the problems originated with branch members who could demonstrate their lineage from their branch's earliest verifiable author, but they faced difficulties proving the earliest verifiable author's lineage from one of the four sons named in the testament.

The problem for each branch was further complicated by the fact that their direct ancestor, invariably named as Jean de Forcade, in the line between the four sons named in the testament and their branch author, had been stripped of his nobility for a dérogeance committed in the early 17th century.

Chaix d'Est-Ange and other authors who focused on the 1505 testament considered the time gap between the births between 1470 and 1490 of the four sons named in the testament and the death of this Jean de Forcade c. 1555 as too long to be credible.

Chronology of historical sources

Although 19th century genealogists and historians had difficulty linking the family's branches, historical sources now available point to one common ancestor shared by all branches, Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte, born in the first quarter of the 16th century. Circumstantial evidence in the 17th century tends confirm this shared ancestry.

29 April 1554, Jean de Forcade is qualified as Noble and as a Squire in his contract with Odette de Rey notarized at Maître Ouzannet, the notary and secretary of the commune of Laplume.

1556–57, Me. Jean Lafourcade was appointed General Treasurer of the King and Queen of (Lower) Navarre in their County of Armagnac (Trésorier général pour les roi et reine de Navarre en leur comté d'Armagnac).

7 September 1571, Jean de Forcade is qualified as Noble and as a Squire in his testament at Maître Ouzannet, the notary and secretary of the commune of Laplume.

Jean de Forcade was named Governor of the Château d'Auvillar in Armagnac by letters patent from Jeanne d'Albret, Queen regnant of (Lower) Navarre.

C. 1572, act of sale of the Seigneurie de Lafitte in Pau, by Jean de Sabonnières, Seigneur de Juillac, Viguier from Isle-Jourdain, to Jean de Laforcade, Captain of Auvillar.

1573, act of sale of the Seigneurie de Lafitte in Pau, by Jean de Laforcade, to Jean de Montgaurin, Counsellor of Béarn, passed at the Coadjutors Pascal de Bonnevigne et Joanolet de Lanos in Monein.

1580, Jean de Lafourcade, sieur de Lafite, Treasurer, is named in the notarial minutes related to the sales of the forests of Périgord and Limousin.

1580, in a letter from King Henri III of Navarre addressed to Jean de Lafourcade in 1580, he is qualified as the General Treasurer of (Lower) Navarre (Trésorier général de (Lower) Navarre).

1584, Jean Laforcade, Seigneur de Lafitte, is named as a captain of or at the Château d'Auvillar in Armagnac.

Before 4 September 1586, the Sieur de La Forcade was appointed Counsellor to the King on his Conseil ordinaire (Conseil d'État) in Pau.

On 4 or 14 September 1586, the sieur de La Forcade was appointed President of Finance ("Président aux Comptes") in Pau and was installed in this office on 20 October 1586.

1 December 1587, the Sieur de Lafourcade, Sieur de Lafiitte, First President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre ("Premier president en la Chambre"), was awarded a pension of 300 livres, a role for which he had only 200 livres of compensation.

26 April 1589, the office of Attorney General of the Chancery of (Lower) Navarre in Pau was provided to Jean Lafourcade, son of the President aux Comptes.

Shortly before 8 January 1590, the sieur de Laforcade died during his term in office as First President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre (Premier president en la Chambre).

27 August 1591, a pension in the amount of 100 écus in gold was established by the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in favor of the widow of the sieur de La Forcade, Damoiselle Loyse d'Aboval, for the services rendered by her husband.

Chronology of circumstantial evidence

In July 1651, or, on 13 June 1655, Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Saint-Genest and his brother Étienne I. de Forcade received letters of rehabilitation issued by King Louis XIV of France that reestablished them in their ancient nobility and "...forgave them of the dérogeance committed by their father...".

In July 1655, the ennoblement of the house of Chantine in the quarter of Magret in Orthez in favor of Daniel de Forcade from Orthez, who in 1648 was qualified simply as lawyer, "…at the expense of a tribute and a spearhead, as tax, the metairie de Lahite remaining assigned for the payment of expenses."

On 27 March 1656 or 27 May 1656, the preceding letters patent were registered in a judgment by the Court of Aids (the Court of Appeals) of Guyenne in Libourne, who, in justifying their decision found that the appealing party's representatives had established, by title, their parentage to Jean de Forcade, Squire, First Jurat of Orthez.

On 30 August 1658, Jean de Forcade, Fermier des monnaies de Béarn et (Lower) Navarre (Lessee of the Mints of Béarn and (Lower) Navarre) under a license granted by the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre, was admitted to the Order of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn as Seigneur de Rontignon. He was the grandson of Pierre de Forcade, lawyer, Garde en la monnaie de Pau (1622–36)

The Fief of Lafitte

The domaine of Lafitte ("La Fite") was a vassal of the Viscounty of Béarn situated in Pau. It was first cited in the territory reform of Béarn in 1538 and was given to Arnaud de Forcade by Jeanne d'Albret, Queen Regnant of (Lower) Navarre, at an unknown date during her reign, "…before all the disorder of war in the province of Béarn began…", following her prohibition of the Catholic religion and her seizing of all ecclesiastical assets in Béarn on 2 October 1569.

This inner part of the old city was called Borguet Mayor (1487) or Borc Mayor. The name applied to the quarter of Pau delimited to the west by the Château de Pau and to the east by the Place Gassion, where the fortress walls of Pau once stood. Access to this quarter was only permitted, at the time, through two gates, one at the end of the Côte du Moulin and the other situated at the far end of the Rue de la Préfecture (present day "Rue Maréchal-Joffre"), called the Portail du Bascou aka the Portail de l'Horloge. The name was replaced with that of Clausion de la Ville ("the City's Enclosure") from 1507 to 1587, then with the official designation of l'Enclos de la Ville ("the City's Enclosure") from 1598 to 1659.

The location of "Lafitte" was in the very heart of the old city, near the Château de Pau, and is identified as being immediately adjacent to what was the main entrance to Pau, the Portail de l'Horloge (in English, the "Clock Gate"), aka the Portail du Bascou, aka the Porte du Basque, that was rebuilt in 1552 and destroyed in 1713. A quote from French, translated into English, reads: "…There was another gate on the Rue de Morlaàs between the houses Camgrand (sic) and Lafitte, called the Clock Gate, which was destroyed many years hence, and because the city grew considerably, other entrances were created…". This was also the entrance to Pau for those arriving from the suburb of La Fontaine.

The precise location of Lafitte is believed to have been in the Rue Sully, that was called the Rue du Honset in 1693, and had previously been called the Rue du Castetmenou. At an unknown date after 1693, the Rue du Honset was again renamed to Rue de Camgrand, after the house de Camgran, situated on the other side of the Clock Gate.

Because Raymond de Forcade came to Pau from Monein, it is interesting to note that there was another fief called "Lafitte", ("L'ostau de Lafiite") in the Census of 1385, in Monein that was also a vassal of the Viscounty of Béarn, with its seat at the Château Lafitte, originally built in the 14th century, the same town where the Château Forcade is also located. Château-Forcade (alias Lahourcade) was also once the name of a separate hamlet that has since been merged into the commune of Monein. Monein is located midway between Orthez and Pau.

There was also a noble fief by the same name, "Lahitte", ("Lafiitte") in the Census of 1385, in Sallespisse, present day Orthez.

Forcade-Lafitte family members

Nobles and Seigneurs de Lafitte (La Fitte) and de Lafitte-Juson (La Fitte de Juson), soldiers and lawyers, high-ranking financial officers on the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau, the King's Prosecutors, Counsellor to the Kings of Navarre on both their Conseil Souvereign and their Conseil privé.

This branch includes among its representatives a Maréchal de camp, an attorney general of the Chancery, a judge at the Seneschal level, the predecessors of the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, a General Treasurer of (Lower) Navarre, a Treasurer of the King and Queen of (Lower) Navarre in their County of Armagnac, a President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre, a Director of the Mint in Pau, a Deputy for the Estates of Béarn at the General Assembly of the Reformed Church of France in Saumur in 1611, a Commissioner to Spain appointed by Queen Regent of France to negotiate peace (1612–14), and a Commissioner appointed by Louis XIII of France to implement the negotiated peace treaty (1615).

1. Noble Raymond de Forcade (born after 1480; died c. 1533–35 in Pau), lawyer in Monein and, after 1531, Jurat in Pau. Married with Catherine du Paysaa (died before 27 December 1553 in Pau).
   1. Noble Arnaudt de Forcade, Seigneur de La Fitte (born after 1505; died c. 1572), Maréchal, lawyer in Pau. There are no further mentions of him in Pau after May 1571 and the property Lafitte is acquired by his son around the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572.
      1. Noble Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte, aka Jean Laforcade, Seigneur de Lafitte, aka Jean Lafourcade, aka Jean II. de Forcade (c. 1525–1590), lawyer, General Treasurer of the King and Queen of (Lower) Navarre in their County of Armagnac (Trésorier général pour les roi et reine de Navarre en leur comté d'Armagnac) in 1556–57, General Treasurer of (Lower) Navarre (Trésorier général de (Lower) Navarre) in 1580, Counsellor to the King on his Conseil ordinaire (Conseil d'État), President of Finance (Président aux Comptes) on 4 or 14 September 1586, and was installed in this office on 20 October 1586, awarded a pension of 300 livres for his position as First President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre, a role for which he had only 200 livres tournois of compensation. Appointed President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in 1589. Died during his term in office, shortly before 8 January 1590. On 27 August 1591, a pension in the amount of 100 écus in gold was established by the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in favor of his widow, Damoiselle Loyse d'Aboval, for the services rendered by her husband.
         1. Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson, aka Jean de La Fourcade, aka Jean de Lafourcade, aka Jean Lafourcade (c. 1555–c. 1639), lawyer, son of the preceding Noble Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte. Attorney General of the Chancery of (Lower) Navarre in Pau (1589-1594) Counsellor on the Conseil Souverain of Navarre and Béarn (1594-1609), Counsellor at the Criminal Court of Béarn ("Conseiller à la Chambre criminelle") (1595), Attorney in charge of Impounds ("Maître de Fourrière") for Catherine de Navarre (1596-1599), Attorney in charge of Petitions ("Maître des requêtes") (1599-1606), Judge the Seneschalty of Sauveterre (1606) Deputy for the Estates of Béarn at the General Assembly of the Reformed Church of France in Saumur (1611), one of the three Commissioners to Spain to conclude a peace treaty following the fighting in the Aldudes mountain in (Lower) Navarre (Autumn 1612), one of the five Commissioners for the implementation of the peace treaty for the Aldudes (1615), and the King's prosecutor in Oloron (1619–1626). At least one highly reputed 19th-century genealogist, Bourrousse de Laffore, referred to him as "…one of the most important men in Béarn…". He married a daughter of the Seigneur de Barbuscan, at the time Jehan de Lucmajour, after 1576.
            1. Pierre de Laforcade, aka Pierre de Forcade (before 1578–after 1656), lawyer, lawyer at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, Jurat in Pau (1626), and Garde en la monnaie de Pau (1622–56) and Général des monnaies de (Lower) Navarre (1634). He married with Marie de Maserolles before 1601, then again with Jeanne de Pargade before 1627. His grandson, Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix is the founder of the Forcade-Biaix family line.
               1. Pierre de Forcade, aka Pierre de Laforcade, son of Pierre de Forcade, studied at the Royal College of Orthez, where in 1614 and 1617 he received scholarships as a Protestant student from the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre for books and clothing.
               2. Isacq de Forcade (born before 1601), from Boeil, son of Pierre de Forcade, is recorded as Laforcade, Garde en la monnaie de Morlaàs in 1634. He married with Marie de Bordes, from Nay, daughter of Pierre de Bordes, lawyer and Special Prosecutor for the District of Nay, and his wife, Marie de Foron, by notarized contract at the notary Nicolas de Lavie in Nay on 26 March 1624. This contract also instituted Isacq de Forcade as his father's sole heir. The bridegroom was assisted by his parents, both from Boeil, Jean du Faur de Bordères and Pierre de la Vigne, their son-in-laws, and Peyroton de Vignau their cousin. The bride was assisted by her father, the lawyer Pierre de Foron and Arnaud Peyre, her father's brother-in-laws, and other family and friends.
                  1. Pierre de Forcade, aka Pierre de Laforcade (c. 1621–1657), lawyer, First Jurat of Pau, aged about 35 years, died on 21 January 1657, was buried in the church (sic) of the Pénitents Bleus, in St. Martin's church in Pau.
                  2. Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix (before 1635–1684).
            2. Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Saint-Genest (died between 1653 and 1656). Together, he and his son are the founders of the elder branch, the sieurs de Saint-Genest and sieurs de Caubeyran.
            3. Étienne I. de Forcade (died Shortly after 1656). Together, he and his sons are the founders of the cadet branch, the sieurs de La Grézère and sieurs de La Roquette, as well as the sieurs de Biaix, the sieurs de Baure and a few other lesser known and shorter lived branches in Béarn.
            4. An unnamed son who carried on both the family name and the responsibilities of being the King's Prosecutor (Procureur du roi) in Oloron, as evidenced by the coat of arms registered in the Armorial de Béarn in 1697.
            5. Marie de Laforcade (died Before 19 January 1609) who married Noble Jean de Minvielle, Seigneur du Domecq de Dognen, between 1605 and 1606.
            6. Judith de Laforcade, who married Samuel Du Jac, Minister in Anoye, in 1599.

Forcade-Lafitte chronology

"Meste", Ramonet de Forcade, notary or lawyer, Jurat of Monein, probably Jean I. de Forcade's youngest son and younger brother of Gaston de Forcade, is named in a 1524 act related to the contract that was made to paint and gild the master altar in the church of Monein.

The honorable "Maeste", Ramon de Forcade, lawyer or notary, Jurat of Pau, is cited as one of the witnesses in the 7 April 1531 notarial act related to the sale by Jacques de Mantz of the Domaine de Mantz in Pau to Johan de Badet from Pau.

Between 1533–35, the testament of Raymond de Forcade, Jurat in Pau, is notarized at the notary Fortaner d'Agos in Pau. In his testament, among other things, he invites the jurats to dine with him on the day of his funeral and again at the end of the year; he states that he was in charge of the interests of Jacques de Foix, Bishop of Oloron, for ten years, that the latter still owes him 50 écus, and that in case of refusal to pay, he relies on the conscience of the bishop, who therewith falls into mortal sin.

On 2 December 1553, "Mister Bernard de Claverie, the King's Chaplain, states that he is the patron of the prebend of St. Catherine, erected in the church St. Martin of Pau and chapel of St. Catherine, by the late Catherine du Paysàa, wife of Raymond de Forcade". The old church of St. Martin de Pau where the and chapel of St. Catherine was, was demolished in 1885. A new church of St. Martin de Pau built a little to the east of the original one was started in 1863 and finished in 1871.

Confirmation on 26 November 1571 by Jeanne d'Albret, Queen Regnant of (Lower) Navarre, of a gift of land located in Pau to Maréchal Arnaudt de Forcade on the condition of an annual census.

"…The Queen had donated a site at an earlier date, adjoining the main gate to Pau, in favor of Maréchal Arnaud de Forcade, before all the trouble began in the province, but because the letters of donation and the details concerning the advantages and disadvantages were lost due to the disorder of the time period, the aforesaid de Forcade would, in 1571, again represent the preceding to Her Majesty, and obtained from her, as required, that the aforementioned site was again given to him in exchange for an annual charge of 20 sous tournois, which had been the conditions of the first donation, as evidenced by the words narrated on the letters patent delivered 18 May 1571 that the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre verified immediately afterward.

C. 1572, act of sale of the Seigneurie de Lafitte in Pau, by Jean de Sabonnières, Seigneur de Juillac, Viguier from Isle-Jourdain, to Jean de Laforcade, Captain of Auvillar.

1573, act of sale of the Seigneurie de Lafitte in Pau, by Jean de Laforcade, to Jean de Montgaurin, Counsellor of Béarn, passed at the Coadjutors Pascal de Bonnevigne et Joanolet de Lanos in Monein.

Between 1574 and 1575, in contracts related to the assets, including fiefs, belonging to the Count of Armagnac, held by Du Tauzin, notary in Castelnau-Rivière-Basse, the acquisition of land by Johannot de Lafourcade, from Castetnau, from Arnaud de Lacabe, from Madiran.

Jean de Lafourcade, Treasurer of the Royal House of (Lower) Navarre, was among the witnesses at the marriage by notarized contract in Pau of Philibert Brocard, from Beaune, with Catherine Lespan, from Lisle in Languedoc. Other witnesses included Pierre Garros, Attorney General, François de Meuilh, Prosecutor General, Étienne Du Cimetière, Treasurer of Béarn, and Jean de Bordenave, Secretary of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau, between 1579 and 1582.

1580, Lafourcade is cited as the General Treasurer of the Royal House of (Lower) Navarre ("Trésorier général de la maison royale de (Lower) Navarre") in an original letter from Henry III of Navarre related to his compensation for this role.

1579–80, in various payment records. of the Chambre de Comptes in 1579, as well as in a letter from King Henri III of Navarre addressed to Jean de Lafourcade in 1580, he is qualified as the General Treasurer of (Lower) Navarre (Trésorier général de (Lower) Navarre).

Jean de Lafourcade is cited as a Member of the Council ("Membre du Conseil") established in Lectoure during the war.

1584, a written command by the King of Navarre, related to the payment of twenty écu sol made to Jean Lafourcade, sieur de Lafitte, Counsellor, for a second trip to Maignoac, Barousse, Nestes and the Barony of Barbezan and Poeydarieux]] for a matter concerning the agreement and transaction made with the Viscount of Lavedan, concerning the basis of the usufruct of the lands of Aure, Maignoac, Barousse and Nestes that he owned as property, as well as the rights that he had in the County of Armagnac. - Signed: Henry.

7 December 1587, the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre verified a pension of 100 écus in favor of Jean Lafourcade, sieur de Lafitte, President of the Chamber, retroactive to the date of his installation in this office.

1590, payment of a bonus of 100 livres to Jean de Lafourcade, Attorney General of (Lower) Navarre, to purchase a red robe.

1591, award of a bonus of 2,000 écus to de Lafourcade, President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre of Pau.

In 1593, a first notarized testament of Jean de Laforcade, Attorney in charge of Impounds ("Maître de Fourrière") for Catherine de Navarre, at the notary Guilhamy de Labat in Pau.

In 1596, a second notarized testament of Jean de Laforcade, Attorney in charge of Impounds ("Maître de Fourrière") for Catherine de Navarre, at the notary Pérarnaud de Camps in Pau.

C. 1598–99, the sale of tithe by Jean Du Pac, Seigneur de Bizanos, to Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de Lafitte, Attorney in charge of Petitions ("Maître des requêtes").

C. 1599, the marriage by notarized contract in Pau between Samuel Du Jac, Minister in Anoye, and Judith de Laforcade, daughter of Jean de Laforcade, Attorney in charge of Impounds ("Maître de Fourrière") for Catherine de Navarre.

Between 1603 and 1605, the purchase of a piece of land by Jean de Laforcade, Counsellor of Béarn, from Pierre Véguier, from Orthez and Jeanne de Portal, his wife. the register records a sale of land by Jean de Laforcade, Counsellor of Béarn, to Louis Du Colom, Syndic of Béarn.

The marriage by notarized contract at the notary Ramon de Majourau in Pau, between Jean de Minvielle, lawyer, and Marie de Laforcade, daughter of Jean de Laforcade, Attorney in charge of Petitions ("Maître des requêtes"), between 1605 and 1606.

A "Laforcade", presumably Pierre de Laforcade, is cited among the original founding members of the "Confraternity of the Blue Penitents" ("Confrérie dite des Pénitents bleus") in Pau in February 1615.

At the marriage of Pierre II. de Day, Contre-garde en la monnaie de Pau, with Damoiselle de Anne de Basson, aka Anne de Saint-Martin, by notarized contract at the notary Jean de Souberbie in Pau on 8 December 1619, the bridegroom was assisted by Maître Pierre I. de Day, also Contre-garde en la monnaie de Pau, his father, Roger de Day and Jean de Day, his brothers, and Jean de La Forcade and Jean de Minvielle, Counsellor to the King, his relatives by marriage. The bride was assisted by Damoiselle Agnès de Saint-Martin, also known as Agnès de Bassot, her sister, a resident of Pau, Maître Guillaume Salinis, husband of the aforesaid Saint-Martin, her brother-in-law, Hierosme Norman, General Clerk of the Finances of the King ("commis-général des finance du roi"), her uncle, Maître Isaac de Lostau, Damoiselle Agnès de Normans, widow of the sieur de Lacoste, Counsellor to the King, and Catherine de Camo. Pierre I. de Day, the father, had been provided with the office of Garde en la monnaie de Morlaàs on 5 March 1598, following the resignation of Maître Denis Bergeron, aka Denis Vergeron, by Jacques de Caumont, Seigneur and Baron de la Force, Counsellor to the King on his Conseil Souverain and Conseil Privé, captain of one of the Corps of the King's bodyguards, Governor and Lieutenant General representing the King in (Lower) Navarre and the souverain lands of Béarn.

Isacq de Forcade from Boeil, son of Pierre de Forcade and Marie de Maserolles, both from Boeil, married with Marie de Bordes, from Nay, daughter of Pierre de Bordes, lawyer and Special Prosecutor for the District of Nay, and his wife, Marie de Foron, by notarized contract at the notary Nicolas de Lavie in Nay on 26 March 1624. This contract also instituted Isacq de Forcade as his father's sole heir. The bridegroom was assisted by his parents, both from Boeil, Jean du Faur de Bordères and Pierre de la Vigne, their son-in-laws, and Peyroton de Vignau their cousin. The bride was assisted by her father, the lawyer Pierre de Foron and Arnaud Peyre, her father's brother-in-laws, and other family and friends.

1625, sales of a piece of land located in Assat by Pierre Forcade, Garde en la monnaie de Pau, to André de Prat.

C. 1626, Pierre de Forcade, Jurat in Pau, was a witness at a notarized transaction between Guillaume Darrigrand, Canon and Syndic of the Chapter of Lescar, and the heirs of Jean, Baron de Lons, concerning the property of the tithe of Lons; among the pieces of evidence produced during the legal proceedings that preceded this transaction, were the Charters de 1174, 1300 and 1388; the other witenesses were Pierre de Marca, President of the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre and Jean de Bellocq, Counsellor.

The 1626 sale of a house situated in the Rue de la Coudure in Pau, by Pierre de Navailles, lawyer at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, to the proxies of the Convent of the Capucins in Pau: Isaac de Léchimia, Counsellor at the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre, Jérôme de Capdevielle, Tax Collector of Consignments and Pierre de Laforcade, Jurat in Pau.

A "Laforcade", presumably Pierre de Laforcade, son of Étienne I. de Forcade, is confirmed to be among the eight persons who were involved in the reestablishment of the "Confraternity of the Blue Penitents" following the reestablishment of the Catholic religion in Béarn by the King in 1635, in a written history they wrote in 1726. An extract from this history, translated into English, reads:

          "…But for the disillusioned, if they still had any doubt in this
          regard, we will report to them that on 20 February 1635, after the
          reestablishment of the Catholic religion in this province, eight
          devout important figures from this city, commendable for their
          piety, conceived a plan to [re]establish a brotherhood of Blue
          Penitents under the patronage of Saint-Jerome and under the same
          rules and articles of incorporation observed by several
          brotherhoods established in the main cities of the Kingdom, and
          in advance of permission that would be requested by them from
          Monsignor the Bishop of Lescar, the names of these founders are
          Messieurs d’Aidius, First Jurat of Pau, Pardies, also Jurat,
          Laforcade, Puyou, Boyer, Laplace, Saint-Orens and Betbeder,
          inhabitants of this city; the petition was presented to Monsignor
          the Bishop on 25 February 1635. They attached to this petition
          the articles of incorporation that they procured and they
          requested permission to establish and set up this brotherhood
          under the patronage of Saint-Jerome. Based on the articles they
          produced, Monsignor the Bishop ordained on the petition that the
          priest of the city of Pau should read them, and thus they would
          effectively be shown to him, the reestablishment was granted."

Pierre de Forcade, Jurat in Pau, is mentioned during the process to appoint Bernard de Lostau, then Regent of Pau, as the Dean of St. Martin's church in Pau, as evidenced by various minutes of the process taken and published by him.

          "…On 9 December 1653, were assembled in the City Hall, Messieurs
          de Forcade, de Puyo, de Bordes and de Four, Jurats, de Loyard,
          de Gillot, de Capdeville, de Casso, de Juge, Despruets and de
          Rebatut, Deputies, to review the application presented by Bernard
          de Lostau, a native son of the present city, stating that in recent
          years he attended to teaching children the Protestant
          religion, together with the late Maître Jacob de Capderey, with
          all the care that was possible for him to give…(Signed:) Laforcade,
          Jurat."

          "…Everything forthwith, the said de Lostau having been summoned,
          we proceeded with his evaluation, making him write and perform
          various arithmetic calculations, whereupon, having satisfied all
          of the assembly, he was judged capable of exercising the said
          responsibility of regent; and a reading having been made to him
          of the said conditions, he was received, preceding an oath taken
          by him to duly and well fulfill the said responsibility of regent…
          (Signed:) Laforcade, Jurat; Lostau."

C. 1656, an arbitration between Jean de Noguès, Baron de Saint-Aubin d'Assat and Pierre Laforcade, lawyer at Parliament, concerning the payment of feudal dues.

Nicolas de La Forcade, lawyer, merchant from Bielle, Canton of Laruns, in the Ossau Valley married by notarized contract with Suzanne du Plàa on 25 July 1657. He was assisted by Messieurs Daniel, Ruben, Martin and Pierre de La Forcade, his brothers, by Damoiselle Marie d'Arripes, his mother, David and Daniel d'Arripe, his first cousins, and Pierre du Pont, his brother-in-law. Nicolas de La Forcade, lawyer, bourgeois and merchant in Pau married in a second marriage with Marie de Vignau, from Bizanos, daughter of Noble Samson de Vignau and of Marguerite du Pac. Pierre de Laforcade, notary at the Seneschalty of Oloron, and David d'Arripe were present at the writing of the testament of Henry de Lacroix, a painter from Paris, resident in Oloron for forty years, on 12 July 1663. Nicolas de La Forcade, lawyer and bourgeois from Pau, assisted Camille de Vignau at her marriage by notarized contract on 14 July 1682 to Jean d'Abbadie, lawyer, from Morlaàs, together with, among others, Suzanne and Marie de Bizanos, her full sisters.

The Fief of Biaix

The etymology of the word Biaix has its roots in the Catalonian language and means oblique or biais, in the sense of not expressed or done in a direct way or deviates from the expected according to the laws of probability or physics. The only family known to have carried this patronym prior to Jean de Forcade de Biaix was that of Pierre de Biaix, ambassador of the King of Navarre to Paris and to Brussels (1516), secular Parson of Monein and of Pau, secular Abbot of Lucq (abbé laïc de Lucq), elected Bishop of Aire (évèque élu d'Aire) 1523–26, Chancellor of FoixFoix and Béarn, Chancellor of Navarre and ambassador of Navarre to Spain.

The Seigneur of the noble house of Biaix paid a tax of 4 feus for the period ending 12 January 1549.

Noble Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Rontignon, purchased the noble house of Biaix in Pau on 28 February 1659 from Gratian de Turon, Seigneur de Beyrie, for 6,000 Bordeaux livres and was admitted to the Order of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn as Seigneur de Biaix on 10 June 1659.

The noble house of Biaix in the city of Pau and another house located on the outskirts of the city, were simultaneously ennobled on 20 September 1521, by letters of Henry II, King of Navarre, for Pierre de Biaix, then Chancellor of Foix and Béarn.

The exact location of Biaix is believed to have been in the Rue Sully, what was, in 1693, the Rue du Honset, earlier called the Rue du Castetmenou (Casteigmenor), immediately next to the Hôtel de Gassion, belonging to the President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau, and referred to as the Hôtel de Casaux or Hôtel de Cazaux, after the owners at the time. The de Gassion and Hôtel de Casaux were valued by the City of Pau in 1693 at 12,000 and 7,0000 livres respectively. Sometime after 1693, the Rue du Honset was again renamed to Rue du Camgran, after the house de Camgran which was situated on the other side of the Clock Gate to Pau from the house la Fitte, which was also earlier a fief|domaine of the Forcade family. The "former Hôtel Cazaux" (i.e. Biaix) was demolished, on which site the new church of St. Martin de Pau was then built, a little to the east of the old church of St. Martin de Pau starting in 1863. The old St. Martin de Pau was demolished in 1885.

Although there are references to his son, also named Jean de Forcade de Biaix, as the "Marquis de Biaix", in some Prussian sources published between 1788 and 1837, there is no evidence that either father or son was ever a Marquis. The noble fief of Biaix in the city of Pau was not a "marquisate".

Under intimidation from the policy of harassment of religious minorities through the use of dragonnades, created in 1681, to intimidate Huguenots into converting to Catholicism or to leave France, and under the threat of confiscation of properties of nobles who did not convert, both Jean de Forcade de Biaix and his eldest son, Isaac de Forcade de Biaix, abjured from Protestantism, therewith maintaining possession of Biaix. Following his death in 1684, the property and the right to enter the Order of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn was passed to Isaac de Forcade de Biaix (Seigneur de Biaix 1684–1737).

In turn, following his death in 1737, the property and the right to enter the Order of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn was passed to his eldest son, Jean-Jacob de Forcade de Biaix, Seigneur de Biaix (1738-?), before the noble family line of Forcade-Biaix in Pau is thought to have extinguished.

After various viscitudes of fortune, the second smaller house on the outskirts of Pau, referred to as Biaix du faubourg, in the suburb of la Fontaine, acquired with the main fief on 28 February 1659, was acquired from the family de Casaus on 10 May 1710 by Noé Dufau, merchant furbisher, who was received in the Order of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn on 28 April 1717 as Seigneur de Biaix du faubourg. Noé Dufau died in 1739 and bequeathed it back to his niece and Goddaughter, Jean-Jacob de Forcade de Biaix' daughter, Marie-Jeanne de Forcade, Dame de Biaix, who later married Pierre de Casamajor. This property had a value of 20 livres in the 23 December 1693 estimation of house values by the City of Pau.

Because Biaix was first acquired by Jean de Forcade in 1659, any reference to parents or grandparents in this family line with de Biaix as a part of the name is in error.

Forcade-Biaix family members

Coat of Arms: An escutcheon with the field divided into four parts. Left half: argent tincture with a lion gules holding a sinople eradicated oak tree between its paws; azure tincture charged with three mullets or; Right half: argent tincture with a gules castle with three towers; sinople tincture charged with three roses argent below it. A Grafenkrone (Count's coronet) as helmut on top of the escutcheon, crested with an or fleur-de-lis. Two or lions supporting the escutcheon. Motto: "In Virtute Pertinax".

Heraldic symbolism: The lion symbolizes courage; the eradicated oak tree symbolizes strength and endurance; the towers are symbols of defense and of individual fortitude; the mullets (5-star) symbolizes divine quality bestowed by god; the rose is a symbol of hope and joy; the fleur-de-lis is the floral emblem of France; the coronet is a symbol of victory, sovereignty and empire. A count's coronet to demonstrate rank and because the family originally served the counts of Foix and Béarn during the English Wars of the late Middle Ages.

Nobles, Gentlemen and Seigneurs de Biaix (in Béarn and Prussia). The founder of the branch was a Forcade de Rontignon for a short period prior to acquiring Biaix.

The Forcade-Biaix in Pau, were Legislators at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, Presidents of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre (the Court of Auditors) and officers of the Mint in Pau. This branch of the family and their ancestors were Protestant from the time of the Reformation in France until 1684. Two of the fourteen known children, one male and one female, emigrated to Prussia in 1683. The founder of the family line and his eldest son converted back to Catholicism following the Dragonnades and the Edict of Fontainebleau. What happened to the other children is a matter of speculation.

The early generations of the Forcade-Biaix family line, as well as their immediate direct ancestors, had close alliances in marriage, property and careers, in particular on the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre and its financial branches, such as the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre (the Court of Auditors), in Pau, dating back to the early 16th century, with the families d'Abbadie, (de Badie), de Bordes, de Casamajor, d'Espalungue and d'Espalungue, Barons d'Arros, de Gassion, de Lons, Counts de Sanson, de Navailles and de Salies. These names appear and reappear together in notarial acts and parish records related to the family from the 15th–17th centuries.

The history of the Forcade-Biaix branch is complicated by the publication of false information concerning its origins in several affluent publications on the topic of nobility in Prussia and Europe. The first known publication of such information was in 1767, about 80 years after immigration in Prussia. The same information was reproduced in various forms in publications during the first half of the 19th century. One can only speculate if the information was knowingly furnished as false, or if it was the innocent result of confusing names that had been handed down verbally from two earlier generations already deceased. Claims published in the same publications that they held the rank of Marquis were, however, deliberately false.

The Forcade-Biaix family name was still represented in France in 1874 in the person of Edmond-Hector de Forcade-Biaix, a property owner in Dunkerque. It was claimed, without citations, that the Forcade-Biaix name and branch extinguished in France in 1922.

1. Noble Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix (died 1684), Huissier at the Parliament of Navarre (1644-62), Fermier des monnaies de Béarn et (Lower) Navarre]] (Lessee of the Mints of Béarn and (Lower) Navarre). Jean de Forcade was admitted to the Order of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn as Seigneur de Rontignon. on 30 August 1658. With his purchase of Biaix in 1659, he is the founder of the Forcade-Biaix family line. He was subsequently received into the Order of Nobility of the Estates of Béarn as Seigneur de Biaix on 10 June 1659. He was the son of Isacq de Forcade and his wife Marie de Bordes. He married with Madeleine de Lanne (died after 1688) at the Protestant Temple in Morlaàs on 23 December 1659, with a notarized post-nuptial contract at the notary Jean d'Agoeix in Pau on 12 February 1660. From this marriage were born at least 13 children, including: Isaac (1660), Sophie Philippine (1661–1730), Jean (1663), Marie (1662–1732),) Magdelaine (1668), Abraham (1670), Armand (1671), Marthe (1673–1731)), Pierre (1673), Marthe (1676), Paul (1677–1705), Henri (1678) and Anne (1682).
   1. Noble Isaac de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix (1659–1737)), lawyer, Jurat in Pau, lawyer at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, member of the "Confraternity of the Blue Penitents" ("Conférie dite des Pénitents bleus") in Pau, then Assistant Prior and finally Prior of it. Following his father's death, he was received into the Estates of Béarn in 1684 as the Seigneur de Biaix. Isaac de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix married three times. With his first wife, Adriane de Lafite, he had one daughter, Marie (1683). With his second wife, Jeanne de Seris, he is known to have one daughter, Madelaine (1688). With his third wife, Magdeleine-Claire de Lalanne (died 1714), he is known to have had at least three more daughters and one son, among them: Jean-Jacob (c. 1694), who follows, Catherine (1697–1725), Marthe Catherine (1703) and Catherine (1707–1777).) Another son, Joseph de Forcade, from one of the marriages, was the priest in the Catholic parish of Pardies in 1741 and 1743.
      1. Noble Jean-Jacob de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix (1694–1743), lawyer and Legislator at the Parliament of Navarre, who married with Dame Jeanne de Dufau (1691–1741) c. 1715. At least four children were born from this marriage, including: Catherine (1719), Pierre Jacob (1723–1724), Marie-Thérèse (1727) and Marie-Jeanne (died 1765), who married with Messire Pierre de Casamajor, Counsellor at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre on 17 May 1741.
         1. Marthe-Catherine de Forcade, Dame de Biaix (1703–1777), wife of Henri III. d'Espalungue, Baron d'Arros, Co-Seigneur de Saint-Abit et Seigneur de Minvielle autrement Galan d'Asson.
   2. Jean de Forcade de Biaix aka Johann Quirin von Forcade de Biaix (1663–1729), a Huguenot, Noble Lieutenant General in the service of Kingdom of Prussia, Regimentschef of the 23rd Prussian Infantry Regiment, Commandant of the Royal Residence in Berlin during the reign of King Frederick William I of Prussia, Gouverneur militaire of Berlin and Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle.
      1. Friedrich Wilhelm Quirin von Forcade de Biaix (1698–1765), Prussian Lieutenant General, Regimentschef of the 23rd Prussian Infantry Regiment, recipient of the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order of merit for heroism, Knight of the Order of Pour le Mérite (1746), Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, Canon of Havelberg, Castellan of Neuenrade in the County of Mark, Lord Seneschalty of Zinna, President of the Ober-Collegium Sanitatis in Berlin and Lieutenant Governor of Breslau.
         1. Friedrich Wilhelm von Forcade de Biaix (c. 1729–1778), Prussian Colonel, Schwadronschef (Rittmeister) of the 2nd Grenadier Company in the 24th Prussian Infantry Regiment, acting Regimentschef of the 24th Prussian Infantry Regiment, recipient of the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order of merit, Knight of the Order of Pour le Mérite (1774).
         2. Georg Friedrich Wilhelm von Forcade de Biaix (1746–1811), Prussian Major in Frederick the Great's 1st Prussian Hussar Regiment.
            1. Friederich Georg Leopold von Forcade de Biaix (1793–1831), who married with Anna Maria Freiin von Krane zu Matena (1788–1884) and had two sons and one daughter, including Christoph Ernst Friedrich, Clothilde von Forcade de Biaix.
               1. Christoph Ernst Friedrich von Forcade de Biaix (1821–1891), German Rittergut owner, Judge in the District Court of Bochum, Appellate Court Judge in Hamm, Supreme Court Judge in Berlin and Member of Parliament in the German Reichstag.
         3. Friedrich Heinrich Ferdinand Leopold von Forcade de Biaix (1747–1808), retired Prussian Lieutenant Colonel, recipient of the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order of merit for heroism, Knight of the Order of Pour le Mérite (1791), Castellan of Neuenrade in the County of Mark.
            1. Friedrich Wilhelm Leopold Konstantin Quirin von Forcade de Biaix (1784–1840), Herr of Schleibitz, Hamm, Groß-Naedlitz and Loslau, Prussian Major, Knight of the Iron Cross 2nd Class for his heroic actions defending the so-called Red House at Strehlen near Dresden against a vastly superior enemy during the Battle of Dresden on 26 August 1813, Knight of the Order of St. John Bailiwick of Brandenburg (1817), Royal Prussian Chamberlain, and Castellan of Neuenrade in the County of Mark.
               1. Amalie Wilhelmine Henriette Ernestine Bianca von Forcade de Biaix (1811–1880), married 17 January 1832 at Krakowahne Castle in Silesia with Heinrich Sylvius Friedrich Adolf von Randow, Herr of Pangau (1807–1859), Prussian captain in the Artillery and a professional engineer (railways), who emigrated in 1853 to Brazil.
            2. Wilhelm Friedrich Erdmann Ferdinand von Forcade de Biaix (1786–1816), Imperial Russian Army Lieutenant, Adjutant to Imperial Russian Army Infantry General Loggin Ossipovitch Rot ("von Roth"), recipient of the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order of merit, Knight of the Order of Pour le Mérite (1814).
            3. Friedrich Wilhelm Ferdinand Ernst Heinrich von Forcade de Biaix (1787–1835), Prussian Major, Commandant of the 10th Prussian Division's Garrison Company, Knight of the Iron Cross 2nd Class.
      2. Isaac Quirin von Forcade de Biaix (1702–1775), Prussian Lieutenant Colonel, Hofmarschall with the 18th Prussian Infantry Regiment, recipient of Prussia's highest military order of merit for heroism, Knight of the Order of Pour le Mérite (1742).

The principal alliances of this branch of the family were de Maserolles, de Lavigne, de Faur de Bordères, de Bordes, de Lanne (1659), Renoir (1687), de Seris, de Lalanne (1694), Baronne von Honstedt, from the house of Erdeborn (1697), de Gleveau, du Dufau, Jacquet, Baronne de Saint-Hippolyte (1727), d'Espalungue, Baron d'Arros, Seigneur de Minvielle et de Galan d'Asson (1727), Roux, Cantenius, de Casamajor (1741), von Eickstedt, von Prittwitz und Gaffron from the house of Lortzendorf, Lebrecht von Lattorff (1756), Baron Löw von und zu Steinfurth (1775), Lipelius, von Koschembahr und Skorkau from the house of Ossen (1782), Hindenberg, Baronne von Krane zu Matena, Baronne von Romberg, Count von Flemming, von Poser und Groß-Naedlitz from the house of Peuke (1804), Zinnow (1808), von Neumann and von Randow (1832).

Forcade-Biaix chronology

Between 1665 and 1674, Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix is cited in the list of fees for the feudal duties of nobles who swore homage to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre.

Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix, is named in a declaration furnished to the Estates of Navarre by Goyénèche, notary in Saint-Palais, c. 1669–70, of persons who assumed the quality of nobles in contracts, with regard to a contract dated 4 January 1661.

In 1669, the sale of a vineyard by Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix, to Pierre de Loyard, Captain.

Jean de Forcade was relieved of his responsibilities as an elder by the body of the Consistory of Pau on 5 April 1671.

Jean de Forcade de Biaix provided a declaration for his noble assets situated in Pau to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau in 1672.

Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix provided a declaration for his noble assets situated in the Seneschalty of Pau to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau during the reform of the domaine of Béarn in 1674.

Pierre de Fourcade, a student at college ("escolier au Collège"), died on 26 January 1675 and was interred in the chapel of the Pénitents Bleus, in St. Martin's church in Pau, with rights performed by Lajournade, Rector of Pau.

1687, the marriage by notarized contract between Marie de Forcade and Joseph Renoir, Controller at the Mint in Pau. The couple was assisted by Madeleine de Lanne, her mother, Isaac de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix, her brother, Pierre de Bordes, Counsellor at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, her cousin, and Isaac de Navailles, Baron d'Angaïs, General Syndic of Béarn.

Settlement reached between Isaac de Navailles, Baron d'Angaïs, General Syndic of Béarn, and Madeleine de Lanne, widow of Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix, amounting to a total of 897 livre tournois, 10 sols, c. 1688.

Isaac de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix was maintained in his nobility and reconfirmed in his noble assets in 1694.

Abt 1700, Isaac de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix assisted at the marriage by notarized contract between Jean de Betbeder-Cadillon and Marie-Josèphe d'Arrippe.

Damoiselle Philippe de Forcade died on 19 February 1709 and was inhumed in the church of of [sic] the Pénitents Bleus, in St. Martin's church in Pau, with rights performed by Maître de Bordes, substituting for the priest.

Mr. de Forcade, sieur de Biaise (sic), lawyer at Parliament and Jurat in City of Pau participated in the General Assembly of the Brothers of the Confraternity of the Eucharist on 28 June 1714 and assisted in drawing up new articles of their charter.

Damoiselle Marie de Laforcade died on 8 March 1715 and was inhumed in the chapel of of [sic] the Pénitents Bleus, in St. Martin's church in Pau, with rights performed by Sarthou.

The sieur de Forcade, presumably Isaac de Forcade Biaix, is named as a lawyer representing the City of Pau in a matter opposing the city against the Confraternity of the Eucharist in 1716 and 1718, where in the latter he is named as an Assistant Prior.

Isaac de Forcade Biaix provided a declaration for his noble house situated in Pau to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 13 January 1728, with a judgment of verification.

Jeanne-Marie de Forcade, the widow of Pierre de Casamajor, provided a declaration for two houses called Biaix situated in the suburbs of Pau, and for the house of the Lay Abbey of Deslayon, a vassal of the Viscounty of Béarn, situated in Abitain, on the left bank of the Gave d'Oloron, to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau on 29 March 1756, with a judgment of verification.

Maître Hourcade, Prosecutor at Parliament, and Chief Registrar of the Gendarmerie Nationale in Pau ("Greffier en chef de la Maréchausée de Pau"), is cited at the burial of his wife, Damoiselle Marie de Castaing, who died on 21 April 1779, aged 24 years, in Pau.

Damoiselle Marie de Fourcade is cited at the burial of her husband, Maître Joseph de Fossat, lawyer at Parliament, who died on 12 September 1780, aged 34 years.

Forcade, sieurs de Caubeyran, de La Grézère, de La Roquette

Coat of Arms: D'or with a dextrochère of carnation, gules armored arm, moving from the lower side of the shield holding a gules épée, topped with two gules bulls, one above the other, the lower bull no longer having his head, which appears to have been cut with the edge of the épée. A Count's coronet as helmut on top of the escutcheon, Two or lions supporting the escutcheon.

Nobles, Gentlemen, Squires and Seigneurs de La Grézère, de La Roquette, de Caubeyran, de Saint-Genest (sic) de Saint-Genès, de Lastranenq, de Sauroux, de la Tour-Catsies, de Romatet, de la Bassane, etc., this branch belongs to the nobility of Guyenne.

The lineage of this branch of the family from Gaston de Forcade, son of Jean I. de Forcade, Squire and First Jurat in Orthez, who notarized his testament on 21 July 1505, is legally proven in the judgment of 27 March 1656 or 27 May 1656, by the Court of Aids (the Court of Appeals) of Guyenne in Libourne. This judgment was repeatedly upheld, leaving no legal question as to the family's lineage from the noble family of Forcade in Orthez during the 15th century. It reads, in summary:

          …And all things considered, our said Court, with the consent of the
          Attorney General, rightly upholds the requests and conclusions of
          the petitioners, has ordered and directed that the letters of
          rehabilitation obtained by them on the aforementioned day of
          10 July 1651, shall be recorded at the Registry of this Court on
          behalf of said Étienne and Louis de Forcade, and their children born
          and yet-to-be born of loyal marriage, [so that they shall] enjoy
          therewith and therefrom, in its form and content, the privileges,
          franchises, exemptions and immunities that are enjoyed by other
          nobles of our kingdom.

Elder Branch: sieurs de Saint-Genest, de Caubeyran

The seigneurie de Saint-Genès is located in the commune of Montagnac-sur-Auvignon, near Nérac, in the Brulhois. The manor of Caubeyran in the hamlet of Montclaris, in Sigalens was built during the reign of Henry IV of France, in the 16th century, by a Captain Jean de Forcade, who married a daughter of the Seigneur de Barbuscan, at the time Jehan de Lucmajour, after 1576. The two families were members of court of the Albret family, the rulers of Lower Navarre. Forcade descendants still owned the property in 1828.

1. Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Saint-Genest (died 1653–56), Squire, son of Jean de Forcade, born at the beginning of the 17th century. He was reestablished in his nobility in July 1651, or, on 13 June 1655, through letters of rehabilitation from King Louis XIV of France, while serving in the naval infantry regiment of Candale in Guyenne. He married Noble Marie de Laurière, Damoiselle de Moncaut c. 1630 and died before 27 May 1656. Marie's father, Joseph de Laurière, Baron de Montcaut, in the Brulhois, made a notarized contract of sale in her favor after his death, for a noble smallholding in the jurisdiction of Galapian on 21 November 1657. When she submitted her inventory of assets for the smallholding of de Martet, separate from those of the seigneurie de Galapian, to the Trésorier de France on 23 November 1670, she did so as the widow of Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Saint-Genest. One son was born from this marriage, Louis de Forcade, Seigneur de Caubeyran, around 1630.
   1. Louis de Forcade, Seigneur de Caubeyran (born c. 1630), Squire, married on 5 October 1653 with Bertrande Ferran. Together with his uncle, Étienne I. de Forcade, he obtained a decree from the Court of Aids of Guyenne in Libourne on 27 March 1656 or 27 May 1656 ordering the registration and recognition of these letters patent, only to have his nobility revoked again in 1667 and be convicted and fined as a usurper of nobility. It was not until 1696 that he was finally restored to his nobility.
      1. Étienne II. de Forcade, Seigneur de Caubeyran, Squire, Louis' only son, married on 31 January 1687 with Anne Fourcade. The marriage produced at least one son, Étienne III. de Forcade de Caubeyran.
         1. Étienne III. de Forcade de Caubeyran, (born 3 February 1698 in Galapian in the diocese of Agen; died Before 12 August 1757). He had at least one son, Louis de Forcade de Caubeyran.
            1. This latter, Louis de Forcade de Caubeyran, Seigneur de Fontet, (born 1746; died c. 1782), Squire, moved to Martinique and in 1775 tried to register his nobility there, but when the application was sent to Chérin, the King's genealogist, he gave it a negative response. Dame Marguerite de Forcade, widow of Louis de Forcade de Caubeyran, wife of the sieur Lamarque de Plaisance is cited in the judicial lease of the farms of Caubeyran in Montclaris, seized at her prejudice in favor of Bernard Chevassier, a laborer in Montclaris, on 14 June 1785. A review of his testament was made 17 January 1782. At least one son was born from his marriage, Louis de Forcade de Caubeyran.
               1. Louis de Forcade de Caubeyran, mayor of Galapian from 1804 to 1810.
      2. Damoiselle Jeanne de Forcade, who married with Noble François de Malvin, Seigneur de Merlet, Squire, son of Berthélemi de Malvin, Seigneur de Merlet, Squire, on 1 February 1690. François de Malvin took part in the Assembly of the Nobility of the Seneschalty of Albret, in Bazas, on 22 May 1693.
      3. Damoiselle Marie de Forcade, who married with François de Pomiés on 8 October 16?3.

Cadet Branch: sieurs de La Grézère, de La Roquette

1. Étienne I. de Forcade (died after 1656), son of Jean de Forcade, born at the beginning of the 17th century. He married Françoise de Vazar, and, together with his brother, was reestablished in his nobility in July 1651, or, on 13 June 1655, through letters of rehabilitation from King Louis XIV of France, while also serving in the naval infantry regiment of Candale in Guyenne. Together with his brother's son, Louis de Forcade, Seigneur de Caubeyran, he obtained a decree from the Court of Aids of Guyenne in Libourne ordering the registration and recognition of these letters patent on 27 March 1656 or 27 May 1656. Étienne died a few years later leaving five sons, including: Mathieu, the eldest, Étienne, Pierre and Bertrand.
   1. Mathieu de Forcade, Seigneur de La Grézère, Squire, was a captain in the naval infantry regiment in Candale when he received the order from the Prince de Conty on 2 July 1652, to take a franche company to the King's service. He married with damsel Catherine Sangosse on 2 June 1658 by notarized contract at the Royal notary de Laure. Mathieu and his two brothers, Pierre and Bertrand, all three Squires, were reconfirmed in their nobility on 29 July 1666. At least four children were born from this marriage: Bernard de Forcade, Seigneur de La Grézère, Étienne de Forcade, Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de la Roquette and Jean-Silvestre de Forcade, Seigneur de Lastranenq.
      1. Bernard de Forcade, Seigneur de La Grézère, married in succession with Gratienne Samazeuil and Jeanne du Bourdieu, the latter by notarized contract at the notary Laujacq on 25 December 1700, and had one son, Bertrand de Forcade, Seigneur de La Grézère.
         1. Bertrand de Forcade, Seigneur de La Grézère, from the second marriage to Jeanne du Bourdieu, moved to Marmande and married with Damsel Françoise de Tapie de Monteil, daughter of Noble Pierre de Tapie, Seigneur de Monteil, Squire, and Lady Marie de Priames, by notarized contract at the notary Pardejac in the parish of Coussan in the jurisdiction of Marmande on 11 September 1729. He was accompanied by his great uncle, Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de La Roquette, Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Louis. Two children were born from this marriage: Étienne II. and Catherine.
            1. Étienne II. de Forcade, Seigneur de La Grézère was appointed an Ensign in the 1st Company of the naval infantry Régiment de Vermandois on 1 March 1757 and was promoted to Lieutenant later the same year, on 2 September. On 2 June 1765, he was ordered by the Duke de Lorges, Lieutenant General of the King's armies and Commander-in-Chief of the Province of Guyenne to board the vessel le Bordelois with fifty men and to "…follow its destination according to the orders he would receive from Mr. d'Aubenton, the General Commissioner of orders for the Navy." A recipient of the Knight of the Order of Saint Louis. He was summoned to the Assembly of Nobility of the Bailiwick of Bazas which met on 10 March 1789. Three days later, he was again summoned to the Assembly of nobility of the Bailiwick of Agen, where he was appointed one of the Commissioners by the Order of Nobility. He married with Françoise Roudier, daughter of François Roudier, Deputy Mayor, of the commune of Langon, in Langon, on 12 June 1766 by notarized contract. Four sons resulted from their marriage: René-Pierre-Étienne, Hugues-Dorothée, Jean-Baptiste-Gaston, and Jean. The couple was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror as enemies of the revolution. They were freed after the revolution, probably on 13 February 1795, at the same time as 67 other detainees.
               1. René-Pierre-Étienne de Forcade de la Grézère, eldest son of the preceding Étienne II. de Forcade, Seigneur de La Grézère, was an infantry officer with the Prince de Condé's army, in the Régiment de Dauphiné before 1789. He emigrated with sibling Hugues-Dorothée to Prussia on 20 October 1791, where he was received in Breslau by descendants of the Forcade-Biaix family, who had left France for Prussia following the Edict of Fontainebleau, and who held important positions in the Prussian Army. With the help of his cousin, a General in the Forcade-Biaix family, he and his younger brother, Jean-Gaston de Forcade de La Grézère, were commissioned Second lieutenants on 11 July 1798. He returned home to France in 1806, after the revolution. In 1815, he was named as Colonel Commandant of the National Guard in the arrondissement of Marmande by the Count d'Artois. He was a recipient of the Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Louis. He married 30-year-old Françoise-Félicité-Pauline de Suriray de La Rue or Suriray de Larue on 7 June 1813, or 12 June 1815, aged 44 years, and died at Suriray in the commune of Fauillet on 11 March 1852 as a retired senior officer. Two sons were born: Étienne-Gabriel-Camille de Forcade de La Grézère, born 5 October 1814, and Noble Maximillian de Forcade de La Grézère, married with Marie-Albine-Léonie Guiot du Repaire, daughter of the Baron Guiot du Repaire.
                  1. Étienne-Gabriel-Camille de Forcade de La Grézère, born 5 October 1814, married Louise-Augustine-Éléonore de Clappiers, from a noble family in Provence, on 25 Apr 1855. From this marriage, two daughters:
                     1. Pauline-Bénédictine-Marie de Forcade de La Grézère, born 15 April 1854.
                     2. Françoise-Marie-Louise-Valentine de Forcade de La Grézère, born 7 August 1855.
                  2. Noble Maximillian de Forcade de La Grézère, married with Marie-Albine-Léonie Guiot du Repaire, daughter of the Baron Guiot du Repaire on 20 April 1849. The marriage produced three children, of which:
                     1. Henri-Dieudonné de Forcade de La Grézère, born 23 Jun 1850, who had for Godparents His Royal Highness Monseigneur the Count of Chambord, and Her Royal Highness Madame the Duchess d'Angoulême, the eldest child of Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette.
                     2. Marie-Françoise-Edith de Forcade de La Grézère, born 4 October 1852.
                     3. Jeanne-Marie-Marguerite de Forcade de La Grézère, born 11 May 1858.
               2. Hugues-Dorothée de Forcade de La Grézère, who died in Oberndorf am Neckar during the French Revolution aged 23 years on 11 November 1794.
               3. Jean-Baptiste-Gaston de Forcade de La Grézère, who obtained a certificate of residence on 17 May 1793, aged 20 years. Knight of the Legion of Honour, Mayor of Marmande during the Restauration Era, he married c. 1825 with Mademoiselle Laure de Faget de Quennefer, daughter of Noble Faget de Quennefer and of Dame Alexandrine de Burgues de Missiessy, from the family of Vice Admiral and Counter Admiral de Burgues de Missiessy.
                  1. Adrien de Forcade, Assistant Imperial Prosecutor in Auch, Conseiller at the Appellate Court of Bordeaux, removed from office in 1884. He married, but left only two daughters, thus extinguishing the branch of males to carry the name forward. One of his daughters married Victor de Lévezou de Vesins gave birth to a son, who was the Count Bernard de Vesins.
                  2. Marie de Forcade, who married Count Ladislas de Levezou de Vezins, captain in the Artillery, son of Monsignor Jean-Aimé de Levezou de Vezins, later Bishop of Agen, and the prelate son of a Dame de Mostuéjouls, both of whose ancestors participated in the 7th Crusade of King Louis IX of France.
               4. Noble Jean de Forcade de La Roquette, born in 1780, 4th son of Étienne II. de Forcade, Seigneur de La Grézère, was a Juge de Paix (now called a Judge at the Tribunal d'instance) in Paris from 1811 to 1846, Knight of the Order of Malta, and Knight of the Legion of Honor He was married with Dame Louise-Catherine Papillon de La Tapy (or Papillon de Latapie), the widow of Jean Dominique Le Roy, previously Prefect of the department of Aude and a Knight of the Legion of Honor. She was the niece of Maréchal de Saint-Arnaud and of Senator de Saint-Arnaud. She had two children from her first marriage, Armand-Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud and Adolphe Le Roy de Saint-Arnaud. Their marriage produced one son: Jean-Louis-Victor-Adolphe de Forcade de La Roquette.
                  1. Jean-Louis-Victor-Adolphe de Forcade de La Roquette aka Adolphe de Forcade La Roquette, son of the preceding Noble Jean de Forcade de La Roquette, born 8 April 1820 in Paris, Minister of Finance (1860), Senator during the Second French Empire (1861), Vice President of the French Conseil d'État (1863), and Minister of Public Works in 1867, Minister of Commerce, Minister of Agriculture (1867–1868), Minister of the Interior (1868–1870) in the third government of Napoleon III, and Grand Collier of the Legion of Honor. In 1847, together with his half-brother, Marshal of France Achille Armand Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud, Gouverneur de Paris (Military Governor of Paris) and the Ministre de la Guerre (Minister of War, he jointly acquired the Château de Malromé in Saint-André-du-Bois (Gironde). The two half-brothers would, over time, restore the castle according to plans by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the French architect and theorist, famous for his interpretive "restorations" of medieval buildings. He died 15 August 1874, leaving three children from his marriage on 2 October 1847 in Paris to Joséphine-Adélaïde Cutlar-Fergusson (born 1831 in London; died 25 December 1889 in Paris, 8th Arrondissement): Gaston, Robert and Jane. On 20 May 1883, Joséphine-Adélaïde, his financially ruined widow, sold the Château de Malromé to Countess Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa, mother of painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who died there on 9 September 1901.
                     1. Gaston de Forcade de La Roquette
                     2. Robert de Forcade de La Roquette
                     3. Philiberte-Ange-Henriette de Forcade de La Roquette, aka Jane de Forcade de La Roquette, whose Godparents were His Royal Highness, Emperor Napoléon III and Her Majesty Eugénie de Montijo, the last Empress consort of the French. She married Ernst-Paul-Maurice l'Epine, civil engineer, son of Louis-Ernst-Victor-Jules l'Epine and Pasquela-Angela Lanier on 8 August 1886.
            2. Catherine de Forcade, married Jean-Baptiste de Geneste, Seigneur and Baron de Malromé. She was summoned to the General Assembly of the Nobility of Bordeaux in 1789, but did not attend. Catherine de Forcade, widow of the Baron de Malromé, acquired the Château de Malromé in Saint-André-du-Bois (Gironde) around 1780, renaming it to its present name in memory of her deceased husband. She transmitted the castle in 1847 to Jean-Louis-Victor-Adolphe de Forcade de La Roquette, President du Conseil d'État under Napoléon III, and to his half-brother, Marshal of France Achille Armand Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud, Gouverneur de Paris (Military Governor of Paris) and the Ministre de la Guerre (Minister of War.
         2. 'Étienne de Forcade, Étienne's second son, married in 1709 with a lawyer's daughter, Suzanne Brocas and had two sons: Bernard and Bertrand.
            1. Bernard de Forcade, who married in Bazas in 1740 with a Mademoiselle du Bernet.
            2. Bertrand de Forcade, who married in 1747 with a Mademoiselle Pénicaut.
         3. Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de la Roquette was first appointed a captain in the Count de Damas Regiment on 28 August 1680, then again as a captain in the Sancerre Regiment on 1 March 1701. He was awarded Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Louis on 20 September 1714, promoted to Major in the Sancerre Regiment on 18 December 1724, then retired by the King. He was still living on 11 September 1729.
         4. Jean-Silvestre de Forcade, Seigneur de Lastranenq (died After 8 April 1685), Squire, who was reconfirmed in his nobility on 29 July 1666. He married Damoiselle Suzanne de Pinon (died After 8 April 1685). From this marriage were born: Bernard, Bertrand, Marie, Paul and Élizabeth.
            1. Bernard de Forcade, Squire, a witness at his sister's 1685 and 1713 marriage contracts.
            2. Bertrand de Forcade, Squire, a witness at his sister's 1685 and 1713 marriage contracts.
            3. Marie de Forcade, who married by notarized contract on 1 April 1685 at the royal notary de Labrouche, with Noble Raymond de Tamanhan, Seigneur de La Barthe, third son of Mathieu de Tamanhan, Seigneur de Gravillas, and his wife Marie de Peyrusse. This contract was transformed into a public contract with the same notary, in the noble house of Lastranenq, situated in Masseilles, residence of the bride's father, on 8 April 1685. Four children were born from this marriage: Jean-François, Pierre, Marguerite and Élizabeth de Tamanhan. She married in a second marriage with Daniel de Brocas, Seigneur de Las Grézères (born 1657), Squire, on 21 September 1715, in the presence of Nobles Bernard, Bertrand and Paul de Fourcade, all Squires, her brothers, Noble Pierre de Fourcade, Squire, her uncle, and Élisabeth de Caumont, her sister-in-law. She notarized her testament at the notary Beauroche, in Casteljaloux, on 20 January 1724, in which she instituted her nephew, the Knight de Tamaignon (sic) as her general and universal heir, and left her husband the use of all of her assets in recognition of the good care she received from him.
            4. Élizabeth de Forcade, a witness at her sister's 1685 marriage contract.
            5. Paul de Forcade, Squire, a witness at his sister's 1713 marriage contract.
      2. Bernard de Forcade, married in Bazas in 1740 with a Mademoiselle du Bernet and had one son, Bertrand de Forcade.
         1. Bertrand de Forcade married in 1747 with a Mademoiselle Pénicaut.
   2. Pierre de Forcade (died After 1636), Squire, lawyer, Jurat in Pau (1626), and Garde en la monnaie de Pau (1622–36). He married before 1601 with Marie de Maserolles. His grandson, Jean de Forcade, Seigneur de Biaix is the founder of the Forcade-Biaix family line.
   3. Bertrand de Forcade, Squire.

Notable members of this family include (in order of birth year):

Étienne II. de Forcade de La Grézère, Ensign and later Lieutenant in the 1st Company of the naval infantry Régiment de Vermandois, recipient of the Knight of the Order of Saint Louis, he was convoked to the General Assemblies of Nobility of the Bailiwicks of Bazas and Agen in March 1789 and was appointed as one of its Commissioners by the nobility. He had four children from his marriage, all of whom emigrated to Prussia during the French Revolution, one of which, a daughter aged 23 years, died during emigration in Oberndorf am Neckar.

René-Pierre-Etienne de Forcade de La Grézère, eldest son of the preceding Étienne II. de Forcade de La Grézère, was an officer in the Régiment de Dauphiné before 1789. He emigrated to Prussia on 20 October 1791, where he was received in Breslau by descendants of the Forcade-Biaix family, who had left France for Prussia following the Edict of Fontainebleau, and who held important positions in the Prussian Army. With the help of his cousin, a General in the Forcade-Biaix family, he and his younger brother, Jean-Gaston de Forcade de La Grézère, were commissioned Second lieutenants on 11 July 1798. He returned home to France in 1806, after the revolution. In 1815, he was named as Colonel Commandant of the National Guard in the arrondissement of Marmande by the Count d'Artois. He was a recipient of the Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint-Louis, He died 11 March 1852, as a retired senior officer. From his marriage on 12 Jun 1815 to Françoise-Félicité-Pauline de Suriray de La Rue two sons were born: Étienne-Gabriel-Camille, born 5 October 1814, and Noble Maximillian de Forcade de La Grézère, married with Marie-Albine-Léonie Guiot du Repaire, daughter of the Baron Guiot du Repaire.

Noble Jean de Forcade de La Roquette, 4th son of Étienne de Forcade de La Grézère, was a Juge de Paix (now called a Judge at the Tribunal d'instance) in Paris from 1811 to 1846, Knight of the Order of Malta, and Knight of the Legion of Honor He was married with Dame Louise-Catherine Papillon de La Tapy, the widow of Mr. Le Roy de Saint-Arnaud, previously Prefect of the department of Aude and a Knight of the Legion of Honor.

Jean-Louis-Victor-Adolphe de Forcade de La Roquette aka Adolphe de Forcade de La Roquette, son of the preceding Noble Jean de Forcade de La Roquette, born 8 April 1820 in Paris, Minister of Finance (1860), Senator during the Second French Empire (1861), Vice President of the French Conseil d'État (1863), and Minister of Public Works in 1867, Minister of Commerce, Minister of Agriculture (1867–1868), and Minister of the Interior (1868–1870) in the third government of Napoleon III. He married Joséphine-Adélaïde Cutlar-Fergusson (born 1831 in London, died 25 December 1889 in Paris, 8th Arrondissement) on 2 October 1847 in Paris and died 15 August 1874. His half-brothers from his mother's first marriage were Armand-Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud and Adolphe Le Roy de Saint-Arnaud.

The principal alliances in this branch of the family were de Tapie (1729), de Suriray (1813/15), Guiot de Repaire (1849), de Clappiers (1855), Faget de Quennefer, de Lévezou de Vasins, Clauzel, de Bazelaire (1896), de Barberin, de Bonfils (1882), de Malvin (1690), Schlumberger (1920) and Lagroy de Croutte de Saint-Martin (1893).

Forcade, sieurs du Grand-Tauzia, du Pin, de la Prade, de Martiné

Coat of Arms: An escutcheon with the field divided into four parts. Left half: argent tincture, a lion rampant gules; azure tincture charged with three mullets or below it; Right half: azure tincture charged with three mullets or; argent tincture charged with three gules bendlets dexter below it. A Count's coronet as helmut on top of the escutcheon. Two or lions supporting the escutcheon.

Heraldic symbolism: The lion symbolizes courage; the mullets (5-star) symbolize divine quality bestowed by god; The bendlets represent the scarf or shield suspender of a knight commander signifying defence or protection; granted to those who have distinguished themselves as commanders. A count's coronet to demonstrate rank and because the family originally served the counts of Foix and Béarn during the English Wars of the late Middle Ages.

Nobles, Gentlemen, Squires and Seigneurs du Tauzia, du Pin, de la Prade and de Martiné, this branch belongs to the nobility of Gascony. They provided France with numerous military officers. Together with the branches de Forcade de La Grézère and de Forcade de La Roquette, they claim a common shared ancestry with the de Forcade family of Orthez in Béarn. This ancestry was confirmed in the 9 September 1666 judgment received by Philippe de Lafourcade, Seigneur de la Prade.

Older books on the topic of genealogies of noble families state that the family resided since the 16th century in the small village of Laplume in the diocese of Agen, at the time the capital of the Viscounty and the Bailiwick of Brulhois. Modern records indicate, however, that the historical residence of the family de la Forcade du Tauzia is located in the village of Mézin, in Lot-et-Garonne.

This branch of the family was maintained in their nobility by judgments dated 3 September 1666, by Mr. Dupuy (or du Puy), subdelegate of Claude Pellot, Intendant of Guyenne in Bordeaux, 20 June 1696 by Claude Bazin de Bezons, also the Intendant of Guyenne in Bordeaux, and, lastly by a judgment of the Conseil d'État rendered 29 June 1787 in the presence of the King. These three judgments leave no doubt about the origins of the branch, in that the family's nobility and filiation was legally established going back to Jean de Forcade, who was qualified as noble, Squire and Governor of the Château d'Auvillar in his marriage contract dated 29 April 1554. The 3 September 1666 judgment further confirms that Philippe de La Forcade, sieur de La Prade, was a squire, a captain in the infantry, that his father had been one of the Henry IV of France's bodyguards, that his grandfather had been Governor of the Château d'Auvillar and that they descended from the noble house of Forcade in Orthez, in Béarn.

O'Gilvy goes on to speculate that, for this reason, they must have descended from one of the four sons of Noble Jean de Forcade, who were named in his testament that was notarized on 21 July 1505: François, Gaston, Arnaud or Raymond. He named the father as Noble Odet de Forcade, a native and resident of Orthez, as his father, citing an unnamed heraldry cabinet in Bordeaux as his source, without further precision concerning the documentation.

Marguerite of Angoulême, aka Marguerite d'Orléans, married 9 October 1509 with Charles IV, Duke of Alençon, Count of Armagnac and, in June 1515, Viscount of Auvillar. He died in 1525 without descendants and she remarried with Henry d'Albret, King of Navarre in 1527 who therewith also became Viscount of Auvillar. He was succeeded by his daughter, Jeanne d'Albret in 1555 through her marriage to Antoine de Bourbon. The Protestants retained possession of Auvillar until June 1571, when the city was retaken by royalist troops. No sooner was Auvillar retaken by royalist troops, than the inhabitants of Auvillar, completely demolished the Viscountal castle to avenge the excesses and abuses of the Huguenots and to retaliate against Henry III of Navarre, their leader. Jeanne d'Albret was succeeded in 1572 as Viscount of Auvillar by her son, Henry III of Navarre, who Henry of Navarre retook Auvillar, where he stayed from 13 to 15 November 1574, but he decided against rebuilding the castle. In 1589 he became Henry IV, King of France.

1. Jean de Forcade, perhaps Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte, (born Before 1530; died After 1584) Squire, is said to have been appointed Governor of the Château d'Auvillar by letters patent from Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of (Lower) Navarre, daughter of Henry d'Albret and mother of Henry of Navarre. He was qualified as a Noble and a Squire in both his marriage contract with Odette de Rey on 29 April 1554 at the notary Ouzannet in Laplume, and in his testament dated 7 September 1571 at the same notary. Although the castle was destroyed by the residents of Auvillar in 1572, he, or a son by the same name, was cited as a captain at the Château d'Auvillar in 1584. His wife, Odette de Rey, was the sister of Noble Jacques de Rey, Seigneur de La Salle, who was a captain and the military commandant of the village of Laplume. In his testament, he names three sons and two daughters from his marriage, named in the following order: Pierre, Étienne, Bernard, Antoinette and Marie. At least two of these sons carried on the noble family lines.
   1. Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Martiné, Squire, son of the preceding Jean de Forcade, was a man-at-arms under Kings Henri III of France and Henry IV of France, and a man of considerable importance to Laplume, who assigned him special missions of difficult and important matters. He is named in his father's testament on 5 September 1571 and in the royal and noble ranks of 1604, 1605 and 1606. He was First Consul of Laplume from 1611 to 1615. His only child, a daughter, received the fief of Martiné in dowry when she married Bernard de Monteils, a lawyer at parliament.
   2. Étienne de Forcade, also son of Jean de Forcade, still living on 7 September 1571.
   3. Bernard de Forcade, Seigneur de la Prade, Squire, also son of Jean de Forcade, obtained together with his brother Pierre, the permission to hunt and fish in the King's lands, domains, ponds, marshes and rivers by letters patent on the last day of February 1604. He married by notarized contract at the notary Pellicier the same year with Damsel Cécile du Drot. In this act, he is qualified together with his father and eldest brother, Pierre, as a Noble and as Squire. He was further qualified as a Squire in two decrees of parliament in 1605 and 1606. A certificate produced by Mr. de Montespan dated 26 November 1606 that he was one of the archers in the Scotts Guards, within the bodyguards of King Henry IV of France. He was First Consul of Laplume in 1626. His family paid heavily for their service to the King. Of four sons, who all served in the military, three were killed in the service of the King: Étienne (died 1638), Pierre (died 1639) and N…, perhaps named Bernard (died 1672, where he was mortally wounded while acting valiantly at the siege of Augsburg on the IJssel.)
      1. Philippe de Lafourcade, Seigneur de la Prade son of the aforementioned Bernard from his second marriage, grandson of Jean de Forcade, was also qualified as a Noble and a Squire. He married Marguerite de Broquières on 29 January 1637. Philippe was First Consul of Laplume in 1646 and commissioned as an infantry captain in the régiment de Marin in 1648.
         1. Armand de Lafourcade, Seigneur du Pin, son of Philippe, married Dominique de Redon on 20 August 1674, while living in Condom. Armand left two sons, François and Marc-Antoine, who both continued his lineage.
            1. ELDER BRANCH: François de la Forcade, Seigneur du Pin et du Grand-Tauzia, married with Paule-Hélène de Frère de St. Pau in 1711.
               1. Renaud de Forcade, Seigneur du Grand-Tauzia, Armand's son, was born in Condom in 1714 and married there with Marguerite de Cailhoux in 1749, was, in his turn, again investigated concerning his nobility, and had to have it recognized again on 29 June 1787, by decree of the Conseil d'État. He died the following year, leaving three sons: Antoine de la Forcade, Seigneur du Grand-Tauzia (born 1750 in Condom), Jules Arnould de la Forcade du Pin (born 1754 in Condom) and Gabriel Victor, who died unmarried at Grand Tauzia Castle in 1850.
            2. CADET BRANCH: Marc-Antoine de Lafourcade, born in Condom on 26 December 1676, married Bernarde de Ponteil de Castillon in 1715. His great-grandson, Jean-Baptiste-Octavien de la Forcade, born in Valence, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Auch, on 12 October 1777, had his proof of nobility published in the Nouveau d'Hozier in order to be admitted to the École Militaire in 1787. Neither he nor his younger brother, Gilbert, married, thus making them the last representatives of their branch.

The principle alliances in this branch of the family were du Drot (1604), de Broquières (1637), de Redon (1674), de Ponteil de Castillon (1715), Soulès, Darodes de Bellegarde (1822), de Caussia de Mauvoisin (1858), du Bernet de Garros (1852), de Bernard de Lécussan (1833), d'Alexandry d'Orengiani (1871), de Lalyman de Varennes (1891) and de Saint-Meleuc 1894).

Family members in Oloron-Sainte-Marie

The following family members are presented in descending generations in consideration of their approximate age, without reference to any family ties between them, unless otherwise stated.

1. Raymond de Forcade, Jurat in Pau, stated in his testament that he was in charge of the interests of Jacques de Foix, Bishop of Oloron, for ten years.
   1. Guiraud de Laforcade, merchant from Oloron in 1588, notarized his testament in 1594.
      1. Tristan de Laforcade, from Oloron, lawyer at the Seneschalty, married Suzanne de Saint-Martin c. 1590.
      2. Guoalhard Laforcade, aka Gaillard de Laforcade, was a notary in Oloron between 1611 and 1620. Gaillard de Laforcade is again cited as a notary in Ossau Valley (Vic du milieu) between 1619 and 1625.
         1. Jeanne de Forcade married Jean de Campagne, lawyer, in the early years of the 17th century. Their daughter, Damoiselle Anne de Campagne, from Oloron, married by notarized contract with Pierre de Medalon, lawyer, from Arudy on 24 July 1639.
         2. Marie de Forcade, from Oloron, married Noble François d'Andoins, Seigneur de Camptort, born in Navarrenx but living in Castetnau, a lawyer at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, by notarized contract in Navarrenx on 18 March 1623. In his testament he declared, that seven children remained from his marriage to Marie de Forcade. The bridegroom's uncle, who assisted at his marriage, was Israël d'Andoins, Seigneur de Labat d'Estos, husband of Catherine de Forcade.
         3. Jean de Forcade, was the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron between 1626 and 1649, as evidenced by a land sale by Jean d'Abbadie, Attorney General at the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre of (Lower) Navarre, to Jean de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron, at the notary Jean d'Agoeix in Pau and other transactions below. The Attorney General at the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre from 1589 to 1594 had been Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson.
            1. Pierre de Forcade, was the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron between 1653 and 1665 as evidenced by the notarized testament in Oloron of his wife, Catherine d'Angaïs, and other property transactions.
               1. Jean de Forcade, was the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron in 1671.

Chronology of historical sources in Oloron-Sainte-Marie

Between 1533–35, the testament of Raymond de Forcade, Jurat in Pau, is notarized at the notary Fortaner d'Agos in Pau. In his testament, among other things, he invites the jurats to dine with him on the day of his funeral and again at the end of the year; he states that he was in charge of the interests of Jacques de Foix, Bishop of Oloron, for ten years, that the latter still owes him 50 écus, and that in case of refusal to pay, he relies on the conscience of the bishop, who therewith falls into mortal sin.

Between 1537–39, an inventory of furniture belonging to Jean de Forcade, Surgeon in Oloron.

On 27 May 1575, Joanet de Gassion, from Ledeuix, a wool merchant and inhabitant of Oloron, married by notarized contract with Anne de Lailhacar, daughter of Bertranet de Lailhacar, from Oloron, and Bernardine de Laforcade, his wife, from Escout. Joanet de Gassion married a second time by notarized contract in Oloron on 7 March 1588, with Françoise de Lanne, widow of Arnaud de Taulès, a wool merchant in Oloron. He was assisted by Sire Guiraud de Laforcade, merchant, and Pès de Vignes, wool merchant, both from Oloron, his relatives.

1590–91, the marriage by notarized contract between Tristan de Laforcade, from Oloron, lawyer at the Seneschalty, and Suzanne de Saint-Martin. He was assisted by Jean Du Fréchou, Master of Petitions of (Lower) Navarre ("Maître des Requêtes du domaine de (Lower) Navarre), Anne de Saint-Martin, Dame de Camou de Salies, his wife, and others.

The notarized testament of Guiraud de Laforcade, merchant in Oloron, in 1594, witnessed by Isaac Baldran, Minister in Oloron, and Pierre Noguès, Doctor of Medicine.

Between 1606–08, the sale of a piece of land by Pierre d'Abbadie, Baron d'Arboucave, to Tristan de Laforcade, lawyer in Oloron.

Guoalhard Laforcade, aka Gaillard de Laforcade was a notary in Oloron between 1611 and 1620. Gaillard de Laforcade is again cited as a notary in Ossau Valley (Vic du milieu) between 1619 and 1625.

Marie de Forcade, from Oloron, married Noble François d'Andoins, Seigneur de Camptort, born in Navarrenx but living in Castetnau, a lawyer at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, by notarized contract in Navarrenx on 18 March 1623. He was assisted at his marriage by Israël d'Andoins, Seigneur de Labat d'Estos, his uncle, husband of Catherine de Forcade. François d'Andoins, purchased the Seigneurie de Camptort, together with the right to enter the Estates of Béarn, for 7,000 Bordeaux francs, from Noble Isaac de Portau, Counsellor to the King, Inspector of Wars and Artillery for the Béarn, and his son Jean de Portau, his son, lawyer at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre and Secretary of the Estates of Béarn. François d'Andoins, Seigneur de Camptort was received into the Estates of Béarn on 4 September 1655. François d'Andoins, from Castetnau, married with Damoiselle Marguerite de Jasses, daughter of Noble Pierre de Casamajor, Seigneur de Jasses et d'Araux and of Marguerite d'Espalungue, Dame d'Arros, on 22 March 1664. At his marriage, he was assisted by, among others, his father, his mother, Damoiselle Marie de Forcade, Noble Israel d'Andoins, his brother, Pierre de Menvielle (sic), his first cousin. The senior François d'Andoin's testament, dated 1 September 1666, was opened on 29 March 1677 at the request of his son, Israël d'Andoins, from Castetnau, a Doctor of Medicine in Oloron. In this testament he declared, among other things, that seven children remained from his marriage to Marie de Forcade, from Oloron.

C. 1626, sale of a piece of land by Jean d'Abbadie, Attorney General at the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre of (Lower) Navarre, to Jean de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron, at the notaries Pierre de Pierre and Jean d'Agoeix in Pau.

Jeanne de Forcade married Jean de Campagne, lawyer, in the early years of the 17th century. Their daughter, Damoiselle Anne de Campagne, from Oloron, married by notarized contract with Pierre de Medalon, lawyer, from Arudy on 24 July 1639.

Jean de Laforcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron, and Jean de Minvielle, Counsellor at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre assisted at the marriage by notarized contract between Daniel de Cassou, from Oloron, et Sara de Bonnecaze, from Pau, c. 1639.

C. 1649, the sale of a house by Jean de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron, to Dominique de Busos.

C. 1653, the testament of Catherine d'Angaïs, wife of Pierre de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron, was notarized in Oloron.

On 14 February 1655, Pierre de Forcade, the King's prosecutor in the district of Oloron ("Procureur du roi au parsan d'Oloron"), assisted at the signing of the notarized contract between Maître Pierre de Florence, merchant in Oloron, and Damoiselle Suzanne de Superville.

C. 1660, an investigation by Pierre de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron, at the request of Jean de Cazette, municipal treasurer in Lanne, against the people of Barcus concerning the disorder brought by them with regard to the exploitation of pastures in the Barétous Valley.

C. 1665, the sale of a house by Pierre de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron, to Jeanne d'Aylou, alias Mayou, at the notary Daniel d'Arripe in Oloron.

A Forcade is named as the Ecclesiastical Tax Receiver ("receveur des fr:décimes de Béarn") in the diocese of Oloron in January 1670, in a written request made by Mr. Bartet for guards or soldiers, without which the clergy in Béarn would not pay.

Wage records for all the Prosecutors in the various districts at the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre list Jean de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron in 1671.

C. 1679, Pierre de Laforcade, Lieutenant in the Schomberg Regiment, assisted at the signing of the contract between Joël de Saint-Girons, from Oloron, and his fiancée, Anne de Reylostau, at the notary Pierre de Guiroye in Lagor.

Marriage by notarized contract at the notary Jean de Courrèges in Oloron in 1683, between Pierre de Forcade, lawyer at the Parliament de (Lower) Navarre, and Catherine de Lamouroux. Assisting at the marriage were Pierre de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron, Bernard de Casaux, Seigneur de Sassus, Henri de La Salle, Seigneur d'Eyzus, Séraphine de Lurbe, Dame de Gurmençon, Hyacinthe de Lamouroux, Captain of the Regiment of Champagne, Clément de Lurbe, Vicar General and Official of Oloron, Clément de Lurbe, Seigneur du Domec-Poc d'Asasp, Joseph de Lurbe, Canon of Oloron, Pierre de Lamouroux, Doctor of Theology, Priest of Sainte-Marie church of Oloron, Jacob de Florence, Abbé de Lescun, Seigneur d'Agnos and Jean de Casedepats, Abbé de Bilhères, Seigneur d'Izeste.

A land sale c. 1690 by Arnaud de Laforcade recorded at the notary Jean de Courrèges in Oloron, to François de Planterose, Seigneur de Légugnon, Treasurer of the Finances of (Lower) Navarre and Jean de Planterose, Abbé de Légugnon.

C. 1699, the sale of a house by Pierre de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron, to Jean d'Escopulet.

Forcade, sieurs du Domec de Dognen

The Forcades du Domec de Dognen do not descend from Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson, as evidenced by their continuing nobility during the period of 1613–1656, during which time he and his descendants were stripped of their nobility. Instead, they are believed to descend from an unnamed brother, perhaps Dominique de Laforcade, who married with Agnes Ducosso de Bilheres-Projan.

Archives show the Forcades du Domec de Dognen branch of the family subsisted in Dognen until at least 1802, perhaps longer.

The Fief of Domec de Dognen

The fief "Le Domec" is located in the commune of Dognen ("Donenh" in 1385) and is listed in the Census of 1385 as lostau deu Domec domeger. It was a vassal of the Viscounty of Béarn, and, like the commune of Dognen itself, was a part of the bailiwick of Navarrenx, near Oloron-Sainte-Marie. In 1385, Dognen was composed of 35 feus. Dognen was once home to four castles, Domec being one of them; the others were d'Espalungue, d'Oroignen and Sensaudens. Domec was destroyed and is no longer standing today. In the reform of the territory of Béarn of 1674, it is called Le Domecq.

The Seigneur du Domec de Dognen between 1606 and 1617 was Jean de Minvielle, who wed in his first marriage with Marie de Laforcade (died before 1609), a daughter of Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson, c. 1606 in Pau. He married in his second marriage before 19 January 1609 with Marie du Peyrer, and notarized his testament in 1617., Marie remarried in her second marriage following his death with Maître Abraham de Brosser, at the time a bourgeois and merchant in Orthez, and later Seigneur de Maison-Neuve de Brosser, in Orthez.

Forcade-Domec de Dognen family members

1. An unnamed de Laforcade who had at least one son, Jean.
   1. Noble Jean de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, who was received as a member the Estates of Béarn for the domaine of Domec de Dognen, between 1619 and 1622. From an unknown spouse he had at least one son, Marie, Marguerite, Raymond and David, who continued the noble descendance and who follows.
      1. Noble David de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen (died after 1674), who married by notarized contract at the notary Abraham de Lavie in Navarrenx with Jeanne de Portau on 19 April 1635. At least two sons were born from this marriage, Daniel and Jacques.
         1. Noble Daniel de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen.
         2. Jacques Du Domec, son of David de Fourcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, who married by notarized contract with Marie, daughter of Philippe d'Abbadie, Abbé laïque de Lanne between 1667 and 1673.
      2. Marie de Forcade, who married by notarized contract with Jean de Susbielle, merchant in Dognen in 1624.
      3. Marguerite de Laforcade, who married Fortaner d'Abbadie from Sus, by notarized contract in Navarrenx c. 1616–27. Also assisting at her marriage, in addition to her father, was Pierre de Forcade and Jean de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron.
      4. Raymond de Laforcade, aka Laborde, who was living in 1627.

Forcade-Domec de Dognen chronology

Catherine de Forcade de Dognen (from Dognen), who was the second wife of Pierre Chassevant, a captain in Navarrenx, who notarized his testament on 3 Mar 1582. This latter's name bears a strikingly close resemblance to another captain in Navarrenx at the same time, Assibat de Badie, aka Assibat de Casanab, Seigneur d'Espalungue, aka the Captain Casabant, who married in his first marriage with Catherine de Bescat, aka Catherine d'Espalunge by notarized contract on 9 August 1562.

About 1563, the sale by auction of the woodland pasture called "Bernet", by Arnaud de Forcade, Pastor of Dognen, Prosecutor for Jacques de Sainte-Colomme, Seigneur d'Esgoarrabaque et d'Oroignen.

Marguerite de Laforcade from Dognen, married Fortaner d'Abbadie from Sus, by notarized contract in Navarrenx c. 1616–27. Assisting at the marriage were: Louis d'Abbadie, David de Bachoué, Seigneur de Barraute, Jean de Bachoué, Fortaner de Partarriu, Guirard d'Abbadie, Jean de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, Jeanne de La Courtoisie, Pierre de Forcade and Jean de Forcade, the King's Prosecutor in the district of Oloron.

Between 1619 and 1622, Jean de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen was received as a member the Estates of Béarn.

C. 1622, an exchange of land between Jean de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, and Arnaud de Noguès.

1624, the sale of a house by Jean de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, to Jeanne de La Borde.

C. 1627, an exchange of land between Jacques d'Abbadie, Seigneur d'Oroignen and Ramon de Laforcade, aka de Laborde, from Dognen.

1627, the sale of land by Jean de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, to Jeanne de Labuche.

C. 1634, a notarized receipt for 2,000 francs made out by Louis d'Abbadie to Jean de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, for the dowry of Marguerite de Forcade, married to Fortaner d'Abbadie from Sus.

Noble David de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen owner of a noble property in Dognen, in the Seneschalty of Oloron who married with Jeanne de Portau by notarized contract at the notary Abraham de Lavie in Navarrenx on 19 April 1635. Assisting at the signing of this contract were Fortaner d'Abbadie from Sus, Jean de Bonnecaze, Seigneur des Mondrans, Arnaud de Costère, from Géronce, Jean Du Poey, Abbé de Camptort, Isaàc de Portau, Seigneur de Camptort, Controller in Navarrenx, Anne d'Arrac, his wife, Abraham de Bachoué, Jacques d'Arrac, Seigneur de Casaus, Jean de Saint-Orens, lawyer, Gédéon de Barat, Abbé de Bourdettes, Charles de Lateulade and Lieutenant to the King in Navarrenx. Jaurgain puts forth his claim with proof that she was the younger sister of Isaac de Portau aka "Portos", one of the legendary three mousquetaires, and d'Artagnon's best friend, both children of Isaac de Portau from his second marriage to Anne d'Arrac.

Between 1645 and 1649, the sale of a piece of land by David de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, to Arnaud de Saffores.

Payment of a retirement pension to Mr. de Forcade-Domec.

C. 1650, David de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen assisted at the marriage by notarized contract between Jean d'Andoins, Doctor of Medicine in Oloron, and Marguerite de Maisonnave, from Dognen; other persons assisting included Israël d'Andoins, Seigneur de Labbat from Estos, Henri d'Andoins, Daniel d'Abbadie, Seigneur d'Oroignen, Jeanne d'Andoins, Dame de Treslay, Jacques de Tachouères, from Labastide-Villefranche, François and Mathieu d'Andoins and Pierre d'Onès, Minister of the church of Audaux.

Between 1651 and 1658, a receipt in the amount of 166 francs by David de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, to François à Lachanne.

The sale of a piece of land by David de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, to Jean de Mauhourat c. 1658.

A land sale by David de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, to Pès de Campagnette, before 1661.

An exchange of land between David de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen, et Arnaud de Vignau, c. 1663.

C. 1670, a commitment of the tithe of Sus by Fortaner d'Abbadie to Daniel de Forcade, Seigneur du Domec de Dognen.

David de Forcade provided a declaration of his noble assets, the house of Domec de Dognen, situated in the Seneschalty of Oloron to the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre in Pau during the reform of the domaine of Béarn, c. 1674.

Forcade, sieurs de Gouze et d'Uhart-Juson

There are conflicting facts concerning the ancestry of the Forcade de Gouze et d'Uhart-Juson. Their continuing nobility during the period of 1631–1656, during which time Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de La Fitte-Juson and his descendants were stripped of their nobility indicates that they do not descend from him. In this case, they are believed to descend from an unnamed brother, perhaps Dominique de Laforcade, who married with Agnes Ducosso de Bilheres-Projan. However, at the signing of her notarized contract, Marthe de Laforcade-Gouze was assisted by, among others, Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Baure, from Orthez, who is cited as her first cousin. Depending on how loosely the definition of "first cousin" is applied, the argument could be made that they both descended from brothers and were, therefore, first cousins, a couple of times removed.

The Fiefs of Gouze and d'Uhart-Juson

The fief of Gouze was located in the commune of Lagor and was a dependency of the Bailiwick of Pau. The Census of 1385 counted 20 feus.

The fief of Uhart-Juson en Navarre, also called Uhart-Mixe to distinguish it from another, Uhart-Cize, is located in the commune of Saint-Palais.

fr:Jean de Jaurgain makes specific reference to the family's properties in an article he wrote in 1917 about the origins of Saint-Palais, which, translated into English, reads:

"…Documents found in my files allow me to clarify better than I did above, the passage of this [manor] "Salle de Saint-Palais" to the house of Gassion. Noble Jean de Lafourcade, Seigneur de Gouze et d'Uhart-Juson, acquired the noble house called the "Salie (sic) de Saint-Palais", with its woods, tithe, fields, meadows, vineyards, fiefs, justice of the Rue Neuve of said city, and all useful and honorary rights attached to it, from Messire Gabriel, Baron d'Armendarits, by contract dated 12 May 1653, for a price of 16,000 Bordeaux francs. On 14 August 1662, Dame Anne d'Auga, widow of the said Jean de Lafourcade, and Messire Pierre de Lafourcade, Baron de Gouze, their son, obtained from the Seneschal of (Lower) Navarre the authorization to sell their properties in Lower Navarre in order to liquidate their debts, and on 13 April 1663, the Baron de Gouze was paid 555 francs of the amount that he charged Messire Jean, Marquis de Gassion, Audaux et Méritein, Baron de Camou and other places, "Conseiller Ordinaire" to the King on his councils, President of the Court of the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, in the price of the Noble "Salle of Saint-Palais", the mills of the said place and of Béhotéguy, half of the tithe of Beyrie and of Orsanco, sold to him by the said Sieur de Gouze."

Forcade-Gouze family members

1. Jean de Lafourcade, Seigneur de Gouze et d'Uhart-Juson (died before 14 August 1662) married Anne d'Auga (died after 14 August 1662). He was received into the Estates of Béarn for the fief of Gouze between 1631 and 1634.
   1. Pierre de Lafourcade, Seigneur de Gouze, their son, was received into the Estates of Béarn for the fief of Gouze before 1656. Hei is qualified as a Baron in 1669.
      1. Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de Gouze, his son, was received into the Estates of Béarn for the fief of Gouze before 1669.
         1. Marthe de Laforcade-Gouze, his daughter, married by notarized contract with Jacques-Joseph de Doat, Seigneur de Doat, Knight, Counsellor to the King on his Councils, Second President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre of (Lower) Navarre, on 10 February 1687.

Forcade-Gouze chronology

Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Cassaet, a fief in the commune Gouze, a vassal of the Viscounty of Béarn, was received as a member of the Estates of Béarn in Pau, c. 1650–52.

Pierre de Lafourcade, Seigneur de Gouze is named in a declaration furnished to the Estates of Navarre by Goyénèche, notary in Saint-Palais, of persons who assumed the quality of nobles in contracts, in a contract dated 24 July 1656.

Pierre de Laforcade, Seigneur de Gouze and Henri de Laforcade assisted at the marriage by notarized contract in Navarrenx between in 1669, between Gabriel de Laà, from Maslacq, captain in the Regiment of Champagne, and Marie d'Andoins. Also assisting were Pierre and André de Laà, Pierre de Bordalles, Charles de Pinsun, Seigneur de Tétignax, Jean de Casenave, from Arthez, Daniel d'Abbadie from Maslacq, Antoine de Munein, Seigneur de Castetnau, Pierre d'Abbadie, Baron d'Arboucave and David d'Abbadie, Abbé de Camptort.

Jean de Laforcade-Gouze, named in a declaration furnished to the Estates of Navarre by Goyénèche, notary in Saint-Palais, of persons who assumed the quality of nobles in contracts, c. 1669–70.

In a declaration furnished to the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre by Tristan d'Aisaguer, notary in Saint-Palais, of persons who assumed the quality of nobles in contracts, c. 1669–70, he lists, among others: Pierre de Laforcade, Baron de Gouze, Jean de Laforcade, Seigneur de Gouze and Jacob de Laforcade, Seigneur de Bardos.

Marthe de Laforcade-Gouze married by notarized contract with Jacques-Joseph de Doat, Seigneur de Doat, Knight, Counsellor to the King on his Councils, Second President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre of (Lower) Navarre, on 10 February 1687. She was assisted by, among others, Pierre de Forcade, Seigneur de Baure, her first cousin, Noble David de Lapuyade, Seigneur de La Salle, her uncle by blood, and her first cousins by blood and marriage: the Messires Jacques d'Apremont, Abbé de Sauvelade, de Laur, Baron de Lescun, de Nays, Baron de Labassère, and Noble Samson de Nays. Also assisting her were Gratian de Gassion, Lieutenant General of the King's armies, Étienne Bonnecaze, Counsellor to the King at the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, Sir Jean de Brosser, Counsellor to the King on his Councils and First Attorney General of the Parliament of (Lower) Navarre, Noble Gérôme de Day, Counsellor to the King and General Treasurer of (Lower) Navarre, Maître Louis de Saugis, lawyer at Parliament, her close friends family by marriage.

Dame Marthe de Laforcade-Gouze and her husband Jacques-Joseph de Doat, President of the Chambre des Comptes of Navarre of (Lower) Navarre, were again cited as Godparents at the baptism of Jacques-Joseph de Batz in Pau, born on 30 August 1688 and baptized the following day.