“ By Agnes, whom he divorced in 1373, he had an only son, Gaston, who is said to have been incited by his uncle, Charles II., king of Navarre, to poison his father, and who met his death in 1381. It is probable, as Froissart says, that he was killed by his father. Left without legitimate sons, Gaston was easily persuaded to bequeath his lands to King Charles VI., who thus obtained Foix and Béarn when the count died at Orthes in 1391. Gaston was very fond of hunting, but was not without a taste for art and literature. ”

“ Gaston III., who was surnamed Phoebus on account of his beauty, was the most famous member of the old Foix family. Like his father he assisted France in her struggle against England, being entrusted with the defence of the frontiers of Gascony; but when the French king, John II., showed a marked preference for the count of Armagnac, Gaston left his service and went to fight against the heathen in Prussia. Returning to France about 1357 he delivered some noble ladies from the attacks of the adherents of the Jacquerie at Meaux, and was soon at war with the count of Armagnac. ”

“ He took a prominent part in the struggle between the rival popes, and founded and endowed the Collège de Foix at Toulouse. The next count was John’s son, Gaston IV., who married Leonora (d. 1479) , a daughter of John, king of Aragon and Navarre. In 1447 he bought the viscounty of Narbonne, and having assisted King Charles VII. in Guienne, he was made a peer of France in 1458. In 1455 his father-in-law designated him as his successor in Navarre, and Louis XI. of France gave him the counties of Rousillon and Cerdagne, and made him his representative in Languedoc and Guienne ”