Balansun

Balansun
Commune
The centre of the village of Balansun
show Location of Balansun Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Balansun Balansun Show map of FranceShow map of Nouvelle-AquitaineShow all
Coordinates: 43°29′33″N 0°41′51″W / 43.4925°N 0.6975°W / 43.4925; -0.6975Coordinates: 43°29′33″N 0°41′51″W / 43.4925°N 0.6975°W / 43.4925; -0.6975
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Artix et Pays de Soubestre
Intercommunality	Lacq-Orthez
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Bénédicte Alcetegaray[1]
Area 1	10.73 km2 (4.14 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2018)[2]	293
• Density	27/km2 (71/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64088 /64300
Elevation	84–208 m (276–682 ft) (avg. 112 m or 367 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Balansun (French pronunciation: ​[balɑ̃sœ̃]; Occitan: Valensun) is a commune of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Balansenais or Balansenaises.^[3]

Geography[]

Balansun is a commune in the former province of Béarn located some 6 km east of Orthez and 4 km north of Argagnon. Access to the commune is by the D946 road from Arthez-de-Béarn in the east which passes through the centre of the commune south of the village and continues south-west to join the D817 west of Castétis. Access to the village is by the Chemin de l'Eglise which branches north off the D946 on the western side of the commune. The commune is mixed forest and farmland.^[4]

The commune is located in the Drainage basin of the Adour with the Ruisseau de Clamondé forming the southern border of the commune as it flows west to join the Gave de Pau west of Castetis. Three streams flow through the commune from east to west into the Ruisseau de Clamondé gathering many tributaries in the commune/

Places and hamlets[]

Neighbouring communes and villages[]

Toponymy[]

Michel Grosclaude said that the origin of the original name is the Gascon Latin name of a man Valentius with the suffix -unum.^[6]

The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Balansun	Balansun	1205	Raymond	19	Bérérenx	Village
	Balansun	13th century	Raymond	19	Fors de Béarn
	Balansun	1323	Grosclaude
	Balensu	1343	Raymond	20	Pardies
	Valenssun	1385	Raymond	20	Census
	Valencin	14th century	Raymond	20	Froissart
	Balanssun	1536	Raymond	20	Reformation
	Balensun	18th century	Grosclaude
	Balensun	1750	Cassini
	Balenzun	1793	Ldh/EHESS/Cassini		An II
	Balensun	1801	Ldh/EHESS/Cassini		Bulletin des lois
Bellegarde	Belegarde	1538	Raymond	27	Reformation	Farm and Fief, vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn
Friquet	la maison de Fricquet	1538	Raymond	65	Reformation	Fief, vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn
Laheuguère	La Figuere	1538	Raymond	90	Reformation	Farm
Saint-Martin	Sent-Marthii	1385	Raymond	150	Census	Farm
Tresarbres	Tresarbres	1538	Raymond	168	Reformation	Fief, vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn, with 400 arpents in 1538

Sources:

• Grosclaude: Toponymic Dictionary of communes, Béarn, 2006 (in French)^[6]
• Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (in French)^[5]
• Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750^[7]
• Ldh/EHESS/Cassini: Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Balansun, EHESS. (in French)

Origins:

• Bérérenx: Chapter of Bérérenx^[8]
• Fors de Béarn^[9]
• Pardies: Notaries of Pardies^[10]
• Census: Census of Béarn^[11]
• Froissart: Jean Froissart, Book IV
• Reformation: Reformation of Béarn^[12]

History[]

Paul Raymond noted that on page 20 of his 1863 dictionary that the fief of Balansun was a vassal of the Viscounts of Béarn and, in 1385, had 27 fires depending on the bailiwick of Pau.

Administration[]

List of Successive Mayors^[13]

Mayors from 1942

From	To	Name
1942	1944	Jean Baptiste Daugarou
1944	1946	Pierre Temboury
1946	1977	Alfred Debaig
1977	1995	Jean Sautie
1995	2001	Marie-Thérèse Maubecq
2001	2014	Anny Furbeyre
2014	2026	Bénédicte Alcetegaray

Inter-communality[]

The commune is part of four inter-communal structures:

• the Communauté de communes de Lacq-Orthez;
• the SIVU of Balansun/Castétis;
• the water and sanitation association of Trois Cantons;
• the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;

Demography[]

In 2017 the commune had 287 inhabitants.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 441 —     1800 335 −3.85% 1806 507 +7.15% 1821 486 −0.28% 1831 613 +2.35% 1836 569 −1.48% 1841 578 +0.31% 1846 574 −0.14% 1851 375 −8.16% 1856 374 −0.05% 1861 329 −2.53% 1866 305 −1.50% 1872 276 −1.65% 1876 271 −0.46% 1881 265 −0.45% 1886 270 +0.37% 1891 269 −0.07% 1896 254 −1.14%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 233 −1.71% 1906 231 −0.17% 1911 219 −1.06% 1921 219 +0.00% 1926 223 +0.36% 1931 194 −2.75% 1936 214 +1.98% 1946 200 −0.67% 1954 203 +0.19% 1962 177 −1.70% 1968 202 +2.23% 1975 206 +0.28% 1982 215 +0.61% 1990 209 −0.35% 1999 207 −0.11% 2007 234 +1.54% 2012 279 +3.58% 2017 287 +0.57%
Source: EHESS[14] and INSEE[15]

Economy[]

Economic activity is mainly agricultural (livestock).

Sites and monuments[]

The Parish Church of the Assumption of Notre-Dame (1850) is registered as an historical monument.^[16]

Facilities[]

The commune has a primary school which is grouped in an RPI (Intercommunal Educational Grouping) with the primary school in Castétis.

See also[]

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balansun.

• Balansun on Lion1906
• Balensun on the 1750 Cassini Map