FOIX, Counts of, an ancient French family which flourished from the 11th to the 16th century. The title was first assumed by Roger, nephew of Peter Roger count of Carcassonne, on his inheriting the town of Foix with the adjoining lands from his uncle. He died in 1064, and was succeeded by his brother Peter, who died in 1070 and was succeeded by his eldest son Roger II. This count was excommunicated by Pope Pascal II. for taking possession of ecclesiastical property, but in 1095 he took part in the crusade, and afterwards by rich donations made his peace with the church. He died in 1125, and was succeeded by Roger III., who on his death in 1141 was succeeded by his eldest son Roger Bernard I. Roger Bernard was succeeded in 1188 by his only son Raymond Roger, who in 1190 accompanied Philip Augustus to the Holy Land, and distinguished himself at the capture of Acre. He was afterwards engaged in the wars of the Albigenses, and on his being accused of heresy, Simon de Montfort was put in possession of his estates. He, however, made his peace with the church some time before his death, which took place in 1223 from exposure and fatigue at the siege of Mirepoix. This count was a patron of the Provençal poets, and reckoned himself one of their number. He was succeeded by his son Roger Bernard II., surnamed the Great, who distinguished himself in the wars against the Albigenses, joined in an alliance against Louis VIII. of France, lost his lands but succeeded in regaining them, was twice excommunicated but obtained absolution, and died in 1241 in the abbey of Bolbone, where he was for a short time a monk. Roger IV., his son and successor, did homage for his lands to the king of France and the count of Carcassonne. He died in 1265. His son and successor, Roger Bernard III., was more famous as a poet than a warrior. He was taken prisoner by Philip the Bold and again by Peter III. of Aragon; and before his death in 1302 began the quarrel of the house of Foix with that of Armagnac. His son and successor, Gaston I., continued the war, was excommunicated in 1308 by Clement V. and imprisoned in the Châtelet, Paris, but, regaining his freedom shortly afterwards, joined Louis X. in 1315 in the expedition against Holland, and died on the way home. To him succeeded his eldest son Gaston IL, who became reconciled with the house of Armagnac, joined the Navarrese in their wars against the Castilians, over whom he won a great victory at Tudela in 1335, took part in the war of the French against the English in 1337, and in 1343 assisted Alphonso XL of Castile against the Moors. He died at Seville in September of the same year. His son Gaston III. (1331-1391), surnamed on account of his beauty Phaebus, was the most famous of the old Foix family. He took part in the wars against the English in 1345, and was on that account appointed by the king of France governor of Languedoc and Gascony. In 1346 he married Agnes of Navarre, but on account of a dispute with her brother Charles the Bad, he divorced her in 1373. On suspicion of being concerned in a conspiracy in conjunction with his brother-in-law he in 1356 suffered a short imprisonment in the Châtelet. After obtaining· his release he took part in the wars against the heretics of Prussia, and on his return in 1358 he assisted in releasing the royal princesses from the hands of the Jacquerie at Meaux. In the same year he recommenced the quarrels with the house of Armagnac, and took the count of Armagnac prisoner at the battle of Launac in 1372. In 1380 he was again appointed governor of Languedoc by Charles V., but that king dying the same year the regency replaced the count of Foix by the duke of Berry. Gaston defeated and slew the duke, but was afterwards induced to resign his claims. In 1390 Gaston entertained Charles VI. in his castle of Mazères, and agreed for a sum of money to make him heir of his dominions. He died suddenly of apoplexy the same year when returning from the chase. Shortly after his death Charles VI. ceded the estate of Foix to Matthew, great-great-grandson of Roger I., who died without issue in 1398. On his death his sister’s husband Archambault de Grailly took possession of the estates, and in 1401 assumed the title. Dying in 1412 he was succeeded by his son Jean de Grailly, who became governor-general of Languedoc, Auvergne, and Guienne, and, dying in 1436, was succeeded by his son Gaston IV., who took part in the wars of Charles VII. against the English, and was raised to the peerage of France. Gaston’s father-in-law, Jean II. of Navarre, declared him in 1455 his successor; and Louis XI. conferred on him the seignory of Carcassonne and the countships of Roussillon and Cerdagne. In 1471 he joined in a league against Louis, which, however, was rendered abortive by the death of the king’s brother. On the death of Gaston in 1472, the house of Foix became mergedin that of Navarre.

FOIX, Gaston de. See Nemours.

FOIX, Paul de (1528-1584), a French prelate and diplomatist, was born in 1528. He studied Greek and Roman literature at Paris, and jurisprudence at Toulouse, where shortly after finishing his curriculum, he delivered a course of lectures on civil law, which gained him great reputation. At the age of nineteen he was named councillor of the parlement of Paris. Having in this capacity expressed himself favourable to the adoption of mild measures in regard to certain persons accused of Lutheranism, he was arrested, but escaped punishment, and subsequently regained the favour of the French court. At the end of 1561 he was sent ambassador to England, where he remained four years, and in 1565 endeavoured in vain to persuade Elizabeth to consent to the surrender of Havre to the French. He was afterwards sent to negotiate a marriage between Elizabeth and the duke of Anjou. On account of his former toleration of the Lutherans, Foix only with difficulty escaped perishing in the Massacre of St Bartholomew in 1572; but having been sent in 1573 on an embassy to Italy, he was admitted to an audience of the pope, and succeeded in thoroughly establishing his reputation for orthodoxy. In 1576 he was made archbishop of Toulouse. He was afterwards employed by the king of France on various important missions, and in 1579 was appointed ambassador to Rome, where he remained till his death in 1584.

Les Lettres de Messire de Paul de Foix, archcυcsque de Toloze et ambassadeur pour le roy auprès du pape Grégoire XIII., au roi Henry III., were published in 1628, but there are some doubts as to their authenticity.