The Sovereign Principality of Bidache

The sovereign principality of Bidache was a small territory on the border between France and Navarre which, during the 17th and 18th centuries, had in practice acquired the status of a virtually independent principality.

The extent of the sovereignty

The sovereignty of Bidache covered only the lands of the parish of Bidache itself, a small village in what is now the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, on the banks of the Bidouze, some thirty kilometres east of Bayonne.

It should not be confused with the duchy of Gramont, made up of other lands under the jurisdiction of the Gramont family but where the sovereignty of the King of France and Navarre applied.