Balansun

Balansun
Commune
The centre of the village of Balansun
Location of Balansun
Balansun Balansun
Coordinates: 43°29′33″N 0°41′51″W
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
Area 1	10.73 km2 (4.14 sq mi)
Population  (2023)	316
• Density	29.5/km2 (76.3/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.

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.

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

• Barran
• Bélou
• Bergerayre
• Bernadou
• Bidau
• Bordes
• Bourroua
• Bousque
• Cabalé
• Cabanne
• Cantegrith
• Cantonnier
• Carsuzaa
• Chou
• Cousiner
• Craber
• Crabérou
• Friquet
• Garly
• Heugarès
• Lacabanne
• Laheuguère
• Larribau
• Lasserre
• Lay
• Loup
• Loustalet
• Massioo
• Menaut
• Menusé
• Millet
• Moncaud
• Monhort
• Naudou
• Rouby
• Saint-Martin
• Sarraillot
• Sautié
• Tisnérot
• Touyarot
• Trotemenut

Toponymy

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

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

Origins:

• Bérérenx: Chapter of Bérérenx
• Fors de Béarn
• Pardies: Notaries of Pardies
• Census: Census of Béarn
• Froissart: Jean Froissart, Book IV
• Reformation: Reformation of Béarn

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

Mayors from the French Revolution to 1942

From	To	Name
1792	1794	Pierre Cazaban
1794	1795	Jean Bousque
1795	1797	Arnaud Tisnerot
1797	1800	Jacques Vispalie
1800	1803	Jean Bouisque
1803	1804	Arnaud Casaux
1804	1814	Arnaud Tisnerot
1814	1816	Jean Moureu
1816	1821	Boniface Thimothée Desbordes-Louboey
1821	1826	Jean Tisnerot
1826	1832	Jean Cammau
1832	1837	Léonard Moureu
1837	1841	Jean Caubet
1841	1848	Jacques Vispalie
1848	1858	Léonard Moureu
1858	1871	Pierre Lescurat
1871	1886	Jean Paraige
1886	1896	Jean Debaig
1896	1900	Jean Baptiste Daugarou
1900	1912	Jean Debaig
1912	1942	Jean Maubecq

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

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Balansenais or Balansenaises in French.

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 441 —     1821 486 +0.35% 1846 574 +0.67% 1872 276 −2.78% 1901 233 −0.58% 1926 223 −0.18% 1946 200 −0.54% 1962 177 −0.76% 1968 202 +2.23%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 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% 2023 316 +1.62%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

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.

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

External links

• Balensun on the 1750 Cassini Map