What do pirates, royalty and Polish soldiers have in common? St Jean de Luz! It was during the 17th century that the town of Saint Jean de Luz began to change its prosperity with not only some serious fishing activity but, also, the help of its pirates (Basque Corsaires) who captured vessels off its coast. The town grew rich in monetary terms as well as in population with nearly 12,000 inhabitants to rival the slightly larger coastal town of Bayonne. The brokering of the marriage between Louis XIV to Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain as part of the Treaty of the Pyrenees Atlantiques was arranged by Cardinal Mazarin, an Italian collector of fine art and diamonds who was also a somewhat unpopular chief minister for France. He came to know the route from St Jean de Luz to Bidassoa (a tiny island now known as Pheasant Island, Isle de lhopital or Isle de Conference, near Hendaye) very well with some 24 trips to agree terms. He finally succeeded, the Treaty was signed, and they were married in the St John the Baptists Church on 9 June, 1660 in St Jean de Luz. The wedding celebrated the end of the Franco-Spanish war and made Louis one of the most powerful rulers in Europe. Unfortunately Maria Theresa did not fare as well. Not only was she shy and retiring but she missed Spain and her marriage was said to be somewhat long suffering. So where do the Polish soldiers come into it? Just after the German invasion of France this same coast also saw the evacuation of soldiers from the Polish army as well as civilian refugees and diplomats from the Polish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Unable to board at St Nazaire following the sinking of the Lancastria liner during her rescue attempt a few days earlier, they had crowded onto the port and beaches of St Jean de Luz where local people helped to ferry them out to larger ships, and safety, in their fishing boats.
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 05:30:00 +0000
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