Navarre

na-var', an ancient kingdom of the Pyrenees. Its territory lay partly within northern Spain and partly within France. It arose about 900. Under Sanelo the Great, the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were subject to Navarre. The Spanish portion of Navarre was conquered by Ferdinand, the husband of Isabella, in 1512. French Navarre remained independent until 1589, when Henry of Navarre ascended the French throne under the title of Henry IV. Thus Navarre bears somewhat the same relation to France that Scotland bears to England. It was the stronghold of the Huguenots.