Annie & Danny on the way to Binos village
Whilst I have always been of the firm opinion that Binos was a name of Greek origin there is evidence to suggest that it was also a French noble name. I have been in touch with and have subsequently met Louis Binos from Clapiers which is near Montpellier in the south of France. Through Louis I learnt of a town called Binos in France and situated in the district of Bachos-Binos at a latitude of 41º54’17” north and at longitude 1º43’ west, calculated along the meridian of Paris.
The village of Binos has 25 inhabitants, a mayor and a town hall that opens between 2 pm and 4 pm on a Monday.
I have obtained from the archives at Saint Beat a hand written 15 page document, dated 13 April 1885, in beautiful french script outlining the district of Bachos-Binos. I also have an English translation of it but space does not permit me to put it up here. If however you would like either the English or the French versions just put in a request into my guest book, with your address and I will gladly mail you copies.
I also have a detailed account of the “Voyages of Father Binos” who was a canon of the Comminges Cathedral.
We were fortunate to be able to spend time with Louis and Danny in Montpellier.
The dates of the voyage he describes was 1776-1779 and it was a voyage from France to Jerusalem through Italy and Egypt to Mount Liban in Palestine or The Holy Land. Father Binos wrote a book on this which was published in Paris by Antonine Boudet, the Royal Printer, in 1787. The book was dedicated to her royal highness, Elizabeth of France.
I have a summary of the above of which I can let anyone who requests have a copy. Interestingly, as mentioned previously, Binos was French noble name and many of them were canons in the church.
From the above documentation it is possible to learn that as far back as 1248 there was a man by the name of Binos, a canon and syndic from the chapter of the church of Comminges, which just goes to show how old the Binos family was, branching out into several regions such as Saint-Bertrand and others.
After reading this documentation I asked the question “is Binos of French origin or Greek ?”.
I ask this in all simplicity for I have not been able to do much research in Greece but would very much like to do so in the future.
STOP PRESS! June 2001
What follows below is a translation of a tape sent to me by Louis in which his aunt and a "professor" discuss the name Binos.
The history (French)of the Binos name. Binos means vineyard, hillside.
Bachos means the foot of a vineyard, the foot of the hillside, the flat part.
According to the ending in “os”, Binos and Bachos are two pre-roman names.
The word Signan is Roman; it is better understood.
In the village Binos lived the ancestors of my husband and of the Binos de Luchon family
Long ago I wrote an article for the archeological society of the Gers in which I said: " Before history was recorded the Binos belonged to the nobility. They were already there in the oldest documents. They were already in that village."
The Binos occupy a strategic place where the Pique River narrows (a torrent tributary of the Garonne which flows at the foot of the two villages, Binos and Bachos.) in a postglacial narrowing. They were at a place of surveillance where toll was collected, which explains their fortune. They are already in the entourage of the count of Coumainges.
They built a castle. In Binos there is a restored hovel, all that is left of a bigger building., with gothic features incorporated in the building.
There is a tower which was as protection against the Saracens. It had a front door on the first floor. It could be reached with a ladder or wooden stairs which could be removed if they were attacked.
Later on the farmers turned it into hay lofts. To be able to reach the door on the first floor an incline has been built with carved stones and pieces of mullioned windows.
In the mountains when there was a hayloft, you entered directly by the incline to unload more easily.
There are the remnants of an entrance pillar of the castle made of pink marble. It is like in the Signan castle, marble from Signac. Near Binos and Bachos there is the seigneury of Signac.
The Binos exported this Signac marble up to Antichamps. .Since the 18thcentury windows have been surrounded with this red marble. This marble is also found in the Upper Pyrenees. The Lassus family, who succeeded the Binos were intendants of the marble. The family exploited the marble and was compensated by the supply of marble.
The family spread. It is the fault of the tax office. If the people are too many, they cannot uphold their rank, because the tax office hunts down the tax exemptions..
The marbles of Signac are used widely: A castle is built for Louis de Binos, Knight of Malta (a window bears the date 1648) (window). The castle of Antichamps is one of the castles of the Binos at the end of the 18thcentury.
My nieces come from the the Binos of Pombarat:
Madame Bac le Grand is the secretary of the society in Bagneres de Bigorreand Miss Cap is in Bertrain..
Before the 17th century the Binos lived nobly and worked their land with their sword at their side (they did not forsake their nobility if they exploited their own property). Many noblemen lived from their rural activity.
They were also in the army: Louis de Binos is musketeer and knight of Malta.
In the Signac castle, there is next to the staircase of red marble, a chimney with the coat of arms of the cardinal of Richelieu.
From that time the Binos became too numerous and had to beg for public office in the army and in the chapter of St Bertrand which was noble.( when one of the canons dies, the 12/ 13 canons choose a replacement among their relatives without the interference of the bishop). At the end of the ancient regime there are lots of Binos in this chapter, one of them Louis Dominique de Binos de Sarple. The house belongs to M. Fantassin and is well restored. This is where the canon Louis Dominique de Binos de Sarple lived.. In 1787 he journeyed to Jerusalem and mount Liban. He wrote a book , illustrated it and dedicated it to Madame Elizabeth de France. He came back ,hid in a hayloft during the French Revolution because he was a priest who had not taken the oath and he was arrested in Sierre deLuchon in 1793/94; but because of the snow, he had not been able to leave the country as ordered by the revolutionaries, and he was freed and became a certified priest of St Bertrand de Commages in 1801 (he was not beheaded like his cousin the abbot Dagos in Tarbes), and died soon afterwards. His portrait may be in St Bertrand.
There were other canons of the Binos family:
Seraphin de Binos d’Antichamps , a priest but not yet a canon, waited to be coopted and must have sold the castle of Antichamps and died in 1825 (there is a transfer document to the Dumailles).
It seems to indicate that the Binos' came from France and then went on to Greece.
Wouldn't it be good if a Greek could add more to this.............
Whilst I have always been of the firm opinion that Binos was a name of Greek origin there is evidence to suggest that it was also a French noble name. I have been in touch with and have subsequently met Louis Binos from Clapiers which is near Montpellier in the south of France. Through Louis I learnt of a town called Binos in France and situated in the district of Bachos-Binos at a latitude of 41º54’17” north and at longitude 1º43’ west, calculated along the meridian of Paris.
The village of Binos has 25 inhabitants, a mayor and a town hall that opens between 2 pm and 4 pm on a Monday.
I have obtained from the archives at Saint Beat a hand written 15 page document, dated 13 April 1885, in beautiful french script outlining the district of Bachos-Binos. I also have an English translation of it but space does not permit me to put it up here. If however you would like either the English or the French versions just put in a request into my guest book, with your address and I will gladly mail you copies.
I also have a detailed account of the “Voyages of Father Binos” who was a canon of the Comminges Cathedral.
We were fortunate to be able to spend time with Louis and Danny in Montpellier.
The dates of the voyage he describes was 1776-1779 and it was a voyage from France to Jerusalem through Italy and Egypt to Mount Liban in Palestine or The Holy Land. Father Binos wrote a book on this which was published in Paris by Antonine Boudet, the Royal Printer, in 1787. The book was dedicated to her royal highness, Elizabeth of France.
I have a summary of the above of which I can let anyone who requests have a copy. Interestingly, as mentioned previously, Binos was French noble name and many of them were canons in the church.
From the above documentation it is possible to learn that as far back as 1248 there was a man by the name of Binos, a canon and syndic from the chapter of the church of Comminges, which just goes to show how old the Binos family was, branching out into several regions such as Saint-Bertrand and others.
After reading this documentation I asked the question “is Binos of French origin or Greek ?”.
I ask this in all simplicity for I have not been able to do much research in Greece but would very much like to do so in the future.
STOP PRESS! June 2001
What follows below is a translation of a tape sent to me by Louis in which his aunt and a "professor" discuss the name Binos.
The history (French)of the Binos name. Binos means vineyard, hillside.
Bachos means the foot of a vineyard, the foot of the hillside, the flat part.
According to the ending in “os”, Binos and Bachos are two pre-roman names.
The word Signan is Roman; it is better understood.
In the village Binos lived the ancestors of my husband and of the Binos de Luchon family
Long ago I wrote an article for the archeological society of the Gers in which I said: " Before history was recorded the Binos belonged to the nobility. They were already there in the oldest documents. They were already in that village."
The Binos occupy a strategic place where the Pique River narrows (a torrent tributary of the Garonne which flows at the foot of the two villages, Binos and Bachos.) in a postglacial narrowing. They were at a place of surveillance where toll was collected, which explains their fortune. They are already in the entourage of the count of Coumainges.
They built a castle. In Binos there is a restored hovel, all that is left of a bigger building., with gothic features incorporated in the building.
There is a tower which was as protection against the Saracens. It had a front door on the first floor. It could be reached with a ladder or wooden stairs which could be removed if they were attacked.
Later on the farmers turned it into hay lofts. To be able to reach the door on the first floor an incline has been built with carved stones and pieces of mullioned windows.
In the mountains when there was a hayloft, you entered directly by the incline to unload more easily.
There are the remnants of an entrance pillar of the castle made of pink marble. It is like in the Signan castle, marble from Signac. Near Binos and Bachos there is the seigneury of Signac.
The Binos exported this Signac marble up to Antichamps. .Since the 18thcentury windows have been surrounded with this red marble. This marble is also found in the Upper Pyrenees. The Lassus family, who succeeded the Binos were intendants of the marble. The family exploited the marble and was compensated by the supply of marble.
The family spread. It is the fault of the tax office. If the people are too many, they cannot uphold their rank, because the tax office hunts down the tax exemptions..
The marbles of Signac are used widely: A castle is built for Louis de Binos, Knight of Malta (a window bears the date 1648) (window). The castle of Antichamps is one of the castles of the Binos at the end of the 18thcentury.
My nieces come from the the Binos of Pombarat:
Madame Bac le Grand is the secretary of the society in Bagneres de Bigorreand Miss Cap is in Bertrain..
Before the 17th century the Binos lived nobly and worked their land with their sword at their side (they did not forsake their nobility if they exploited their own property). Many noblemen lived from their rural activity.
They were also in the army: Louis de Binos is musketeer and knight of Malta.
In the Signac castle, there is next to the staircase of red marble, a chimney with the coat of arms of the cardinal of Richelieu.
From that time the Binos became too numerous and had to beg for public office in the army and in the chapter of St Bertrand which was noble.( when one of the canons dies, the 12/ 13 canons choose a replacement among their relatives without the interference of the bishop). At the end of the ancient regime there are lots of Binos in this chapter, one of them Louis Dominique de Binos de Sarple. The house belongs to M. Fantassin and is well restored. This is where the canon Louis Dominique de Binos de Sarple lived.. In 1787 he journeyed to Jerusalem and mount Liban. He wrote a book , illustrated it and dedicated it to Madame Elizabeth de France. He came back ,hid in a hayloft during the French Revolution because he was a priest who had not taken the oath and he was arrested in Sierre deLuchon in 1793/94; but because of the snow, he had not been able to leave the country as ordered by the revolutionaries, and he was freed and became a certified priest of St Bertrand de Commages in 1801 (he was not beheaded like his cousin the abbot Dagos in Tarbes), and died soon afterwards. His portrait may be in St Bertrand.
There were other canons of the Binos family:
Seraphin de Binos d’Antichamps , a priest but not yet a canon, waited to be coopted and must have sold the castle of Antichamps and died in 1825 (there is a transfer document to the Dumailles).
It seems to indicate that the Binos' came from France and then went on to Greece.
Wouldn't it be good if a Greek could add more to this.............
There are Binos at the castle of Gourdand. M. Binos tried to put his sons in the army.
The Lassus bought the castle of Gourdand. The Binos lived opposite the present high school.
The Binos can also be found in Siradent , where their family lived, then it was transfered to de Sarrieux, to Deuseize and to the chapel of Basiri near Siradent where one can see the coat of arms of the Binos on the altarpiece with the wheel of St Catherine.
They have spread their influence up to the Val d’ Avant..
Is there a similarity between Bénos and Binos? I do not know. Mr. Binos was governor of Castle Leon around 1711.(war of succession of Spain in 1711),
The Binos had children in the army and the church.(not in the magistracy). Their problem was not to lose their nobility.
There are Binos at the beginning of the 18th century in Artigue, the village next to ours: two very poor spinsters bequeathed what they had left to have a mass said for them with deacon and assistant deacon.
The castle of Gurand. In 1648 Louis de Gurand built a very beatiful castle maintained and saved by the Prince and princess Philippe de Bourbon Bragance. The abbot Auguste (small and ugly) vicar of Gurand had the castle of Gurand repaired for the prince the castle which had been bought from Angeline de David des Etangs who was a Binos through her mother.
The David des Etangs family is still the owner at Isaourd.
The Doctor of Laval is also a descendant of the Binos.
The abbot August had the castle modernised and added outbuildings and kitchens.
The Binos in 1799 had been shot as leader of the so called royalist uprising.
Louis de Binos had built in 1648 a castle with ancient fortifications outside and turrets of checkered white and pink marble inside. Having exhausted his money there are no window-panes.
This branch of the Binos has added in a pun to their coat of arms: the wheel of st Catherine): the sign of st Catherine (Signan): the estate of Signus.
The centuries went by. There are Binos in South Africa, Hawai, France and Brittany...
How do you explain the scattering of this family?
At a time when families were large, they tried to save the position of the eldest.
The girls were put in convents. In the convent of Merubert near Tarbes, there were two Binos girls in the order of Fontevraux.
They were put in the convent or they were married to men from good rural families.
As for the boys, they became soldiers or emigrated. There are cousins in America.
There is a book on the Castex in South America.
The younger sons had to leave.
The birthright varied according to the region. Often, the eldest girl had also the birthright and the younger son of a family who married her took her name.
In the time of Louis XIV the Marquis of Binos de Pombarate, ambassador to Venice, refused to give way in his gondola to that of the Doge, because he represented the king. There were diplomatic problems betwen the two. This was part of the politics of the time.
The Binos de Pombarate family still lives at Cognes. The castle has disappeared.
Other Binos who emigrated: in St Givrade there is the eldest branch of the Binos de Signan. Mr. The Marquis of the Binos de Gurand lives in St Livrade and manages a farm.
In St Mamé at the time of the Revolution there is a Binos who keeps watch.
At the beginning of the 20th century an abbot Binos dies quite young.
The Binos family in the language of st Mamé
The family of my brother-in-law coming from Antignac, wine merchants, were living in a nice house in the 18/19th centuries.
The Binos have been replaced by the Foutdeville at the end of the Ancient Regime.
The Lassus bought the castle of Gourdand. The Binos lived opposite the present high school.
The Binos can also be found in Siradent , where their family lived, then it was transfered to de Sarrieux, to Deuseize and to the chapel of Basiri near Siradent where one can see the coat of arms of the Binos on the altarpiece with the wheel of St Catherine.
They have spread their influence up to the Val d’ Avant..
Is there a similarity between Bénos and Binos? I do not know. Mr. Binos was governor of Castle Leon around 1711.(war of succession of Spain in 1711),
The Binos had children in the army and the church.(not in the magistracy). Their problem was not to lose their nobility.
There are Binos at the beginning of the 18th century in Artigue, the village next to ours: two very poor spinsters bequeathed what they had left to have a mass said for them with deacon and assistant deacon.
The castle of Gurand. In 1648 Louis de Gurand built a very beatiful castle maintained and saved by the Prince and princess Philippe de Bourbon Bragance. The abbot Auguste (small and ugly) vicar of Gurand had the castle of Gurand repaired for the prince the castle which had been bought from Angeline de David des Etangs who was a Binos through her mother.
The David des Etangs family is still the owner at Isaourd.
The Doctor of Laval is also a descendant of the Binos.
The abbot August had the castle modernised and added outbuildings and kitchens.
The Binos in 1799 had been shot as leader of the so called royalist uprising.
Louis de Binos had built in 1648 a castle with ancient fortifications outside and turrets of checkered white and pink marble inside. Having exhausted his money there are no window-panes.
This branch of the Binos has added in a pun to their coat of arms: the wheel of st Catherine): the sign of st Catherine (Signan): the estate of Signus.
The centuries went by. There are Binos in South Africa, Hawai, France and Brittany...
How do you explain the scattering of this family?
At a time when families were large, they tried to save the position of the eldest.
The girls were put in convents. In the convent of Merubert near Tarbes, there were two Binos girls in the order of Fontevraux.
They were put in the convent or they were married to men from good rural families.
As for the boys, they became soldiers or emigrated. There are cousins in America.
There is a book on the Castex in South America.
The younger sons had to leave.
The birthright varied according to the region. Often, the eldest girl had also the birthright and the younger son of a family who married her took her name.
In the time of Louis XIV the Marquis of Binos de Pombarate, ambassador to Venice, refused to give way in his gondola to that of the Doge, because he represented the king. There were diplomatic problems betwen the two. This was part of the politics of the time.
The Binos de Pombarate family still lives at Cognes. The castle has disappeared.
Other Binos who emigrated: in St Givrade there is the eldest branch of the Binos de Signan. Mr. The Marquis of the Binos de Gurand lives in St Livrade and manages a farm.
In St Mamé at the time of the Revolution there is a Binos who keeps watch.
At the beginning of the 20th century an abbot Binos dies quite young.
The Binos family in the language of st Mamé
The family of my brother-in-law coming from Antignac, wine merchants, were living in a nice house in the 18/19th centuries.
The Binos have been replaced by the Foutdeville at the end of the Ancient Regime.