Coordinates: 43°24′02″N 0°56′19″W / 43.4006°N 0.9386°W / 43.4006; -0.9386

Sauveterre-de-Béarn is a pretty medieval village perched above the Gave d'Oloron and facing the Pyrennes in south-western France. It is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department.

Built originally as a walled refuge ("sauveté" hence "Sauveterre") from the turbulent times of the Dark Ages, Sauveterre grew in importance as its old bridge was on one of the main routes to Spain, used by pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela, and others. In the Middle Ages it was to keep a watch from its lofty heights on Navarre and Gascony.

It was from the bridge that in 1170 Queen Sancie, widow of the recently deceased Gaston V of the Béarn, was submitted to the judgement of God and thrown into the river, hands and feet tied, after being accused of the murder of her newly born and malformed son. She survived and was declared innocent.

The fortifications suffered from the religious wars, but enough remains to fire the imagination of what this once important town must have been.

Jean Lassalle (born 3 May 1955 in Lourdios-Ichère, Pyrénées-Atlantiques) is a French Occitan politician and MoDem deputy in the National Assembly.

Lassalle has served as mayor of the commune of Lourdios-Ichère since 21 March 1977, and has sat on the conseil général of the département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques since 22 March 1982, serving as vice-president since 1 January 1991. He was elected to the National Assembly in the 2002 legislative election, and represents the 4th constituency of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 2002 Lassalle has led the World Mountain People Association, an international network of mountain-dwellers active in more than 70 countries. He also leads a Haut-Béarn cultural association.

On 3 June 2003 Lassalle stood up in the National Assembly during questions to Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy and sang the Occitan anthem Se Canto in protest at an announcement by Sarkozy concerning the housing of 23 gendarmes tasked with guarding the Somport tunnel, which links France with Spain through the Pyrenees. The village closest to the French end of the tunnel is Urdos, but it was announced that the gendarmes would be housed in the nearby town of Oloron-Sainte-Marie, on the grounds that their wives would become bored in Urdos. As he explained in an interview with France 3 later that day, Lassalle took exception to what he saw as a slur on the Pyrenean village and decided to interrupt the minister with his song. The protest was met by laughter from other deputies, disapproval from the president of the Assembly, and bemusement from Sarkozy.