Centule IV Gaston called the Old, was the seventh Viscount of Béarn from 1012 to his death.

He succeeded his father Gaston II

Gaston II of Béarn

Gaston II Centule was the Viscount of Béarn from 996 to his death. He succeeded his father Centule III after the latter's assassination at the hands of Lupus the Strong, Lord of Serres....

 while yet a minor, under a regency until 1022.

He placed great importance on maintaining good relations with the church. In the year in which he assumed the powers of government, he founded the monastery of Saint-Pé-de-Geyres near the border with Bigorre

Bigorre

Bigorre is region in southwest France, historically an independent county and later a French province, located in the upper watershed of the Adour, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, part of the larger region known as Gascony...

. He was subsequently installed as the defensor of that monastery and of the lands of Saint Peter in Gascony

Gascony

Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...

 and Béarn by his suzerain Sancho William, Duke of Gascony

Duke of Gascony

The Duchy of Vasconia , later known as Gascony, was a Merovingian creation: a frontier duchy on the Garonne, in the border with the rebel Basque tribes...

. In 1033, Centule confirmed the possession of the county of Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

 by Duke Odo.

He strove to expand his power into neighboring territories and married Angela, daughter and heiress of the neighboring Viscount Aner II Lupo of Oloron, thus uniting those two entities. He gained the valleys of Aspe

Aspe

Aspe is a town and municipality located in the comarca of Vinalopó Mitjà, in the province of Alicante, Spain.The town is located in the valley of the river Vinalopó, 25 km from Alicante city...

, Ossau, and Barétous all the way from the river Oloron to Navarrenx

Navarrenx

Navarrenx is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.-See also:*Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department...

. His eldest son Gaston III

Gaston III of Béarn

Gaston III was the Viscount of Béarn in association with his father Centule IV. His mother was Angela of Oloron. Despite the fact that he predeceased his father, Pierre de Marca proposed the hypothesis that he was associated with his father in the seventeenth century...

 was associated with the vicecomital throne, but died in or before 1045. He warred against the viscounts of Dax

Dax, Landes

Dax is a commune in Aquitaine in south-western France, sub-prefecture of the Landes department.It is particularly famous as a spa, specialising in mud treatment for rheumatism and similar ailments....

 and Soule

Soule

Soule is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département...

, killing the viscount Arnold II of Dax in 1050. He himself died in a Souletin ambush eight years later. His grandson Centule V

Centule V of Béarn

Centule V , called the Young, was the Viscount of Béarn from 1058 to his death. Centule increased the autonomy of the viscounts of Béarn and distanced them from the dukes of Aquitaine, to whom they owed theoretical vassalage...

 succeeded him.

Aside from Gaston, he had six children:

• Raymond Centule
• Aureol Centule, lord of Clarac
  Clarac
  Clarac may refer to the following places in France:*Clarac, Haute-Garonne, a commune in the Haute-Garonne department*Clarac, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department...
  
  
• Igon
• Baudreix
• Boeil
• Auga