Poitou

This article is about the region and former province of France. For the breeds of animal from this region, seeBaudet de PoitouandPoitou goat.For other uses, seePoitou (disambiguation).

Poitou Poetou(Poitevin)
Flag Coat of arms
Country	France
Area
• Total	19,709 km2(7,610 sq mi)
Population (2006 estimate) Residents known as Poitevins
• Total	1,375,356
Time zone	CET
Count	638–677,Guérin de Trèves 1403–1461,Charles VII of France

Poitou(UK:/ˈpwʌtuː/,US:/pwɑːˈtuː/,French:[pwatu];Latin:Pictaviensis, Pictavia;Poitevin:Poetou) was aprovinceof west-central France whose capital city wasPoitiers.Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after thePictonesGallic tribe.

Geography

The main historical cities arePoitiers(historical capital city),Châtellerault(France's kings' establishment in Poitou),Niort,La Roche-sur-Yon,Thouars,andParthenay.

History

Historically Poitou was ruled by thecount of Poitou,a continuous line of which can be traced back to an appointment ofCharlemagnein 778. Amarshlandcalled thePoitevin Marsh(FrenchMarais Poitevin) is located along theGulf of Poitou,on the west coast of France, just north ofLa Rochelleand west ofNiort.

At the conclusion of theBattle of Taillebourgin theSaintonge War,which was decisively won by the French, King Henry III of England recognized his loss of continentalPlantagenet territoryto France. This was ratified by theTreaty of Paris of 1259,by which King Louis annexedNormandy,Maine,Anjou,and Poitou).

During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Poitou was a hotbed ofHuguenot(French Calvinist Protestant) activity among the nobility and bourgeoisie. The Protestants were discriminated against and brutally attacked during theFrench Wars of Religion(1562–1598). Under theEdict of Nantes,such discrimination was temporarily suspended but this measure was repealed by the French Crown.

Some of the French colonists, later known asAcadians,who settled beginning in 1604 in eastern North America came from southern Poitou. They established settlements in what is nowNova Scotia,and later inNew Brunswick—both of which were taken over in the later 18th century by the English, (after their 1763 victory in theSeven Years' War).

After the revocation of theEdict of Nantesin 1685, the French RomanCatholic Churchconducted a strongCounter-Reformationeffort. In 1793, this effort had contributed to the three-year-long open revolt against the French Revolutionary Government in the Bas-Poitou (Département ofVendée). Similarly, duringNapoleon'sHundred Daysin 1815, the Vendée stayed loyal to the Restoration Monarchy ofKing Louis XVIII.Napoleon dispatched 10,000 troops underGeneral Lamarqueto pacify the region.

As noted by historian Andre Lampert:

"The persistent Huguenots of 17th Century Poitou and the fiercely Catholic rebellious Royalists of what came be the Vendée of the late 18th Century had ideologies very different, indeed diametrically opposed to each other. The common thread connecting both phenomena is a continuing assertion of a local identity and opposition to the central government inParis,whatever its composition and identity. (...) In the region whereLouis XIIIandLouis XIVhad encountered stiff resistance, theHouse of Bourbongained loyal and militant supporters exactly when it had been overthrown and when a Bourbon loyalty came to imply a local loyalty in opposition to the new central government, that ofRobespierre."

In fiction

• Large parts of theAngéliqueseries of historical novels are set in 17th century Poitou.

• InAlexandre Dumas'sThe Man in the Iron Mask,Aramis gives a romantic description of the marshes of Bas-Poitou as the most secluded place to lead a quiet life away from the perils of court.

• The movieKingdom of HeavenfeaturesGuy of Lusignan,a knight from Poitou.

See also

• Count of Poitiers
• Poitevin (language),the French regional language spoken in Poitou (Saintongeais is forSaintonge)
• Big Ghoul,folklore dragon.

External links

• Media related toPoitouat Wikimedia Commons
• Le Poitou, ancienne province de France: Portrait physique et humain du Poitou aux XVII^eet XVIII^esièclesat theWayback Machine(archived 12 August 2002)