Périgord (pārēgôr`), region of SW France, now included in Dordogne and parts of Lot-et-Garonne depts. Périgueux Périgueux (pārēgö`), city (1990 pop. 32,848), capital of Dordogne dept., SW France, on the Isle River.
..... Click the link for more information. (the capital) and Bergerac Bergerac (bĕrzhəräk`), town (1990 pop. 27,886), Dordogne dept., SW France, in Périgord, on the Dordogne River.
..... Click the link for more information. are the chief cities. The region consists of low, arid limestone plateaus, the deep and fertile valleys of the Lot and Dordogne rivers, and extensive oak forests. Périgord is noted for its truffles truffle (trŭf`əl) [Fr.
..... Click the link for more information. and goose livers, which are its major exports. Its farms produce wheat, corn, and tobacco, and raise livestock. The traditional metallurgical industry is concentrated at Fumel. Near Madeleine and Moustier are numerous cave dwellings from the Paleolithic period Paleolithic period (pā'lēəlĭth`ĭk, –lēō–, păl'–) or
..... Click the link for more information. . Occupied during Gallic and Roman eras by the Petrocorii, Périgord became a county under the Merovingians Merovingians, dynasty of Frankish kings, descended, according to tradition, from Merovech, chief of the Salian Franks , whose son was Childeric I and whose grandson was Clovis I , the founder of the Frankish monarchy.
..... Click the link for more information. (9th cent). First enfeoffed to the dukes of Aquitaine Aquitaine (ăk`wĭtān, äkētĕn`), Lat. Aquitania, former duchy and kingdom in SW France.
..... Click the link for more information. , it later passed to England, was returned to France c.1370 as a fief of the French crown, and passed eventually, through a complicated succession, to the house of Bourbon (1574). It was inherited by Henry of Navarre and, after he became king of France as Henry IV (1589), was incorporated (1607) into the royal domain as part of the province of Guienne.

Périgord

Historic and cultural region, southern France. The counts of Périgord played a part in the troubled affairs of Aquitaine, and control of Périgord was disputed by the French and the English from 1259. The area was transferred to the house of Albret in 1470. After it was inherited by the crown of Navarra, Henry IV united it with the French crown in 1607.