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Poitou |
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Poitou (pwät `), region and former province, W France, stretching from the Atlantic coast eastward beyond the Vienne River. It now includes three departments—Vendée in the west, Deux-Sèvres in the center, and Vienne in the east, as well as small areas of several other departments. Poitiers Poitiers (pwätyā`), city (1990 pop. 82,507), capital of Vienne dept., W central France, on the Clain River...... Click the link for more information. , the historic capital, is the chief industrial center. Other industrial towns are Châtellerault, Niort, La Roche-sur-Yon, and Les Sables-d'Olonne. The Vendée region, or Lower Poitou, extends beyond the departmental boundary of Vendée; it is mostly a pastoral hedgerow country (the bocages), with swamps in the west and in the south. A narrow strip, the Vendean plain, is an intensive wheat-growing region. Upper Poitou is a rich agricultural area; it also has a large dairy industry. A part of the Roman province of Aquitaine, Poitou (known as "the city of the Pictons") fell to the Visigoths (5th cent.) and to the Franks (507). The counts of Poitiers, who originated in the 9th cent., assumed the title duke of Aquitaine Aquitaine (ăk`wĭtān, äkētĕn`), Lat. Aquitania, former duchy and kingdom in SW France. ..... Click the link for more information. . The area was frequently contested by England and France, passing back and forth in possession until the end of the Hundred Years War, when Charles VII definitively incorporated it in the French crown lands. PoitouHistorical region, western central France. It was bounded by Brittany, Anjou, Touraine, Marche, and the Atlantic Ocean. It was inhabited by the ancient Gallic tribe of Pictones and became part of Roman Aquitania. A meeting place of northern and southern cultures, its golden age (11th–12th century) was characterized by great Romanesque art and architecture. The counts of Poitiers were succeeded by the Angevin kings of England, but by 1375 the French had won the region back. It was a province of France until the French Revolution, when it was divided into three departments. It is predominantly a rural area; regional specialties include seafood and white wine. Poitou a former province of W central France, on the Atlantic. Chief town: Poitiers How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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At Poitou, you can risk nothing, except the chance of catching the fevers prevalent there; and even of them, the so-called wizards of the country will cure you, for the sake of your pistoles. You have heard me speak of my cousine de Maisonrouge, that grande belle femme, who, after having married, en secondes noces--there had been, to tell the truth, some irregularity about her first union--a venerable relic of the old noblesse of Poitou, was left, by the death of her husband, complicated by the indulgence of expensive tastes on an income of 17,000 francs, on the pavement of Paris, with two little demons of daughters to bring up in the path of virtue. Further back are knights from Quercy, Limousin, Saintonge, Poitou, and Aquitaine, with the valiant Sir Guiscard d'Angle. |
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