Editing Charente-Maritime (section)

==== Return to Prosperity in the Age of Enlightenment ====
[[File:Plan La Rochelle et environs, 1773, Nicolas Chalmandrier, BNF Gallica.jpg|thumb|La Rochelle and Aunis in 1773.|left]]
The 18th century brought agricultural growth in Aunis and Saintonge with the introduction of corn from the New World, complementing wheat, rye, and barley.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Boutinet|2001|p=56}}</ref> [[Cognac]] production began, with eau-de-vie shipped via La Rochelle to Northern Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 22, 1998 |title=Petite Histoire de nos Eaux de Vie |trans-title=A Short History of our Eau de Vie |url=http://www.le-cognac.com/general0entree.html |access-date=May 25, 2010 |website=le-cognac.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980422185850/http://www.le-cognac.com/general0entree.html |archive-date=22 April 1998 |language=fr}}</ref> The “[[Little Ice Age]]” caused harsh winters, notably in 1708, 1739, and 1788/1789, freezing rivers and triggering famines.<ref name=":21">{{Cite web |title=De mémoire d'homme en météo charentaise |trans-title=From living memory in Charente weather |url=https://www.breuillet.net/00text/0page/meteo3.html |access-date=May 25, 2010 |website=breuillet.net |language=fr}}</ref> Textile and leather industries thrived in Saintes and [[Jonzac]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Boutinet|2001|p=57-58}}</ref> La Rochelle prospered through the [[triangular trade]], importing sugar and engaging in the slave trade, while Rochefort trained soldiers for [[New France]].<ref name=":60">{{Harvtxt|Boutinet|2001|p=60}}</ref> Enlightenment advances included La Rochelle’s Académie (1732) and Rochefort’s Naval Medicine School (1722).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ocagne|first=Maurice d'|year=1872|title=Les grandes écoles de France: carrières civiles|language=fr|trans-title=The Grandes Écoles of France: civilian careers|publisher=J. Hetzel and Cie|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6393533f/f11.item.texteImage|location=Paris|page=60}}</ref> During the [[Seven Years' War]], British raids in 1757 failed to take Rochefort.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008 |title=La Royal Navy arrive en force en rade d'Aix... et abandonne son projet de débarquement |trans-title=The Royal Navy arrives in force in Aix harbor... and abandons its landing plan |url=http://www.histoirepassion.eu/?1757-La-Royal-Navy-arrive-en-force-en-rade-d-Aix-et-abandonne-son-projet-de |access-date=May 25, 2010 |website=histoirepassion.eu |language=fr}}</ref> In 1780, [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Marquis de La Fayette]] sailed from Rochefort on ''[[French frigate Hermione (1779)|L'Hermione]]'' to aid the American Revolution.<ref group="note">A replica of this ship is being built in Rochefort.</ref> Economic decline in the 1780s, worsened by the 1788/1789 winter, led to riots in Rochefort by 1789.<ref name=":23">{{Harvtxt|Combes|2001|p=328}}</ref> The [[Estates General (France)|Estates-General]] convened in 1789, with representatives from La Rochelle, Saintes, and Saint-Jean-d’Angély drafting reform-focused ''[[cahiers de doléances]]''.<ref name=":24">{{Harvtxt|Boutinet |2001|p=62-63}}</ref>