Editing Poitiers (section)

===Middle Ages===
[[File:PlacedeGaulle Poitiers.JPG|thumb|Place Charles-de-Gaulle and its medieval heritage]]

During most of the [[Early Middle Ages]], the town of Poitiers took advantage of the defensively tactical placement of its location, which was far from the nucleus of [[Carolingian Empire|Frankish power]]. As the seat of an ''[[Diocese|évêché]]'' (bishopric) since the 4th century, the town was a cynosure of notable importance and the capital of the county of [[Poitou]]. At the crux of their power, the [[Count of Poitiers|Counts of Poitiers]] governed a sizeable domain, including both [[Nouvelle-Aquitaine]] and [[Poitou]].

The town was often referred to as ''Poictiers'', a name commemorated in [[HMS Poictiers|warships of the Royal Navy]], after the Battle of Poitiers.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kendall B. Tarte|title=Writing Places: Sixteenth-century City Culture and the Des Roches Salon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UFPvOm09BhwC&pg=PA134|year=2007|publisher=Associated University Presse|isbn=978-0-87413-965-5|page=134}}</ref>

The first decisive victory of a Western European Christian army over a [[Caliphate|Islamic]] power, the [[Battle of Tours]], was fought by [[Charles Martel]]'s men in the vicinity of Poitiers on 10 October 732. For many historians, it was one of history's most pivotal moments as it marked the end of territorial end of Muslim expansion although the influence of the region would bourgeon for hundreds of years to come.<ref>Professor of religion [[Huston Smith]] says in ''The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions'': "But for their defeat by Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours in 733 {{sic}}, the entire Western world might today be Muslim."</ref>

[[Eleanor of Aquitaine]] frequently resided in the town, which she embellished and fortified, and in 1199 entrusted with communal rights.<ref name=EB1911/> In 1152 she married the future King of England [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] in [[Poitiers Cathedral]].

During the [[Hundred Years' War]], the [[Battle of Poitiers]], an English victory, was fought near the town of Poitiers on 19 September 1356. Later in the war in 1418, under [[Charles VI of France|Charles VII]], the royal parliament moved from Paris to Poitiers, where it remained in exile until the Plantagenets finally withdrew from the capital in 1436.<ref name=EB1911/> During this interval, in 1429, Poitiers was the site of [[Joan of Arc]]'s formal [[inquest]].<ref name=EB1911/>

The [[University of Poitiers]] was founded in 1431. During and after the Reformation, [[John Calvin]] had numerous converts in Poitiers and the town had its share of the violent proceedings which underlined the [[French Wars of Religion|Wars of Religion]] throughout France.<ref name=EB1911/>

In 1569 Poitiers was defended against an assailing siege by [[Guy de Daillon]], Count of Lude, against [[Admiral of France]] [[Gaspard II de Coligny|Gaspard de Coligny]], who after an unsuccessful bombardment and seven weeks, retired from a siege he had laid to the town.<ref name=EB1911/>