Editing Poitou

{{Short description|Historic province of west-central France}}
{{about|the region and former province of France|the breeds of animal from this region|Baudet de Poitou|and|Poitou goat|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!--See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields that may be available-->
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|name =Poitou <!-- at least one of the first two fields must be filled in -->
|official_name =
|other_name =
|native_name = ''Poetou''&nbsp;&nbsp;{{small|([[Poitevin dialect|Poitevin]])}}
|nickname =
|settlement_type = <!-- e.g. Town, Village, City, etc.-->
|total_type = <!-- to set a non-standard label for total area and population rows -->
|motto =
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|image_skyline =
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|image_flag = Flag of Poitou.svg
|flag_size = 100
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|image_shield = Blason ville fr Scorbé-Clairvaux (Vienne).svg 
|shield_size =75px
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|image_map =Poitou in France (1789).svg
|mapsize = 250px
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|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = France
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|established_title = <!-- Settled -->
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|area_total_km2 =19709<!-- ALL fields with measurements are subject to automatic unit conversion-->
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<!-- Population ----------------------->
|population_as_of =2006 estimate
|population_footnotes = <br>Residents known as Poitevins<ref name='biodict'>{{cite book | editor=Lance Day, Ian McNeil |title = Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology| url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780415060424 | url-access=registration | publisher=Routledge | year=1996 | isbn = 0-415-19399-0 }}</ref>
|population_note =
|population_total =1,375,356
|population_density_km2 = <!--For automatic calculation, any density field may contain: auto -->
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<!-- General information --------------->
|timezone = CET
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|coor_type = <!-- can be used to specify what the coordinates refer to -->
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|postal_code_type = <!-- enter ZIP code, Postcode, Post code, Postal code... -->
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|blank_name_sec1 =[[Count of Poitiers|Count]]
|blank_info_sec1=638–677, [[Guérin de Trèves]]<br>1403–1461, [[Charles VII of France]]
|website =
|footnotes =
}}
'''Poitou''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|p|w|ʌ|t|uː}} {{respell|PWUH|too}}, {{IPAc-en|US|p|w|ɑː|ˈ|t|uː}} {{respell|pwah|TOO}},<ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|Poitou|access-date=3 May 2019}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190503160130/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/Poitou "Poitou"] (US) and {{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Poitou |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302000455/https://www.lexico.com/definition/poitou |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-03-02 |title=Poitou |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Poitou|access-date=3 May 2019}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|pwatu|lang}}; {{Langx|la|Pictaviensis, Pictavia}}; [[Poitevin dialect|Poitevin]]: ''Poetou'') was a [[Provinces of France|province]] of west-central France whose capital city was [[Poitiers]]. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the [[Pictones]] Gallic tribe.

==Geography==

The main historical cities are [[Poitiers]] (historical capital city), [[Châtellerault]] (France's kings' establishment in Poitou), [[Niort]], [[La Roche-sur-Yon]], [[Thouars]], and [[Parthenay]].

==History==

Historically Poitou was ruled by the [[count of Poitou]], a continuous line of which can be traced back to an appointment of [[Charlemagne]] in 778. A [[marsh]]land called the [[Poitevin Marsh]] (French ''[[Marais Poitevin]]'') is located along the [[Gulf of Poitou]], on the west coast of France, just north of [[La Rochelle]] and west of [[Niort]].

At the conclusion of the [[Battle of Taillebourg]] in the [[Saintonge War]], which was decisively won by the French, King Henry III of England recognized his loss of continental [[Angevin Empire|Plantagenet territory]] to France. This was ratified by the [[Treaty of Paris (1259)|Treaty of Paris of 1259]], by which King Louis annexed [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]], [[Maine (province)|Maine]], [[Duchy of Anjou|Anjou]], and Poitou).

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

Some of the French colonists, later known as [[Acadian]]s, who settled beginning in 1604 in eastern North America came from southern Poitou. They established settlements in what is now [[Nova Scotia]], and later in [[New Brunswick]]—both of which were taken over in the later 18th century by the English, (after their 1763 victory in the [[Seven Years' War]]).

After the revocation of the [[Edict of Nantes]] in 1685, the French Roman [[Catholic Church]] conducted a strong [[Counter-Reformation]] effort. In 1793, this effort had contributed to the three-year-long open revolt against the French Revolutionary Government in the Bas-Poitou (Département of [[Vendée]]). Similarly, during [[Napoleon]]'s [[Hundred Days]] in 1815, the Vendée stayed loyal to the Restoration Monarchy of [[Louis XVIII of France|King Louis XVIII]]. Napoleon dispatched 10,000 troops under [[General Lamarque]] to pacify the region.

As noted by historian Andre Lampert: 
<blockquote>"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 in [[Paris]], whatever its composition and identity. (...) In the region where [[Louis XIII]] and [[Louis XIV]] had encountered stiff resistance, the [[House of Bourbon]] gained 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 of [[Robespierre]]."<ref>Andre Lampert, "Centralism and Localism in European History" (cited as an example of "A Persistant [sic] Localism" in the Introduction)</ref></blockquote>{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}<!-- appears to be incomplete -->

==In fiction==

* Large parts of the ''[[Angélique (novel series)|Angélique]]'' series of historical novels are set in 17th century Poitou.

* In [[Alexandre Dumas]]'s ''[[The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later|The 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 movie ''[[Kingdom of Heaven (film)|Kingdom of Heaven]]'' features [[Guy of Lusignan]], a knight from Poitou.

==See also==
*[[Count of Poitiers]] 
*[[Poitevin (language)]], the French regional language spoken in Poitou (Saintongeais is for [[Saintonge (region)|Saintonge]])
*[[Big Ghoul]], folklore dragon.

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020812063905/http://www.acpo.on.ca/claude/poitou.htm|date=12 August 2002|title=Le Poitou, ancienne province de France : Portrait physique et humain du Poitou aux XVII<sup>e</sup> et XVIII<sup>e</sup> siècles}}
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[File:PO2.gif|120px|thumb|Coat of arms of Poitou derived from the coat of arms of [[Alphonse of Toulouse]], Count of Poitou, traditionally used for the province of Poitou]] -->

{{Historic Provinces of France}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord|46.6486|N|0.2478|W|format=dms|region:FR_type:adm1st_source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree|display=title}}

[[Category:Poitou| ]]
[[Category:Former provinces of France]]
[[Category:Geography of Charente]]
[[Category:Geography of Charente-Maritime]]
[[Category:Geography of Deux-Sèvres]]
[[Category:Geography of Haute-Vienne]]
[[Category:Geography of Indre]]
[[Category:Geography of Loire-Atlantique]]
[[Category:Geography of Maine-et-Loire]]
[[Category:Geography of Vendée]]
[[Category:Geography of Vienne (department)]]
[[Category:History of Pays de la Loire]]
[[Category:History of Nouvelle-Aquitaine]]
[[Category:History of Centre-Val de Loire]]
[[Category:History of Charente]]
[[Category:History of Charente-Maritime]]
[[Category:History of Deux-Sèvres]]
[[Category:History of Haute-Vienne]]
[[Category:History of Indre]]
[[Category:History of Loire-Atlantique]]
[[Category:History of Maine-et-Loire]]
[[Category:History of Vendée]]
[[Category:History of Vienne (department)]]