Poitou / Charentes / Vendée - History

From the fifth century onwards the area between the Loire and the Garonne, originally the Roman province of Aquitania (Aquitaine, Guyenne), broke up into a variety of more or less independent territories and lordships. After periods of Visigothic and Frankish rule there were established within the kingdom of France a series of counties, some of which were later raised to the status of duchies or became appanages of members of the royal family. In 732 Charles Martel defeated the Arabs at Tours and Poitiers. Later the region was harried by the Norsemen (Normans), and many keeps and defensive towers still bear witness to this troubled time. Then, with the foundation of numerous monasteries and other religious houses on the pilgrim road to Santiago de Compostela, prosperity began to return. The marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with Henry Plantagenet, later Henry II of England, was followed by centuries of conflict between England and France for possession of Poitou, during which, down to the 16th century, the various individual territories gradually returned to France. The region was ravaged by the 16th century wars of religion and by the war in the Vendée between 1793 and 1795.