The County of Poitou (Latin comitatus Pictavensis) was a historical region of France, consisting of the three sub-regions of Vendée, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. Its name is derived from the ancient Gaul tribe of Pictones. The county was bounded on the north by the Duchy of Brittany, the counties of Anjou and Touraine, on the east by the County of La Marche and on the south by the County of Angoulême. The seat of the county was at Poitiers.
County of Poitou
comitatus Pictavensis (Latin)
778–1416
France in 1154
Status
Vassal state of Francia
(778-843)
Vassal state of West Francia
(843-987)
Vassal state of the Kingdom of France
(987-1416)
In personal union with the Duchy of Aquitaine
(950s-1154)
In personal union with the Kingdom of England
(1154-1205)
Capital
Poitiers
Government
Feudal County
Count of Poitou
Historical era
Middle Ages
• Established
778
• Merged with the French Crown
1416
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Francia
Kingdom of France
Today part of
France
Poitou was ruled by the count of Poitou, a continuous line of which can be traced back to an appointment of Charlemagne in 778. From the 950s on, the counts were also dukes of Aquitaine. After the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with Louis VII of France in 1138, the Seneschal of Poitou was responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the county. From 1154, through Eleanor's second marriage, Poitou passed to the kings of England.
Poitou was conquered by King Philip II of France in 1205 after he declared it a confiscated fief of the crown. Henry III of England failed to retake it in the Saintonge War. One of the main battlegrounds of Hundred Years' War between the French and English in the 14th and 15th centuries, Poitou was finally merged with the French crown in 1416.
The CountyofPoitou (Latin comitatus Pictavensis) was a historical region of France, consisting of the three sub-regions of Vendée, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne...
The Ramnulfids, or the House of Poitiers, were a French dynasty of Frankish origin ruling the CountyofPoitou and Duchy of Aquitaine in the 9th through...
Seneschal ofPoitou was an officer carrying out and managing the domestic affairs of the lord of the CountyofPoitou. During the course of the twelfth...
with the CountyofPoitou, leaving Charles with a final appanage consisting of the Duchies of Angoulême, Berry, and Châteauroux, the Countiesof Argenton...
was an attempt led by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to...
battle in the Valois campaign to recover the countyofPoitou, which had been ceded to the English by the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360. The French victory put...
The Baudet du Poitou, also called the Poitevin or Poitou donkey, is a French breed of donkey. It is one of the largest breeds, and jacks (donkey stallions)...
(the Mauges), and Teofalicus (Tiffauges) and was separate from the CountyofPoitou, of which Renaud also appears to have been Count. His appointment as...
Engelbert of Cleves, Count (1491–1506) CountyofPoitou (complete list) – John III, Count (1398–1417) Charles, Count (1403–1461) Low Countries Countyof Artois...
(1181–1192) Peter II of Courtenay, Count (1184–1192) Matilda I, Countess (1192–1257) Hervé IV of Donzy, Count (1199–1223) CountyofPoitou (complete list)...
the Fearless, Count (942–996) Richard II the Good, Duke (996–1027) CountyofPoitou (complete list) – Robert I, Count (866–923) Aymar, Count (892–902)...
(1384–1404) CountyofPoitou (complete list) – Philip I, Count (1293–1322) John I, Count (1319–1364) John II, Count (1340–1416) Low Countries Countyof Artois...
(1083–1097) William II, Count (1097–1148) Duchy of Normandy (complete list) – Richard II, Duke (996–1026) CountyofPoitou (complete list) – William III, Count (969–1030)...
Tristan, Count (1265–1270) Robert III of Bethune, Count (1272–1280) Louis I, Count (1280–1322) CountyofPoitou (complete list) – Richard II, Count (1224)...
being invested with the countiesof Rennes and Nantes. South of the Loire, the Pays de Retz was detached from the CountyofPoitou and granted to him as...
Hugh de Vivonne (died 1249) was a French knight from Vivonne in the CountyofPoitou. He was loyal to the Plantagenet family and supported their right to...
symptoms was described from Poitou in western France in a work of 1616 by François Citois. It was known in English sources as Poitou colic. It was likewise...
Renaud de Ponz, was a French nobleman and the lord of Pons in the Saintonge region of the CountyofPoitou from 1191 until his death. In the Anglo-French...
Alphonse, Count of Poitou. 1249: Alphonse, Count ofPoitou, by right of his wife succeeds Raymond VII of Toulouse. 1255: the Countyof Beaumont-le-Roger...
the north, Touraine to the east and Poitou to the south. Its 12th century Count Geoffrey created the nucleus of what became the Angevin Empire. The adjectival...
Richard was nominal Count ofPoitou from 1225 to 1243, and he also held the title Earl of Cornwall since 1225. He was one of the wealthiest men in Europe...
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