After another delay caused by real-world work, we’re delighted to resume our pretend tour de France. We last visited the chateaux and vineyards of the Loire Valley, one of the most popular destinations in the most touristed country in the world, and now we’re dipping slightly south to a region that gets far less attention.
Poitou-Charentes officially no longer exists. It was a defined region of France from 1956 to 2015, when France reorganized administratively and made it part of Nouvelle Aquitaine.
This area in central France borders the Atlantic Ocean and is mostly rural. Its two largest cities are the university town of Poitiers and the port of La Rochelle. For tourists, the chief attractions will be along the coast, particularly the Isles de Ré and Oléron. Another hotspot is the Futuroscope theme park north of Poitiers.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
We will linger in Poitiers because it is the birthplace of one of my favorite women of history, Eleanor of Aquitaine. This medieval queen of France and England continues to fascinate us centuries after her death. Her literary and artistic “Court of Love” in Poitiers during the mid-1100s is legendary for establishing the ideas of chivalry in the culture of Europe.
Eleanor was born around 1122 into an interesting family. Her grandfather, William IX, was the earliest troubadour whose work survived. He was a lyric poet in the Occitan language; he had a reputation for seducing women, and his verses tell of this prowess. One of his conquests was Dangereuse, Viscountess of Châttellerault, the wife of a vassal. His own wife, Philippa, was not pleased to have another woman installed in her home but could find no one to assist her in evicting her husband’s mistress. The church excommunicated William, but he continued to live with Dangereuse and Philippa finally retired to the Abbey of Fontevrault. The son of William and the daughter of Dangereuse, step-siblings, married and became Eleanor’s parents, so both Dangereuse and Philippa were her grandmothers.
On the death of her father, Eleanor became the duchess of Aquitaine, one of the largest and wealthiest realms in the kingdom of France. The teenager was wed almost immediately to King Louis VII of France, but the marriage was never happy. The beautiful, free-spirited granddaughter of William IX and Dangereuse was ill-suited for the plain, pious Louis. But she did have some grand adventures of Queen of France. She and her ladies-in-waiting, often dressed in full armor, shocked Europe when they joined the Second Crusade. Eleanor was furious with Louis’ refusal to heed her military advice, a strategy that many historians view as superior to Louis’ own disastrous path. The defeated Louis returned to France without his wife, who denounced him and appealed for an annulment to the marriage, which she received in 1152. Her vast estates in Aquitaine were returned to her.
Within a year of the annulment, Eleanor married the duke of Normandy, who soon became Henry II, King of England. She had eight children with Henry, including three sons who became kings. She was the mother of Richard the Lionheart and King John, the hapless villain of the Robin Hood tales. Eleanor supported her sons in revolt against their father, and for this he imprisoned her for 16 years. The 1968 film, The Lion in Winter, won Katherine Hepburn an Oscar for her portrayal of the formidable Eleanor.
Well, I could write all day about this incredible woman, but many others already have, in historical accounts and in fictionalized versions of her life., beginning with Shakespeare’s King John. Modern novels featuring Eleanor include Elizabeth Chadwick’s three-volume series.
Eleanor died in 1204 and was buried at Fontevrault Abbey near Chinon.
Eleanor’s home in Poitiers, le Palais de justice de Poitiers, can be visited today. One can also visit the cathedral where Eleanor attended services.
Not just Eleanor
A few other notes of interest from Poitou-Charentes:
- Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne, defeated Muslim invaders from Spain at the Battle of Poitiers in 732.
- Poitiers has been the home of many notables, including René Descartes, who studied law at the university, chef Joël Robuchon, and mystery novelist Georges Simenon.
- The Acadian and Cajun populations of North America originated in Poitou.
- The local dialect/language, Poitevin, has some interesting characteristics as a bridge between the langues d’oïl and the langues d’oc, and also to Acadian French.
Next week, we hope to resume our normal every-Monday schedule with a look at the gastronomy of Poitou-Charentes.
