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- historical region in today's France
- former county and province
• Flag
• Meaning/Origin of the Flag
• Coat of Arms
• Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms
• Map of the historical Regions in France
• Explanations about the Regions
• History
• Origin of the Country's Name
Flag of Poitou
– Drapeau de Poitou,
Source, by: www.wissen.de
1960–2016,
Unofficial flag of the Region of Poitou-Charentes
– Drapeau de officieux de la Region Poitou-Charentes,
Source, by: svowebmaster.free.fr, Thanks to Thierry Gilabert
since 1960,
Unofficial flag of the Region of Pays-de-la-Loire
– Drapeau de officieux de la Region Pays-de-la-Loire,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)
The Flag of Poitou shows a red bunting, topped with five golden castles. It has its origins in an in the 14th century for Poitou customary coat of arms. The in 1960 created Regions of "Poitou-Charentes" (existing to 2016) and "Pays-de-la-Loire", to which the Poitou today belongs, use unofficial flags. In "Pays-de-la-Loire" is a flag in use, modeled after historical coats of arms. It shows the heraldry of Maine, Anjou, Vendée and Bretagne. In "Poitou-Charentes" was a flag in use, modeled after historical coats of arms. It showes two horizontal stripes in silver and black and a red lion in the middle. The flag is of recent origin, and it is reminiscent of the old coat of arms of Poitou from the time of the Plantagenets (look Coat of Arms).
Source:
Volker Preuß
1169-1224,
Coat of arms of Poitou
– Blason du Poitou,
Source, by:
Wikipedia (D)
1224-1241(?),
Coat of arms of Poitou
– Blason du Poitou,
Source, by:
Wikipedia (FR)
1241–1271,
Coat of arms of Alfons of Poitiers
– Blason du Alphonse de Poitiers,
Source, by:
Wikipedia (D)
since 14th century,
Coat of arms of Poitou
– Blason du Poitou,
Source, by:
Wikipedia (FR)
Modern times,
Coat of arms of Poitou
– Blason du Poitou,
Source, by:
omnilogie.fr, Wikipedia (FR)
The heraldry of the County of Poitou is quite variable and was associated with the heraldry of their rulers. The oldest known coat of arms image shows a red lion on silver. It goes back to Richard the Lionheart from the House of Plantagenet , King of England, son of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was from 1169 to 1196 Duke of Aquitaine. The House of Plantagenet ruled in Poitou until 1224. Another well-known coat of arms dates back to Alphons of Poitiers, who was born in 1220. He was the son of the French King Louis VIII. and his wife Blanche of Castile. Therefore, the heraldry of France and Castile was joined in his coat of arms. The shield is divided and one hand shows the golden lilies of the Capetians on blue, and on the other hand golden castles on red. Alphons became Count of Poitou (Poitiers) in 1241 and died in 1271 without leaving any descendants. In the following periods, until the integration of Poitou into the royal domain (1416), Poitou had been repeatedly given as an appanage to members of the royal house, which used as Counts of Poitou the coat of arms of Alphonse of Poitiers. For the county itself, a coat of arms prevailed, which shows only the characteristics of Castile, five golden castles on a red background. Another coat of arms shows a silver over black divided shield with the red lion in the middle. The coat of arms is of recent origin, and it is reminiscent of the old coat of arms of Poitou from the time of the Plantagenets. The colors white and black stand for Lower Poitou (granite) and Upper Poitou (limestone). The colours white and black are also the Celtic national colors, and here they are possibly an allusion to the Celtic roots of the country. Even until today here is spoken the Pictavian language, a language which goes back to the Celtic Pictones. The coat of arms is frequently associated with the Poitou-Charentes region , but it is even assumed here, readily and often, the red coat of arms with the five castles. However, the regions in France have no own coats of arms.
Source:
Wikipedia (D),
Wikipedia (FR),
omnilogie.fr,
Volker Preuß
You read here: A flag affair!
"From a royal banner-throw to being held hostage".
The problems of Richard I. (Lionheart), King of England, with an unloved flag!
The historical, French Regions:
in black: governorate and province in 1776,
in red: former county, province oder governorate
Map: Volker Preuß
The provinces (or governorates) that existed until the French Revolution were historically grown entities that had often developed from former fiefdoms of the French crown, historical counties and duchies, often existed for hundreds of years and had preserved regional characteristics (cultural peculiarities and regional languages). Such phenomena were naturally undesirable to the French Revolution, and in the context of its bloody and violent egalitarianism, all regional references were eradicated. Shortly after the Revolution, the provinces were dissolved and France was divided into many small départements, which were to be approximately the same size and have the same status, controlled by prefects of the central administration in Paris. The departments were named after rivers or mountains so as not to use the names of any of the old provinces. However, it was not possible to sever the ties between the inhabitants of France and their respective historically grown regions, so that in 1960 regions were created again. There can hardly be said to be any real autonomy. The regions are only supposed to promote the economic, social, health, cultural and scientific development of the region, keep an eye on housing and living conditions, and provide support in some areas, e.g. urban development policy, urban regeneration, regional planning, preservation of regional identity and promotion of regional languages. When the regions were formed, departments located in a particular historical province were administratively grouped together into a region that often had the same historical name. The resulting entities only roughly corresponded to the boundaries of historical provinces. In strictly centralised France, however, any form of responsible regionalism is avoided. The regions do not even have their own seals with which to mark their own legally binding decisions, because there are no plans to introduce such a thing. Therefore, anything to do with coats of arms or flags is completely irrelevant. The logos of the regions are used generally, sometimes with the colours reversed and placed arbitrarily on flags or banners. There are no rules, as they are not official symbols. The logos and flags of the regions therefore often look like company logos: Unloving, unhistorical, technocratic and modernistic. That is why most of these regions have a kind of unofficial heraldic flag, which is intended to recall historical heraldic models. However, these are merely decorative in nature and are not a symbol of sovereign functions. The regions created in 1960 were even called into question in 2014, and a territorial reform was decided – centrally from Paris – which reduced the number of regions by almost half through mergers. The regions and their institutions were not even consulted on this matter.
Wikipedia Link to the regions of France:
click or tap here
FOTW Link to the regions of France:
click or tap here
Source: Flags of the World,
Wikipedia (D),
Volker Preuß
antiquity · colonization by Celtic tribes, the largest is the Tribe of the Pictones
56–52 B.C. · Roman conquest, the area of the today's Poitou comes to the province of Celtica, later to the province of Aquitania
418 A.D. · the Visigoths be settled as federates
5th century A.D. · conquest of Gaul by the Franks (under King Clovis) to 507 conquest of Aquitaine, expansion of the empire to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pyrenees and the Alps
511 · death of King Clovis, division of the Frankish Empire by Salic law of succession among his four sons (residences in Paris, Soissons, Orléans, Reims)
ca. 550 · administrative division of the empire into the kingdoms of Austrasia and Neustria, and the Duchy of Aquitaine and the Kingdom of Burgundy
639 · death of King Dagobert I., the power goes over to the Mayors of the Palace (maior domus) of Austrasia (House of the Carolingians)
687 · Pepin II. asserts itself as Mayor of the Palace throughout the Frankish Empire
8th century · fights between the Dukes of Aquitania and the Frankish kings
751 · Pepin the Short (III., grandson of Pepin II.) eliminates the Merovingian monarchy and let hisself elect to the king from the Franks
771 · Charlemagne takes over Aquitaine and transmits it later as a kingdom to his youngest son Louis the Pious
814 · Louis the Pious hands over Aquitaine (and the Spanish March) to his son Pippin
817 · Pepin is king of Aquitaine, a few years later Louis the Pious transfers Aquitaine to his youngest son, Charles (Charles the Bald), who has difficulties to prevail as king in Aquitaine
843 · division of the Frankish Empire (Treaty of Verdun), there arise the West Frankish Kingdom of Charles II. (the Bald), the Middle Frankish Kingdom of Lothar (Lotharingia), and the East Frankish Kingdom of Louis II., Aquitaine comes to the Empire of Charles the Bald, However, there is resistance among the nobility, they prefer Pepin II. (son of ex-King Pepin)
845 · Charles the Bald sets Pepin II. as king in Aquitaine, but without Poitou, Saintonge and Angoumois
849 · election of Charles the Bald as King of Aquitaine
855 · Charles the Bald lets elect his son Charles to the King of Aquitaine
867 · Death of King Charles, he is succeeded by his brother Louis (Louis the Stammerer)
870 · at the division of the Frankish Empire (Treaty of Meersen) arises the West Frankish Kingdom, the East Frankish Kingdom, and the Frankish Kingdom of Italy
877 · Ludwig ascends the West Frankish throne, Aquitaine is given as a fief and a duchy to Rainulf, Count of Poitiers, (House of the Ramnulfids)
880 · by the division of the Frankish Empire (Treaties of Verdun and Ribbemont) arises the West Frankish Kingdom (later France), the East Frankish Kingdom (later German Empire), the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of Upper Burgundy (under Rudolf the Welf) and the Kingdom of Lower Burgundy persists
898 · Odo, Count of Paris and Duke of Francia, is elected to the king of the East Frankish Empire, Rainulf takes over the title of the King of Aquitaine, the possession of Poitou becomes hereditary
909 · Aquitaine is a duchy again, under William the Pious (Williamids, Gellones)
927 · extinction of the Williamids, Aquitaine comes to the House of the Ramnulfids, the Counts of Poitou
927 · Aquitaine comes to the House of Poitou (Ramnulfids)
950 · Aquitaine includes now the counties of Gascony, Armagnac, Fézensac, Périgord, Poitou, Angoulême and La Marche
987 · death of the childless West Frankish King Louis V. (House of Carolingians), his heir and uncle Charles of Lower Lorraine could not prevail, the nobility elects Hugh Capet (House of Capet) to the king, the Capetians are the Kings of France to 1328
1152 · Henry Plantagenet marries Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony come to the house of Anjou-Plantagenet
1154 · death of Stephen of Blois (King of England) , Henry is his successor as Henry II., Anjou becomes in this way a fief of the French king, which is a part of the crown of England (House of Anjou-Plantagenet)
1204 · Philip Augustus, King of France, conquers Normandy, Anjou, Maine and Touraine (Angevin Empire of the Plantagenets)
1205 · Philip Augustus, King of France, conquers Poitou
1224 · King Louis VIII. of France, son of Philip Augustus, conquers Aquitaine, except Gascony the last possession of the Plantagenets in France, Poitou and Saintonge come directly to the crown, La Marche, Périgord, Angoulême and Auvergne become fiefs
1259 · Treaty of Paris (Abbeville), King Henry III. of England recognizes the loss of Aquitaine, and receives in this way the Saintonge, which is united with Gascony to the Duchy of Guyenne, as fief
1328 · death of King Charles IV. (the Fair), extinction of the direct Capetian line, according to Salic Law Count Philip of Valois (Son of Prince Charles of Valois, first cousin of King Charles IV.) came on the French throne (as King Philip VI .), the English king Edward III. lays claim to the throne as a maternal nephew of Charles IV., reason for the "Hundred Years War" (Anglo-French War, 1338–1453), out of the House of Valois came all kings of France from 1328 to 1589
1356 · Battle of Maupertuis, Poitou is an English possession again
1369 · Karl V., King of France, conquers Poitou and hands it over to his brother John, the Duke of Berry
1416 · Death of Dule John, Poitou comes for ever and directly to the French crown (incorporation into the royal domain), later creation of the governorate (province) of Poitou
1776 · the already in the 14th century created governorates of the civil administration of the kingdom of France become committed to a number of 39, and correspond in this way to the number of provinces, in previous years could any provinces be summarized in one governorate
1789 · French Revolution, the governorates and provinces become abolished, Poitou is divided into departments (approximately: Deux-Sèvres, Vienne and Vendée)
1960 · reintroduction of regions in France, but not within the historic boundaries, just by integrating of departments, the departments of Deux-Sèvres und Vienne come to the Region of Poitou-Charentes (capital is Poitiers), the department of Vendée comes to the Region of Pays-de-la-Loire (capital is Nantes)
2016 · the Poitou-Charentes region merges with the Aquitaine and Limousin regions in the new, larger region of New Aquitaine (Nouvelle-Aquitaine, capital: Bordeaux)
2016 · die Region Poitou-Charentes geht zusammen mit den Regionen Aquitanien und Limousin in der neuen größeren Region Neu-Aquitanien (Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Capital: Bordeaux) auf
Source:
Wikipedia (D),
Meyers Konversationslexikon
The French name Poitou – and also the name of the capital Poitiers – goes back to the old Pictavia, the home of the Celtic Pictones who lived here in ancient times. In Celtic the country was called Pictavia, in Norman Peitaland. Even until today here is spoken the Pictavian language.
Source:
Wikipedia (D), Volker Preuß
