- published: 23 Jun 2014
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Coordinates: 46°34′55″N 0°20′10″E / 46.5819°N 0.3361°E / 46.5819; 0.3361
Poitiers [pwatje] ( listen) is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque period. Two major military battles occurred near the city: in 732, the Battle of Poitiers (also known as the Battle of Tours), in which the Franks commanded by Charles Martel halted the expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate, and in 1356, the Battle of Poitiers, a key victory for English forces during the Hundred Years' War.
Poitiers is strategically situated on the Seuil du Poitou, a shallow zone which is a gap between the Armorican and the Central Massif and connects the Aquitaine Basin to the Paris Basin. Poitiers's primary site sits on a vast promontory between the valleys of the Boivre and the Clain. The old town occupies the slopes and summit of a plateau which rises 130 feet (40 m) above the streams which surround it on three sides.
Diane de Poitiers (3 September 1499 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France. She became notorious as the latter's favourite mistress. It was in this capacity that she wielded much influence and power at the French Court, which continued until Henry was mortally wounded in a tournament accident, during which his lance wore her favour (ribbon) rather than his wife's.
The subject of paintings by François Clouet as well other anonymous painters, Diane was also immortalised in a statue by Jean Goujon.
She was born the daughter of Jean de Poitiers, Seigneur de Saint Vallier and Jeanne de Batarnay in the Château de Saint-Vallier, in the town of Saint-Vallier, Drôme, in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. When still a girl, she was briefly in the retinue of Anne de Beaujeu, eldest sister of King Charles VIII, a capable and highly intelligent woman who held the regency of France during his minority.
Diane was educated according to the principles of Renaissance humanism which was popular at the time, music, hunting, manners, languages, the art of conversation, and dancing. She learned how to read Latin and Greek, and became a keen hunter and sportswoman, remaining in good physical condition well into middle age.
[Chorus:]
I Need You Like The Moon Needs The Sun To Shine
Oh Every Second You Deh 'pon My Mind
Have You Ever Seen The World With Loving Eyes
It's Beautiful And Nice
And Every Moment's A Surprise
Have You Ever Heard How The Things Them Sound With
Loving Ears
It Will Make You Feel So Fine
And Makes You Wanna Dance And Smile
Do You Know What Your Words Can Do
When There Is Love In Them
Them Can Crow Girls To Queens
And Beggars To Kings
Love Is The Reaason For Everything
And That's Why I And I Ah Sing
[Chorus]
Good God Love Is In Danger
I'm Searching So Long Now
But It's Just Hate I Find
Good God I Feel Like A Stranger
I Walked Through The City
And It's Just Sey Them Like
Oh It's Just Real Love I Look For
But All This Land Got To Offer Is Hatred And Shame