Poitou

Poitou (French pronunciation: ​[pwatu]) was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.

History

The region of Poitou was called Thifalia (or Theiphalia) in the sixth century.

There is a marshland called the Poitevin Marsh (French Marais Poitevin) on the Gulf of Poitou, on the west coast of France, just north of La Rochelle and west of Niort.

By the Treaty of Paris of 1259, King Henry III of England recognized his loss of continental Plantaganet territory to France (including Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Poitou).

During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries Poitou was a hotbed of Huguenot (French Calvinist) activity among the nobility and bourgeoisie and was severely impacted by the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598).

Many of the Acadians who settled in what is now Nova Scotia beginning in 1604 and later to New Brunswick, came from the region of Poitou. After the Acadians were deported by the British beginning in 1755, some of them eventually took refuge in Québec. A large portion of these refugees also migrated to Louisiana in 1785 and eventually became known as Cajuns.

Poitou-Charentes

Poitou-Charentes (French pronunciation: [pwatu ʃaʁɑ̃t]) is a former administrative region in south-western France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes. It comprises four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. Historical provinces are Angoumois, Aunis, Saintonge and Poitou.

The regional capital is Poitiers. Other important cities are La Rochelle, Niort, Angoulême, Châtellerault, Saintes, Rochefort and Royan.

Politics

The regional council is composed of 56 members. The region is the home of France's losing presidential candidate Socialist Ségolène Royal in the election of 2007.

Demographics

In French its residents are known as Picto-Charentais. In 2003, the region ranked 15th out of 26 in population. In area it ranked 12th in size.

Three regional languages, Poitevin, Saintongeais and Occitan (Limousin, Marchois) are spoken by a minority of people in the region.

Poitou is believed to be the region of origin of most of the Acadian and Cajun populations of North America (settlements founded in New Brunswick, Louisiana, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec, Maine and Ceebs). Their ancestors emigrated from the region in the 17th and 18th centuries.