Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

in Western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.Populations légales 2019: 85 Vendée
INSEE Its prefecture is

La Roche-sur-Yon La Roche-sur-Yon () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is the capital of the department. The demonym for its inhabitants is ''Yonnais''. History The town expanded significantly after Na ...

History

The area today called the Vendée was originally known as the ''Bas-Poitou'' and is part of the former province of

Poitou Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...

. In the southeast corner, the village of

Nieul-sur-l'Autise Nieul-sur-l'Autise is a former commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Rives-d'Autise.Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from 1 ...

(1122–1204). Eleanor's son,

Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

often had his base in Talmont. The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) turned much of the Vendée into a battleground. Since the Vendée held a considerable number of influential Protestants, including control by

Jeanne d'Albret Jeanne d'Albret ( Basque: ''Joana Albretekoa''; Occitan: ''Joana de Labrit''; 16 November 1528 – 9 June 1572), also known as Jeanne III, was Queen of Navarre from 1555 to 1572. Jeanne was the daughter of Henry II of Navarre and Margar ...

mother of Henry IV of France, the region was greatly affected by the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mi ...

which broke out in 1562 and continued until 1598. In April of that year

King Henri IV Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

issued the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

and the Wars came to an end. The revocation of the

in 1685 caused many

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

to flee from the Vendée. In the void, the region became rigorously Catholic due to the influence of a preacher and Marian missionary

Louis de Montfort Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (31 January 1673 – 28 April 1716) was a French Roman Catholic priest and confessor. He was known in his time as a preacher and was made a missionary apostolic by Pope Clement XI. As well as preaching, Montfort ...

who radically changed the spirituality of the region. Many attribute the effect of his preaching to prepare the Vendeans for their revolt against the French Revolution. The Vendeans revolted against the Revolutionary government in 1793. They resented the harsh oppression imposed on the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

by the provisions of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy act (1790) and broke into open revolt after the Revolutionary government's imposition of military conscription. A massacre of Republicans at

Machecoul Machecoul ( br, Machikoul) is a former commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Machecoul-Saint-Même.guerrilla warfare, led at the outset by peasants who were chosen in each locale, and cost more than 240,000 lives before it ended in 1796 (190,000 Vendeans who were republicans or royalists and 50,000 non-Vendean republican soldiers; according to the Jacques Hussenet and Centre Vendéen de Recherche Historique's book ''Détruisez la Vendée''). The Revolt in the Vendée must not be confused with the revolt of the Chouans, which took place at the same time in Maine and

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

. The revolt was led by able officers, mostly aristocrats with some commoners. England provided funds and weapons but various plans for military support were thwarted or cancelled, such as the ill-fated 1795 Quiberon Expedition. In 1804,

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

chose

to be the capital of the department. At the time, most of La Roche had been eradicated in the

Vendée Revolt Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

(1793–96); the renamed Napoléonville was laid out and a fresh population of soldiers and civil servants was brought in. Napoléonville had a square-grid street network and was designed to accommodate 15,000 people. In 1815, when Napoleon escaped exile on

Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...

for his Hundred Days, the Vendée refused to recognise him and stayed loyal to King

Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. He spent twenty-three years in ...

. General Lamarque led 10,000 men into the Vendée to pacify the region.

Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the '' Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. S ...

Waterloo Campaign A failed rebellion in the Vendée in 1832 in support of

Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Sicile, duchess de Berry french: Marie Caroline Ferdinande Louise , house = Bourbon-Two Sicilies , father = Francis I of the Two Sicilies , mother = Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria , religion = Roman Catholicism , signature = Italian signature of Maria Carolina ...

, the former

King Charles X Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Loui ...

's widowed daughter-in-law, was an unsuccessful attempt to restore the

Legitimist The Legitimists (french: Légitimistes) are royalists who adhere to the rights of dynastic succession to the French crown of the descendants of the eldest branch of the Bourbon dynasty, which was overthrown in the 1830 July Revolution. They ...

Bourbon dynasty during the reign of the

Orléanist Orléanist (french: Orléaniste) was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during that cent ...

monarch, King

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

of the French (1830–1848). In 1850,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

author Anthony Trollope published his book ''La Vendée'', detailing the history of the region and the war. In the preface he pays tribute to Madame de la Rochejaquelein, on whose memoirs of the war he based his story.

Etymology

The name ''Vendée'' is taken from the river

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

which runs through the southeastern part of the department. The river is attested as ''Fluvium Vendre'' in the 10th century, and as ''Flumen Vendee'' and ''Vendeia'' by the 11th century. According to Pierre-Henri Billy, the name ultimately derives from the Celtic toponym ''*vindo-'' meaning white or brilliant in a sacred context (as in the

Modern Welsh The history of the Welsh language (Welsh: ''Hanes yr iaith Gymraeg'') spans over 1400 years, encompassing the stages of the language known as Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. Origins Welsh evolved from British, the C ...

''gwyn/wyn''). The name likely originates in

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly reconstructed through the comparative method. Proto-Celti ...

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switze ...

, but may also have originated in the

Gallo Gallo may refer to: *Related to Gaul: ** Gallo-Roman culture **Gallo language, a regional language of France **Gallo-Romance, a branch of Romance languages **Gallo-Italic or Gallo-Italian language, a branch spoken in Northern Italy of the Romance ...

or Old Breton languages.

Geography

Vendée's highest point is Puy-Crapaud (295 m). The department is crossed by four rivers: the Sèvre Nantaise ( long), the Vendée (), the Lay () and the Sèvre Niortaise ().

Demographics

Vendée's inhabitants are referred to as ''Vendeans'' ( French ''Vendéens'' ).

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 7 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The 10 most populous communes are:

Higher education

The main University of this department is the

Catholic Institute of Higher Studies - ICES The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in La Roche-sur-Yon. The main goal of this institute is to achieve academic excellence through an enhancement of the Christian and human dimension in seven areas of study. Founded in 1989,

has pioneered a new concept in higher education, that of the “University School”: halfway between the French Grande École and the traditional state university.

Economy

The primary factors of the Vendéen economy are: *Tourism *Agriculture *Food Processing *Light/Medium Industry The Vendée has been cited as the most economically dynamic department in France by L'Express magazine in a 2006 survey. Its economy is characterised by a low rate of unemployment (around 7% in late 2006 compared to more than 9% nationally) and a very high proportion of small and medium-sized businesses (one business for every 14 inhabitants).

Tourism

The coast of the Vendée extends over of mostly sandy beaches. Tourists from overseas and locally frequent them. Some resorts include

Les Sables-d'Olonne Les Sables-d'Olonne (; French meaning: "The Sands of Olonne"; Poitevin: ''Lés Sablles d'Oloune'') is a seaside town in Western France, on the Atlantic Ocean. A subprefecture of the department of Vendée, Pays de la Loire, it has the administ ...

, La Tranche-sur-Mer and

Saint-Jean-de-Monts Saint-Jean-de-Monts () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. Geography The town is situated in the west of the ''département'', between Notre-Dame-de-Monts and Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez. It is ...

. Some beaches are certified for the

FEE A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in cont ...

Blue Flag for cleanliness. With more than of sandy beaches edged with dunes and pine woods. There are several

nude beach A nude beach, sometimes called a clothing-optional or free beach, is a beach where users are at liberty to be nude. Nude beaches usually have mixed bathing. Such beaches are usually on public lands, and any member of the public is allowed to ...

es including just south of La Faute sur Mer on the Pointe d'Arçay. The department also has churches and abbeys, museums, and—for nature lovers—thousands of marked footpaths, a signposted bicycle route running along the coastal mudflats, and marshes that attract unusual birds. There is fishing in the Vendée's rivers and lakes. Inland, the chief attractions include the

Marais Poitevin The Marais Poitevin () or Poitevin Marsh is a large area of marshland in western France. The name means "Poitou's Marsh" or the "Marsh of the Poitou region". It is a remnant of what was the former . The western zone near the sea (about two-thi ...

(an area of marshlands famed for wildlife), the forested area around the village of Mervent and the rolling countryside of the Bocage. In the north of the department, the historical theme park

Puy du Fou Puy du Fou () is a historical theme park in Les Epesses in the Pays de la Loire region of western France. It receives more than 2 million visitors every year, making it one of the most popular theme parks in France. In 2019 and 2020, it is the f ...

attracts more than 1.45 million of visitors per year. File:Eglise Saint-Louis de La Roche-sur-Yon depuis la voûte.JPG, Saint Louis Church of La Roche-sur-Yon File:Eglise Saint-Louis de La Roche-sur-Yon depuis la tribune haute.JPG, Saint Louis Church of La Roche-sur-Yon File:Place Napoléon de La Roche-sur-Yon depuis l'église.jpg,

's city File:MaraisPoitevin.jpg,

File:Windmuhle auf ile de Noirmoutier.jpg, Windmill on the Noirmoutier island File:Maillezais - Cathedrale Saint-Pierre 02.jpg,

Maillezais Cathedral Maillezais Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Maillezais, or ''St. Peter Maillezais'') is a ruined Roman Catholic church architecture, church in the commune of Maillezais in the Vendée, France. Formerly the site of the Abbey of Saint ...

File:F07.Vouvant.0012.JPG, Vouvant File:Puy-du-Fou-3.JPG, Medieval show at

themepark. File:Lucon Vendée.JPG, Cathedral of Notre Dame, episcopal seat of the

Diocese of Luçon In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

(comprising the Vendée)

Agriculture

Agriculture remains a significant source of employment in the Vendée. Among departments, it has the second highest level of revenue from agriculture in France. The major arable crops grown are maize,

colza Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, i ...

, wheat and sunflowers. Meat and dairy production also feature, as does the offshore farming of shellfish (oysters and mussels). Poultry from Challans is highly regarded nationwide as is lamb produced from the salt marshes in the North of the Vendée. Demonstrating its support for the agricultural sector, the Conseil Général of the Vendée has a stated policy to promote the construction of irrigation reservoirs to reduce dependence on ground water during key summer growing seasons.

Food processing and manufacturing

The Vendée is home to a number of food processing firms. A manufacturer of ready-meals and

charcuterie Charcuterie ( , also ; ; from french: chair, , flesh, label=none, and french: cuit, , cooked, label=none) is a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, ''galantines'', ''ballo ...

employs the majority of its workforce (some 3000 people) at local plants. Other employers include bakeries and biscuit producers. The department also has some speciality products, including

brioche Brioche (, also , , ) is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content gives it a rich and tender crumb. Chef Joël Robuchon described it as "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and e ...

(''Label Rouge'') and a raw cured ham (''Jambon de Vendée'') similar in flavour to bacon. Wine is also produced in the area around the communes of Vix, Brem, Pissotte and Mareuil-sur-Lay, and is marketed under the "Fiefs Vendéens" designation. Production quality has improved markedly over recent years, and, having already achieved the classification Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS), the wines are on their way towards A.O.C status (

Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

Industry

Much of the manufacturing industry in the Vendée reflects its status as a major tourist destination. Mobile homes are manufactured at plants in

Luçon Luçon () is a commune in the Vendée department, Pays de la Loire region, western France. Its inhabitants are known as Luçonnais. Luçon Cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Luçon (comprising the Vendée), where Cardinal Richelieu onc ...

and the building of motor and sail yachts takes place at locations all over the department. The service sector too is strongly inclined towards tourism with campsites, restaurants and other tourism businesses being important sources of revenue and employment.

Culture

The

War in the Vendée The war in the Vendée (french: link=no, Guerre de Vendée) was a counter-revolution from 1793 to 1796 in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the river Loir ...

is the subject of ''

Ninety-Three 93 may refer to: * 93 (number) * one of the years 93 BC, AD 93, 1993, 2093, etc. * 93 Seine-Saint-Denis, French department, Paris, Île-de-France * Atomic number 93: neptunium * '' Ninety-Three'', English title of ''Quatrevingt-treize'' (same meani ...

'' (''Quatrevingt-treize''), the last novel by the French writer

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

, an episode in '' Mr. Midshipman Hornblower'' and also the backdrop of ''

Les Chouans ''Les Chouans'' (, ''The Chouans'') is an 1829 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) and included in the ''Scènes de la vie militaire'' section of his novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine''. Set in the French ...

'' by Balzac. In the writings of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

regarding revolutionary struggles in various countries, he uses the term "a Vendée" as meaning "a focus of persistent counter-revolutionary activities".

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

, when speaking about Cossacks as potential counter-revolutionary opposition, identified them as ''Russian Vendée''.

Cuisine

*''Jambon-mogettes'' (ham and white beans) is the most famous Vendean dish. *The department is the largest brioche producer in France, with the ''Brioche de Vendée'' made in the

Bocage Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of Northern France, Southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use. ''Bocage'' may als ...

. *In the Plain of

préfou The préfou is a regional culinary specialty from Vendée, in France. The préfou is made with bread garnished with chopped fresh garlic and butter. It is generally served warm, as an appetizer An hors d'oeuvre ( ; french: hors-d'œuvre ), ...

is a garlic bread that can be served as an aperitif. *In the

marshland A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

of the North-West, the ''poultry of Challans'', especially

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

, is well known in the gastronomic world. *The department has several small

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

s, around Brem-sur-Mer,

Mareuil-sur-Lay-Dissais Mareuil-sur-Lay-Dissais () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. Geography The river Smagne forms part of the commune's eastern border, then flows into the Lay, which flows southwestward throug ...

Vix VIX is the ticker symbol and the popular name for the Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index, a popular measure of the stock market's expectation of volatility based on S&P 500 index options. It is calculated and disseminated ...

, and Pissotte.

Government

In the Vendée, 31 members, elected through

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

, govern the affairs of the department, with 26 members on the right-wing and 5 members on the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

. The

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

represents the

French State Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

in the department.

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Alain Lebœuf, elected in July 2021. Previous Presidents were

Bruno Retailleau Bruno Daniel Marie Paul Retailleau (; born 20 November 1960) is a French politician who has presided over The Republicans group in the Senate since 2014. He has represented the Vendée department in the Senate since 2004. Retailleau also served ...

and

Philippe de Villiers Philippe Marie Jean Joseph Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers (; born 25 March 1949), is a French entrepreneur, politician and novelist.Main Website Retrieved 4 March 2009. He is the founder of the Puy du Fou them ...

Current National Assembly Representatives

References

External links

*
Departmental council website
*
Prefecture website
*
Vendee Tourist Board
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vendee Departments of Pays de la Loire Poitou