The County of Saintonge (), historically spelled Xaintonge and Xainctonge, is a former province of France located on the west central

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast. The capital city was Saintes (Xaintes, Xainctes). Other principal towns include

Saint-Jean-d'Angély Saint-Jean-d'Angély (; Saintongeais dialect, Saintongeais: ''Sént-Jhan-d'Anjhéli'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department in southwestern France. The commune has its historical origins i ...

Jonzac Jonzac (; ) is a commune of the Charente-Maritime department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. The historian Jean Glénisson (1921–2010) was born in Jonzac as well as the philosopher Jean Hyppolite (1907–1968). Geography The r ...

, Frontenay-Rohan-Rohan,

Royan Royan (; in the Saintongeais dialect; ) is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the Departments of France, department of Charente-Maritime in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Capital of the Côte de Beauté, Royan is one of the mai ...

, Marennes,

Pons The pons (from Latin , "bridge") is part of the brainstem that in humans and other mammals, lies inferior to the midbrain, superior to the medulla oblongata and anterior to the cerebellum. The pons is also called the pons Varolii ("bridge of ...

, and Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire.

Background

The borders of the province shifted slightly through history. Some mapmakers, such as

Nicolas Sanson Nicolas Sanson (20 December 1600 – 7 July 1667) was a French cartographer who served under two kings in matters of geography. He has been called the "father of French cartography." Life and work He was born of an old Picardy, Picard family ...

(1650), Johannes Blaeu (1662), and Bernard Antoine Jaillot (1733), show the province extending into

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...

, traditionally part of

Angoumois Angoumois (), historically the County of Angoulême, was a county and province of France, originally inferior to the parent duchy of Aquitaine, similar to the Périgord to its east but lower and generally less forested, equally with occasional ...

, and to the parishes of Braud-et-Saint-Louis and Étauliers, part of the Pays Gabay on the right bank of the Gironde River. In 1790, during the French Revolution, Saintonge became part of Charente-Inférieure, one of the 83 departments organized by the new government. This was renamed as

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Chérente-Marine''; ) is a Departments of France, department in the French Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, on the country's west coast. Named after the river Charente (river), Charen ...

in 1941, during World War II. Today, four-fifths of the historical Saintonge province is within the modern ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of

. Most of the other fifth is in

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the r ...

. A small section extends north into

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...

; all three departments are within the administrative region of

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

History

The province derives its name from the ''

Santones The Santoni or Santones () were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the later region of Saintonge during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name These people are noted as ''Santonum'', ''Santonos'' and ''Santonis'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), ''Santó ...

'', an ancient Gallic tribe that once inhabited the area. They were one of the numerous

Celtic people The Celts ( , see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apogee of their influence and territorial expansion during the 4 ...

s in Europe before the rise of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. During antiquity, Saintonge was part of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

Gallia Aquitania Gallia Aquitania (, ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a list of Roman provinces, province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France and the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Val d'Aran in northeast Spain, wher ...

, and Saintes became its first capital. The region then fell under the control of the kings and

dukes of Aquitaine The duke of Aquitaine (, , ) was the ruler of the medieval region of Aquitaine (not to be confused with modern-day Aquitaine) under the supremacy of Frankish, English, and later French kings. As successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom (4 ...

, the

counts of Anjou The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by King Charles the Bald, Charles the Bald of West Francia in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the t ...

, then the counts of Poitiers, before becoming integrated for centuries in the new

Duchy of Aquitaine The Duchy of Aquitaine (, ; , ) was a historical fiefdom located in the western, central, and southern areas of present-day France, south of the river Loire. The full extent of the duchy, as well as its name, fluctuated greatly over the centuries ...

. Occupying the frontier between Capetian and

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet ( /plænˈtædʒənət/ ''plan-TAJ-ə-nət'') was a royal house which originated from the French county of Anjou. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses: the Angev ...

-controlled areas during the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, between 1152 and 1451, it was the site of constant struggles between lords torn between their allegiance to Anglo-Aquitaine and those linked to Paris. Saintonge was primarily attached to Anglo-Aquitaine until the mid-fourteenth century. However, errors by Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster and

Edward, the Black Prince Edward of Woodstock (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), known as the Black Prince, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Edward III of England. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II of England, Richard II, succession to the Br ...

gradually contributed to weakening English power. In 1451 the province came under the control of the

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...

, Charles VII, "the Victorious". Saintonge was the birthplace of French explorer Jean Allefonsce (or Alfonse) in 1484, and of

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...

in 1574. The latter man explored the New World and founded

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in North America (now Canada). The town was also one of the centers of French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

s, who formed a center of Protestant belief in Southwest France. The distinctive Saintongeais dialect (patouê saintonjhouê, jhabrail) was once spoken throughout Saintonge, as well as in the provinces of

Aunis Aunis () is a historical Provinces of France, province of France, situated in the north-west of the department of Charente-Maritime. Its historic capital is La Rochelle, which took over from Châtelaillon-Plage, Castrum Allionis (Châtelaillon) t ...

and

. The region is famous for its grapes, which are used to produce

cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...

and Pineau des Charentes.

Government

Following the governmental reforms of 1773, the County of Saintonge formed part of the (''Gouvernement-Général de Saintonge et Angoumois''). Following the decree dividing France into departments announced on 22 December 1789, the County of Saintonge was disestablished. The majority of the county formed the majority of the new Department of Charente-Maritime, while the south-eastern portion formed part of the Department of Charente, and the northernmost part formed part of the Department of Deux-Sevrès.

References

* Derœux, D. & Dufournier, D. 1991. "Réflexions sur la diffusion de la céramique très decorée d’origine française en Europe du nord-ouest XIII-XIVe siècles", ''Archéologie médiévale'' 21, pp. 163–77. {{coord missing, France Geography of Charente Geography of Charente-Maritime Geography of Deux-Sèvres Geography of Dordogne History of Nouvelle-Aquitaine History of Charente History of Charente-Maritime History of Deux-Sèvres History of Dordogne Santones Former counties of France Former provinces of France

Background

History

Government

See also

References