1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1km2 (0.386sqmi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Poitiers[a] is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune, the capital of the Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 90,240. Its conurbation had 134,397 inhabitants in 2021 and is the municipal center of an urban area of 281,789 inhabitants. It is a city of art and history, still known popularly as "Ville aux cent clochers" (literal translation: "City of hundred bell towers").
The city's pedigree is associated with two major battles that took place in the area. The first, in 732, also known as the Battle of Tours (to avoid inevitable confusion with the second), saw the defending Frankish warhost commanded by Charles Martel defeat the belligerent expeditionary army of the Umayyad Caliphate led by Muslim general Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi. The second battle, in 1356, a lionized military capstone was the Battle of Poitiers which was one of the focal battles of the Hundred Years' War. It saw the defeat of a larger French royal army by the English and the capture of King John II of France by the triumphant Prince of Wales Edward.
The city of Poitiers is strategically situated on the Seuil du Poitou, a shallow gap between the Armorican and the Central Massif. The Seuil du Poitou connects the Aquitaine Basin to the South to the Paris Basin to the North. This area is an important geographic crossroads in France and Western Europe.
Situation
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 the summit of a plateau that rises 130 feet (40m) above the streams which surround, and hence benefits from a very strong tactical situation. This was an especially important factor before and throughout the Middle Ages.
Inhabitants and demography
Inhabitants of Poitiers are referred to as Poitevins or Poitevines, although this denomination can be used for anyone from the Poitou province.
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1793
18,284
—
1800
18,223
−0.05%
1806
21,465
+2.77%
1821
21,315
−0.05%
1831
23,128
+0.82%
1836
22,000
−1.00%
1841
22,376
+0.34%
1846
26,764
+3.65%
1851
29,277
+1.81%
1856
30,873
+1.07%
1861
30,563
−0.20%
1866
31,034
+0.31%
1872
30,036
−0.54%
1876
33,253
+2.58%
1881
36,210
+1.72%
1886
36,878
+0.37%
1891
37,497
+0.33%
1896
38,518
+0.54%
1901
39,886
+0.70%
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1906
39,302
−0.29%
1911
41,242
+0.97%
1921
37,663
−0.90%
1926
42,347
+2.37%
1931
41,546
−0.38%
1936
44,235
+1.26%
1946
48,546
+0.93%
1954
52,633
+1.02%
1962
62,178
+2.11%
1968
70,681
+2.16%
1975
81,313
+2.02%
1982
79,350
−0.35%
1990
78,894
−0.07%
1999
83,448
+0.63%
2007
89,253
+0.84%
2012
87,646
−0.36%
2017
88,291
+0.15%
2021
90,240
+0.55%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
The climate in the Poitiers area is mild with mild temperature amplitudes, and adequate rainfall throughout the year although with a drying tendency during summer. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this type of climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).[11]
Climate data for Poitiers (PIS), elevation: 125m (410ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1921–present
Poitiers was founded by the Celtic tribe of the Pictones and was known as the OppidumLemonum before Roman influence. The name is said to have come from the Celtic word for elm, Lemo. But after, the Pax Romana settled, the town became known as Pictavium, or later "Pictavis", after the original Pictones inhabitants themselves.
The Pictavis Period has provided the city with a rich wealth of archeological finds from the Roman-era in Poitiers. In fact until 1857, Poitiers hosted the ruins of a vast Roman Amphitheatre, which was larger than the Amphitheater of Nîmes. Furthermore, Roman baths, or Thermæ built in the 1st century and demolished in the 3rd century, were uncovered after the Amphitheater in 1877.[8]
In 1879, a burial-place and tombs of a number of Christian martyrs were discovered on the heights to the south-east of the town.[8] The names of some of the Christians had been preserved in paintings and inscriptions.[8] Not far from these tombs is a huge Dolmen (the Pierre Levée), which is 6.7 metres (22ft) long, 4.9 metres (16ft) wide and 2.1 metres (7ft) high, and around which the great fair of Saint Luke used to be held.[8]
The Romans also built at least three aqueducts. This extensive ensemble of Roman constructions suggests Poitiers was a town of primary importance, possibly even the capital of the Roman province of Gallia Aquitania during the 2nd century.
In the 4th century, a thick wall 6m wide and 10m high was built around the town. It was 2.5km (2mi) long and stood lower on the naturally defended east side and at the top of the promontory. Around this time, the town began to be known as Poitiers.
Fifty years later, Poitiers fell into the hands of the Arian Visigoths, and became one of the principal residences of their royals.[8] Visigoth King Alaric II was defeated by Clovis I at Vouillé, not far from Poitiers, in 507, and the town thus came under Frankish dominion.[8]
Middle Ages
Place Charles-de-Gaulle and its medieval heritage
During most of the Early Middle Ages, the town of Poitiers took advantage of the defensively tactical placement of its location, which was far from the nucleus of Frankish power. As the seat of an évêché (bishopric) since the 4th century, the town was a cynosure of notable importance and the capital of the county of Poitou. At the crux of their power, the Counts of Poitiers governed a sizeable domain, including both Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Poitou.
The town was often referred to as Poictiers, a name commemorated in warships of the Royal Navy, after the Battle of Poitiers.[14]
The first decisive victory of a Western European Christian army over a Islamic power, the Battle of Tours, was fought by Charles Martel's men in the vicinity of Poitiers on 10 October 732. For many historians, it was one of history's most pivotal moments as it marked the end of territorial end of Muslim expansion although the influence of the region would bourgeon for hundreds of years to come.[15]
Eleanor of Aquitaine frequently resided in the town, which she embellished and fortified, and in 1199 entrusted with communal rights.[8] In 1152 she married the future King of England Henry II in Poitiers Cathedral.
During the Hundred Years' War, the Battle of Poitiers, an English victory, was fought near the town of Poitiers on 19 September 1356. Later in the war in 1418, under Charles VII, the royal parliament moved from Paris to Poitiers, where it remained in exile until the Plantagenets finally withdrew from the capital in 1436.[8] During this interval, in 1429, Poitiers was the site of Joan of Arc's formal inquest.[8]
The University of Poitiers was founded in 1431. During and after the Reformation, John Calvin had numerous converts in Poitiers and the town had its share of the violent proceedings which underlined the Wars of Religion throughout France.[8]
In 1569 Poitiers was defended against an assailing siege by Guy de Daillon, Count of Lude, against Admiral of FranceGaspard de Coligny, who after an unsuccessful bombardment and seven weeks, retired from a siege he had laid to the town.[8]
16th century
Poitiers in the 16th century
The type of political organization existing in Poitiers during the late medieval and early modern period can be sheened through a speech given on 14 July 1595 by Maurice Roatin, the town's mayor. He compared it to the Roman state, which combined three types of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. He said the Roman Consulate corresponded to Poitiers' mayor, the Roman Senate to the town's peers and échevins, and the democratic element in Rome corresponded to the fact that most important matters "can not be decided except by the advice of the Mois et Cent" (the broad council).1 The mayor appears to have been an advocate of a mixed constitution; not all Frenchmen in 1595 would have agreed with him, at least in public; many spoke in favor of absolute monarchy which would be pioneered by the Father of Absolutism, Louis XIV 'Le Roi Soleil.' The democratic element was not as strong as the mayor's words may have seemed to imply: In fact, Poitiers was similar to other French cities such as, Paris, Nantes, Marseille, Limoges, La Rochelle, and Dijon, in that the town's governing body (corps de ville) was "highly exclusive and oligarchical:" With a small number of professionals and family groups controlling most of the city offices. In Poitiers many of these positions were granted for the lifetime of the office holder, an archaic byproduct of the Age of Absolutism in France.2
The city government in Poitiers based its claims to legitimacy on the theory of government where the mayor and échevins held jurisdiction of the fief's administration separate from the monarchy: that is, they swore allegiance and promised support for him, and in return he granted them local authority. This gave them the advantage of being able to claim that any townsperson who challenged their preeminence was being treasonous to the king's decree. Annually the mayor and the 24 échevins would swear an oath of allegiance "between the hands" of the king or his representative, usually the lieutenant general or the Sénéchaussée. For example, in 1567, when Maixent Poitevin was mayor, KingHenry III came for a visit, and, although some townspeople were disgruntled regarding the licentious behavior of his entourage, Henry smoothed things over with a warm speech acknowledging their allegiance and graciously thanking them for it.2
In this era, the mayor of Poitiers was preceded by sergeants wherever he went, consulted deliberative bodies, carried out their decisions, "heard civil and criminal suits in first instance", tried to ensure that the food supply would be adequate, and visited markets.2
In the 16th century, Poitiers impressed visitors because of its large size, and important features, including "royal courts, universities, prolific printing shops, wealthy religious institutions, cathedrals, numerous parishes, markets, impressive domestic architecture, extensive fortifications, and castle."316th-century Poitiers is closely associated with the life of François Rabelais and the community of Bitards.
17th century
The cosmopolitan town saw less activity during the Renaissance. Few changes were made in the urban landscape, except for laying the way for the Rue de la Tranchée. Moreover bridges were built where the inhabitants had colloquially used gués. A few Hôtels particuliers were built at that time, such as the Hôtels Jean Baucé, Fumé and Berthelot. Poets Joachim du Bellay and Pierre Ronsard converged at the University of Poitiers, before leaving for Paris leaving an indelible mark on the city.
During the 17th century, many people emigrated from Poitiers and the Poitou to the French settlements in the new world and thus many Acadians who would later be Cajuns living in North America contemporarily can trace their ancestry back to this region.
18th century
During the 18th century, the town's ebb and flow mainly depended on its administrative functions as the regional capital: Poitiers served as the seat for the regional administration of royal justice, the évêché, the monasteries, and the intendance of the Généralité du Poitou.
During the 19th century, many army bases were built in Poitiers because of its strategic location. Poitiers would also become a garrison town, despite its distance from France's borders.
The Poitiers train station was built in the 1850s, and connected Poitiers to the rest of France. The Hôtel de Ville (city hall) on Place du Maréchal-Leclerc was completed in 1875.[16]
20th century and contemporary Poitiers
Poitiers was bombed during World War II, particularly the area around the railway station which was heavily hit on 13 June 1944.
From the late 1950s until the late 1960s when Charles de Gaulle ended the American military presence, the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force had an array of military installations in France, including a major Army logistics and communications hub in Poitiers, part of what was called the Communication Zone (ComZ), and consisting of a logistics headquarters and communications agency located at Aboville Caserne, a military compound situated on a hill above the city. Hundreds of graduates ("Military Brats") of Poitiers American High School, a school operated by the Department of Defense School System (DODDS), have gone on to maintain successful careers, including the recent commander-in-chief of the U.S. Special Forces Command, Army General Bryan (Doug) Brown. The Caserne also housed a full support community, with a theater, commissary, recreation facilities and an affiliate radio station of the American Forces Network, Europe, headquartered in Frankfurt (now Mannheim, Germany.)[citation needed]
Parc du Futuroscope (European Park of the Moving Image, some 10km (6.2mi) north of Poitiers; theme is visual communication technology in ultramodern buildings)
The PB86 or Poitiers Basket 86 play in the French Pro A basketball league. In the 2009–10 season, three Americans played for PB86: Rasheed Wright, Kenny Younger and Tommy Gunn. The team played the French championship playoffs in the 2009–10 season and was the Pro B French Champion for the 2008–2009 season. The team's communication strategy is considered by some to be one of the best in the French basketball scene.
Historic churches, in particular Romanesque buildings, are the main attraction inside Poitiers itself. The town center is gorgeous, with generally well-preserved architecture and a recently re-zoned pedestrian area. There are numerous shops, cafes and restaurants in the town centre.
Since 1987, Poitiers' tourist industry has indirectly benefited from the Futuroscope theme-park and research park in nearby Chasseneuil-du-Poitou. The kernel of town receives visits in complement to the theme-park and benefits from a larger proportion of European tourists, notably from the United Kingdom. In conjunction, Poitiers' tourism has also benefited from the TGV high-speed rail link to Paris.
Urban transportation in Poitiers is provided by a company dubbed Vitalis although their e-infrastructure is difficult to access. Regional ground transportation in the department of the Vienne is provided by private bus companies such as "Ligne en Vienne." Rail transportation in the region is provided by the public TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine (regional express train.)
Between January 2009 and December 2012, Poitiers' town center underwent significant transformations aimed at reducing motor vehicle access. The initiative, called "Projet Cœur d'Agglo," sought to rethink the role of individual car use for accessing the town center and daily transportation. On September 29, 2010, 12 streets were permanently closed to motor vehicles, creating a fully pedestrianized zone. Lastly, a new line of fast buses was added around 2017.
Panoramic view of Poitiers at sunset.
Education
The city of Poitiers has a very old tradition as being a prestigious town where many good universities agglomerate, starting as far back as the Middle Ages. The University of Poitiers was established in 1431 and has welcomed many famous philosophers and scientists throughout the ages (notably François Rabelais; René Descartes; Francis Bacon; Samir Amin).
Today Poitiers has more students per inhabitant than any other large town or city in France. All around, there are over 27,000 university students in Poitiers, nearly 4,000 of which are foreigners, hailing from 117 countries.[citation needed] The University covers all major fields from sciences to geography, history, languageseconomics and law.
Since 2001, the city of Poitiers has hosted the first cycle of "The South America, Spain and Portugal" program from the Paris Institute of Political Studies, also known as Sciences Po.
Angoulême is a small city in the southwestern French department of Charente, of which it is the prefecture.
Deux-Sèvres 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 population of 374,878 in 2019.
Haute-Vienne is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve départements that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The prefecture and largest city in the department is Limoges, the other towns in the department each having fewer than twenty thousand inhabitants. Haute-Vienne had a population of 372,359 in 2019.
Poitou-Charentes was an administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It comprised four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. It included the historical provinces of Angoumois, Aunis, Saintonge and Poitou.
Châtellerault is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in France. It is located in the northeast of the former province Poitou, and the residents are called Châtelleraudais.
Bressuire is a commune in the French department of Deux-Sèvres, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The town is situated on an eminence overlooking the Dolo, a tributary of the Argenton.
Chauvigny is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France.
The arrondissement of Poitiers is an arrondissement of France in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It has 83 communes. Its population is 266,160 (2021), and its area is 2,131.5 km2 (823.0 sq mi).
The Saintonge War was a feudal dynastic conflict that occurred between 1242 and 1243. It opposed Capetian forces supportive of King Louis IX's brother Alphonse, Count of Poitiers and those of Hugh X of Lusignan, Raymond VII of Toulouse and Henry III of England. The latter hoped to regain the Angevin possessions lost during his father's reign. Saintonge is the region around Saintes in the centre-west of France and is the place where most of fighting occurred.
The Battle of Taillebourg, a major medieval battle fought in July 1242, was the decisive engagement of the Saintonge War. It pitted a French Capetian army under the command of King Louis IX, also known as Saint Louis, and his younger brother Alphonse of Poitiers, against forces led by King Henry III of England, his brother Richard of Cornwall and their stepfather Hugh X of Lusignan.
Les Adjots is a commune in the Charente department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France.
Aulnay, commonly referred to as Aulnay-de-Saintonge, is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
Surgères is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, southwestern France. It is the home of the Surgères 48 Hour Race.
Saint-Martin-l'Ars is a commune in the Vienne department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of western France.
Chasseneuil-du-Poitou is a commune in the Vienne department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, western France.
Vienne is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the largest 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 in a territorial reform. Nouvelle-Aquitaine has an area of 84,035.7 km2 (32,446.4 sq mi) – more than 1⁄7 of Metropolitan France – and has a population of 6,033,952 as of 2020. The new region was established on 1 January 2016, following the regional elections in December 2015.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Poitiers, France.
Poitiers is a city in France.
Camille de La Croix was a Belgian Jesuit priest who made significant contributions to both music education and archaeology. He resided in Poitiers, France, from 1864 until his death on April 13, 1911.
↑ Professor of religion Huston Smith says in The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom Traditions: "But for their defeat by Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours in 733 [sic], the entire Western world might today be Muslim."
↑ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Marquis Who's Who. 1967.
Bibliography
Archives communales de Poitiers, reg. 54, pp.211–213; in Harry J. Bernstein, Between Crown and Community: Politics and Civic Culture in Sixteenth-Century Poitiers. 2004, Ithaca N.Y., USA: Cornell University Press, p.22.
Harry J. Bernstein, Between Crown and Community: Politics and Civic Culture in Sixteenth-Century Poitiers. 2004, Ithaca N.Y., USA: Cornell University Press, pp.22–30.
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