Thouars

This article is about the French commune. For the botanist, see Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars. For other uses, see Thouars (disambiguation).
Thouars

The town hall in Thouars

Coat of arms
Thouars

Coordinates: 46°58′33″N 0°12′51″W / 46.9758°N 0.2142°W / 46.9758; -0.2142Coordinates: 46°58′33″N 0°12′51″W / 46.9758°N 0.2142°W / 46.9758; -0.2142
Country France
Region Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department Deux-Sèvres
Arrondissement Bressuire
Intercommunality Thouarsais
Government
 • Mayor Patrice Pineau
Area1 12.09 km2 (4.67 sq mi)
Population (2012)2 9,462
 • Density 780/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 79329 / 79100

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.
Arms of the Viscounts of Thouars

Thouars (pronounced: [twaʁ]) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France.

It is on the River Thouet. Its inhabitants are known as Thouarsais.

History

Although there is evidence of human habitation here 5,000 years ago, it is only in the seventh century that the town appears in the historical record. In the 760s, Thouars found itself in Aquitaine, the most robust fortress in the entire region according to contemporary chroniclers. This was a violent decade as Duke Waïfre, struggling to preserve the independence of Aquitaine, fought against the expansionist ambitions of the French King, Pepin the Short. In 762, accompanied by his son, the future Charlemagne, appeared outside Thouars. He destroyed the Gallo-Roman town and torched the castle.

In the ninth century the first of a line of viscounts took charge of Thouars: he and his successors would control the fiefdom for more than five centuries until the end of the fourteenth century. The earliest of these Viscounts of Thouars for whom information survives is Geoffrey I, known as the founder of the Thouars dynasty. Located at the south of Anjou and at the frontier with Aquitaine, the Viscountcy of Thouars became a rich fiefdom with a strategic location extending from Upper Poitou all the way to the coast.

Aimery IV of Thouars was a Companion of William the Conqueror as a commander in the Battle of Hastings.[1]

In Angers in 1199, Guy of Thouars married Constance of Brittany to become Duke of Brittany jure uxoris, and after the death of Constance, Regent of Brittany for her daughter Alix of Thouars. Thouars was the birthplace of the medieval general Louis de La Trémoille. In 1619 his heir Henri de La Trémoille married Marie de la Tour d'Auvergne, sister of Turenne. She razed the old gothic château-fort to build the present château.

Main sights

People

Thouars was the birthplace of:

Thouars is also the final resting place of:

Twin towns

Thouars is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "AimeryIVThouarsdied1093B". Retrieved 2015-03-25.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Thouars.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thouars.
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