Louis Brochu

Poitou, France

Poitou is the former country of the Gaul tribe of Pictons or Pictaves. In 778, Charlemagne appointed Abbon count of Poitou. In 990, count Aldebert appointed itself duke of Aquitaine. Poitou then followed the fate of Aquitaine, and was given by duchess Aliénor to her two successive husbands, king of France Louis VII (1137-1152) and king of England Henry II Plantegenet (1152-1189).

In 1203, king of France Philippe-Auguste confiscated Poitou to John Lackland, along with all his other French possessions. For a short period (1249-1271), Poitou was granted to Alphonse de France, St. Louis' brother and husband of countess Jeanne de Toulouse, as his apanage. Poitou was occupied by the English from 1356 to 1369, then granted to duke Jean de Berry as his apanage, and reincorporated to the royal domain in 1416. Charles VII was proclaimed king of France in Poitiers in 1422 before being crowned in Reims in 1429.