Departement des deux Sevres

Title

Departement des deux Sevres

Description

Decorative hand-colored map showing the province of Poitou-Charentes with a magnificent border depicting the land and its people. A map index is shown on the left and right, and a coat of arms is displayed at the top center.

ca. 1850

Artist

Lemercier / Levasseur (1838-1875)

Huge Parisian firm of lithographic printers founded by Joseph Rose Lemercier (1803-1887), who began as the foreman for Langlumé in 1825. Working on his own account from 1827, 1829-36 in partnership with Bénard association formed in 1837 according to IFF catalogue for Joseph Lemercier. The firm was still active in 1841.

Historical Description

Poitou-Charentes is a historical region in the west of France on the Atlantic coast. It consisted of the departments Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, and Vienne and today belongs to the larger region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. In the Middle Ages, the region was politically very important. The city of Poitiers was especially significant. In 732, the famous Battle of Tours and Poitiers took place here, where the Frankish military leader Charles Martel defeated a Muslim army. In the 12th century, the region was temporarily under English rule because Eleanor of Aquitaine, through her marriage to Henry II, brought large parts of western France under English influence. During the Hundred Years’ War, Poitou-Charentes was fought over several times by France and England. Later, the region developed into an important agricultural area. The port city of La Rochelle also played a significant role in maritime trade and was a center of French Protestants (Huguenots) in the 16th and 17th centuries. Today, Poitou-Charentes is known for agriculture, wine production (for example the area around Cognac), and historic cities. The region is also famous for Cognac brandy and its Atlantic coastline.