Poitiers

A gilt copper effigy of Edward, ‘the Black Prince’, on his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral. Born in 1330, he died before his father (Edward III of England), in 1376.

Administrative centre of the département of Vienne and capital of the Poitou-Charentes region in western France, at the confluence of the Rivers Clain and Boivre; population (2001 est) 87,000. Industries include metallurgy, electronics, agri-business, and printing works. Chemicals, electrical and metal goods, and clothing are also manufactured.

Dating from Roman times, and known in Latin as Limonum, Poitiers was the capital of the old province of Poitou. The Merovingian king Clovis I defeated the Visigoths at Poitiers in 507 and in 732 Charles Martel stemmed the Saracen advance. During the Hundred Years' War Edward the Black Prince of England defeated the French troops of the King Jean le Bon (John II) at Poitiers in 1356, and took him prisoner.

The town has two notable Romanesque churches: Notre-Dame-la-Grande (begun 1162), and the 11th-century church of St-Hilaire-le-Grand. The baptistery of St Jean dates from the 4th century and contains murals dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. The cathedral of St Pierre dates from the 12th-16th centuries. Other notable buildings include the university (1431) and the Palais de Justice (12th century). It was in the latter building, built as a ducal palace, that Charles VII ordered the French military leader and saint Joan of Arc to be interrogated by theologians.