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Battle Of Pontlevoy
The Battle of Pontlevoy was fought on 6 July 1016 between the forces of Fulk III of Anjou and Herbert I of Maine on one side and Odo II of Blois on the other. It was one of the largest battles of early medieval France and was determining of the balance of power in the Loire Valley for years after it was fought. The battle took place near Pontlevoy, between Blois and Tours, not far from the large Angevin fortress of Montrichard on the river Cher. Odo had ravaged most of the Touraine during Fulk's absence on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. After Fulk's return, Odo, with a large force and many siege engine A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while other ...s, attempted to besiege Montrichard, but was intercepted by Fulk just north of Pontlevoy. Surprised by Fulk's preparedness, Odo was f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fulk III Of Anjou
Fulk III, the Black ( 987–1040; fro, Foulque Nerra), was an early count of Anjou celebrated as one of the first great builders of medieval castles. It is estimated Fulk constructed approximately 100 castles, along with abbeys throughout the Loire Valley in what is now France. He fought successive wars with neighbors in Brittany, Blois, Poitou and Aquitaine and made four pilgrimages to Jerusalem during the course of his life. He had two wives and three children. Fulk was a natural horseman and fearsome warrior with a keen sense of military strategy that bested most of his opponents. He was allied with the goals and aims of the Capetians against the dissipated Carolingians of his era. With his county seat at Angers, Fulk's bitter enemy was Odo II of Blois, his neighbor 128 km east along the Loire river, at Tours. The two men traded towns, followers and insults throughout their lives. Fulk finished his first castle at Langeais, 104 km east of Angers, on the banks of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert I Of Maine
Herbert I (died 13 April 1035), called Wakedog (from French ''Eveille-chien'', Latinized as ''Evigilans Canis''), was the count of Maine from 1017 until his death. He had a turbulent career with an early victory that may have contributed to his later decline. Life He was the son of Hugh III and succeeded his father as count of Maine. Herbert was, at times, a nominal vassal of his neighbor Fulk III Nerra, Count of Anjou but otherwise considered himself independent and obtained his nickname "Wake-dog" for having to constantly resist the intrusions of his Angevin neighbors to the south. From the time Herbert became count in 1017, he was almost constantly at war with Avesgaud de Bellême, Bishop of Le Mans. In 1016, a young Herbert was allied to Fulk III in a war against Odo II of Blois. On 6 July, Odo was en route to attack the fortress of Montrichard. Upon discovering this, Fulk and Herbert split their forces to block either of the two approaches. Odo ran headlong into the Angevi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odo II Of Blois
Odo II () (983 – 15 November 1037) was the count of Blois, Chartres, Châteaudun, Beauvais and Tours from 1004 and count of Troyes (as Odo IV) and Meaux (as Odo I) from 1022. He twice tried to make himself a king: first in Italy after 1024 and then in Burgundy after 1032. Life Born around 983, Odo II was the son of Odo I of Blois and Bertha of Burgundy. He was the first to unite Blois and Champagne under one authority although his career was spent in endless feudal warfare with his neighbors and suzerains, many of whose territories he tried to annex. About 1003/1004 he married Maud, a daughter of Richard I of Normandy. After her death in 1005, and as she had no children, Richard II of Normandy demanded a return of her dowry: half the county of Dreux. Odo refused and the two warred over the matter. Finally, King Robert II, who had married Odo's mother, imposed his arbitration on the contestants in 1007, leaving Odo in possession of the castle Dreux while Richard II kept the re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pontlevoy
Pontlevoy () is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. Geography The village of Pontlevoy is 14 miles southwest of Blois, in the eastern part of Touraine. It is a 20-minute drive from the chateaux of Amboise, Cheverny, Chaumont or Chenonceau, and about an hour's drive from Azay-le-Rideau, Loches or Chambord. The summer is their tourist season. The French spoken in Touraine is said to be the purest in the country. The medieval battle of Pontlevoy took place in its neighbourhood. History Pontlevoy's main street, the Rue du Colonel Filloux, named after the colonel who is identified on the sign as a ''Humaniste et Technicien (1869-1957)''. Colonel Filloux perfected the 155-millimeter howitzer for the French army. Most of the shops and houses were built between the 15th and 19th centuries. The architectural detail makes Pontlevoy charming: a crouching monkey carved in limestone on the cornice of a building on the Rue des Singes (Monkey Street), a sun over t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blois
Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the department, and the 4th of the region. Historically, the city was the capital of the county of Blois, created on 832 until its integration into the Royal domain in 1498, when Count Louis II of Orléans became King Louis XII of France. During the Renaissance, Blois was the official residence of the King of France. History Pre-history Since 2013, excavations have been conducted by French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (''INRAP'' in French) in Vienne where they found evidence of "one or several camps of late Prehistory hunter-gatherers, who were also fishermen since fishing traps were found there.. ..They were ancestors of the famous Neolithic farmer-herders, who were present in current France around 6,000 BC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole functional area (France), metropolitan area was 516,973. Tours sits on the lower reaches of the Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. Formerly named Caesarodunum by its founder, Roman Augustus, Emperor Augustus, it possesses one of the largest amphitheaters of the Roman Empire, the Tours Amphitheatre. Known for the Battle of Tours in 732 AD, it is a National Sanctuary with connections to the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingians and the Carolingian dynasty, Carolingians, with the Capetian dynasty, Capetians making the kingdom's currency the Livre tournois. Martin of Tours, Saint Martin, Gregory of Tours and Alcuin were all from Tours. Tours was once part of Tour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montrichard
Montrichard () is a town and former commune in the Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Montrichard Val de Cher. During the French Revolution, the commune was known as ''Montégalité''. Geography The town lies on the north bank of the river Cher. south of Blois, west of Vierzon and east of Tours. The countryside is mainly constituted of vineyard, woods, cattle and cereals. Sites and monuments * Château de Montrichard, a mediaeval castle. * Nanteuil Church (12th, 13th, 15th centuries), whose statue of the Virgin Mary is the object of a very ancient pilgrimage on Whit Monday. * Church of the Holy Cross (''Église Ste-Croix'') has a fine Romanesque doorway and was the site of Joan of France's marriage to the future king. * Château de Pont-Cher, a 15th-century home built into the cliff, containing the René Galloux collection of prehistoric and Gallo-Roman artefacts from excavations in the Cher valley. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cher (river)
The Cher (; oc, Char), also referred to as the Cher River and the River Cher, is a river in central France, a left tributary of the Loire. It is long and its basin area is . Its source is in the Creuse department, north-east of Crocq. It joins the river Loire at Villandry, west of Tours. The river suffered a devastating flood in 1940, which damaged the Château de Chenonceau, which spans the river, and other structures along the banks. It owes its name to the pre-Indo-European root kʰar 'stone'. Departments and towns The Cher flows through the following departments, and along the following towns: * Creuse * Allier: Montluçon * Cher: Saint-Amand-Montrond, Vierzon * Loir-et-Cher * Indre-et-Loire: Tours Tributaries The main tributaries of the Cher are, from spring to mouth (L: left / R: right): * (L) Tardes ** (L) Voueize * (R) Amaron or Lamaron at Montluçon * (R) Aumance at Meaulne * (R) Yèvre at Vierzon ** (L) Auron ** (R) Colin * (L) Arnon at Vierzon ** ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Touraine
Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vienne. Geography Traversed by the river Loire and its tributaries the Cher, the Indre and the Vienne, Touraine makes up a part of the western Paris Basin. It is well known for its viticulture. The TGV high-speed train system, which connects Tours with Paris (200 kilometers away) in just over an hour, has made Touraine a place of residence for people who work in the French capital but seek a different quality of life. History Touraine takes its name from a Celtic tribe called the Turones, who inhabited the region about two thousand years ago. In 1044, the control of Touraine was given to the Angevins, who (as the House of Plantagenet) became kings of England in 1154, the castle of Chinon being their greatest stronghold. In 1205, Phi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holy Land
The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy Land" usually refers to a territory roughly corresponding to the modern State of Israel and the modern State of Palestine. Jews, Christians, and Muslims regard it as holy. Part of the significance of the land stems from the religious significance of Jerusalem (the holiest city to Judaism, and the location of the First and Second Temples), as the historical region of Jesus' ministry, and as the site of the first Qibla of Islam, as well as the site of the Isra and Mi'raj event of 621 CE in Islam. The holiness of the land as a destination of Christian pilgrimage contributed to launching the Crusades, as European Christians sought to win back the Holy Land from Muslims, who had conquered it from the Christian Eastern Roman Empire in 6 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Engine
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while others have wheels to enable advancing up to the enemy fortification. There are many distinct types, such as siege towers that allow foot soldiers to scale walls and attack the defenders, battering rams that damage walls or gates, and large ranged weapons (such as ballistae, catapults/trebuchets and other similar constructions) that attack from a distance by launching projectiles. Some complex siege engines were combinations of these types. Siege engines are fairly large constructions – from the size of a small house to a large building. From antiquity up to the development of gunpowder, they were made largely of wood, using rope or leather to help bind them, possibly with a few pieces of metal at key stress points. They could launch simple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
