Agenais (), or Agenois (), was an ancient region that became a county ( Old French: ''conté'' or ''cunté'') of France, south of Périgord.Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. "Agenais". '' Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary''. 9th ed. Springfield, MA:

Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster, Inc. is an American company that publishes reference books and is especially known for its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States. In 1831, George and Charles Merriam founded the company as ...

Inc., 1985. , (indexed), and (deluxe). In ancient Gaul the region was the country of the Nitiobroges with Aginnum for their capital, which in the fourth century was the Civitas Agennensium, which was a part of

Aquitania Secunda Gallia Aquitania ( , ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gallia ...

and which formed the diocese of Agen. From 833 to 848, all the land seems to have been ravaged by the Vikings. Having in general shared the fortunes of Aquitaine during the Merovingian and

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

periods, Agenais from about 886 became an hereditary county in the part of the country now called

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

(Vasconia). The first count of Agenais (''comte d'Agen'') was William I of Périgord (d. 920), son of Wulgrin I of Angoulême. In 1038 this county was purchased by William, Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitiers. The marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with the future Henry II of England in 1152 brought the county under the sway of the Plantagenet house of Anjou. When

Richard Coeur-de-Lion Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was o ...

married his sister Joan to

Raymund VI, Count of Toulouse Raymond VI ( oc, Ramon; October 27, 1156 – August 2, 1222) was Count of Toulouse and Marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also Count of Melgueil (as Raymond IV) from 1173 to 1190. Early life Raymond was born at Saint-Gilles, Gard, ...

, in 1196, Agenais formed part of the princess's dowry, and formed part of the other estates of the last independent count of Toulouse. In 1212, during the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...

, Simon de Montfort captured the Cathar fortress of

Penne-d'Agenais Penne-d'Agenais (Languedocien: ''Pena d’Agenés'') is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France. Penne-d'Agenais station has rail connections to Périgueux and Agen. See also *Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department ...

and burned Cathars at the stake. At the

1259 Treaty of Paris The Treaty of Paris (also known as the Treaty of Albeville) was a treaty between Louis IX of France and Henry III of England, agreed to on 4 December 1259, ending 100 years of conflicts between the Capetian and Plantagenet dynasties. History ...

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...

agreed to pay an annual rent to Henry III of England for Louis' possession of Agenais.Harry Rothwell, ed. ''English Historical Documents 1189–1327'', Routledge, 1996, The estates of Agenais lapsed to the crown of France in 1271. This, however, was not for long; the king of France had to recognize the prior rights of the king of England to the possession of the county, and restored it to him in 1279. During the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

between the English and the French, Agenais was frequently taken and retaken, the final retreat of the English in 1453 at last leaving the king of France in peaceable possession. In 1561, Guyenne was made a province, and included Bordelais, Bazadais, Limousin, Périgord, Quercy, Rouergue, Agenais,

Saintonge Saintonge may refer to: *County of Saintonge, a historical province of France on the Atlantic coast *Saintonge (region), a region of France corresponding to the historical province Places *Saint-Genis-de-Saintonge, a commune in the Charente-Mari ...

, and Angoumois. Thenceforth Agenais was no more than an administrative term. At the end of the

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

it formed part of the ''Gouvernement'' of Guienne, and at the Revolution it was incorporated within the département of Lot-et-Garonne, of which it constitutes nearly the whole. The title of count of Agenais, which the kings of England had allowed to fall into desuetude, was revived by the kings of France, and in 1789 was held by the family of the dukes of Richelieu.

Notes

References

Richard Stillwell, ed. ''Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'', 1976:
"Aginnum (Agen), Lot-et-Garonne, France" {{coord, 44.20, 0.62, display=title Geography of Gironde Geography of Lot (department) Geography of Lot-et-Garonne Geography of Tarn-et-Garonne History of Nouvelle-Aquitaine History of Occitania (administrative region) History of Gironde History of Lot (department) History of Lot-et-Garonne History of Tarn-et-Garonne Guyenne County of Agenois