Balzac () is a commune in the

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by t ...

region of south-western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Balzatois'' or ''Balzatoises''.

Geography

Balzac is located some 7 km north-west of

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...

. Access to the commune is by the D737 from Angoulême which passes through the east of the commune and the town continuing north to Montignac-Charente. The D105 branches off the D737 north of the town and goes east to Champniers. The D406 also branches off the D737 and goes west to Vindelle. Apart from the town there are the hamlets of Coursac, La Chapelle, Les Chabots, and Les Courlis in the commune. The commune is mostly farmland with a small forest in the south-west and a significant urban area for the town.Google Maps
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Geology and terrain

Balzac occupies the interior of a wide bend of the

. The bedrock of the large eastern half of the commune, which is the highest in altitude, consists of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

dating from the

Upper Jurassic The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...

( Kimmeridgian) period. The centre of the town, between Labbés, Genin, and Texier, is located on old alluvium from the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

period. The western part of the commune, between La Chapelle and Chabots, contains other alluvial deposits which form a low

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

. The river bed (floodplain) is itself made up of more recent alluvium (

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

, sandy clay, and

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

). The terrain that separates the valley of the Charente from that of the ''Argence'' forms a kind of long cliff, very high and steep in its northern part, which is the concave side of the bend in the river near the villages of Coursac and Font-Saint-Martin, which gradually decreases in height to end at the foot of the Chateau of Balzac. The highest point in the commune is at an altitude of 102 m east at Puylebin to the east of Coursac. The lowest point is 30 m on the Charente river at the confluence of the Argence. The village is about 60 m above sea level.IGN Map on Géoportail

Hydrography

The river

forms the entire south, west, and north-west border of the commune as it flows around the commune and continues south-east to eventually join the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

. The ''Argence'' flows from the north-east and forms much of the eastern border where it joins the Charente in the south-eastern corner of the commune.

Climate

The climate is oceanic Aquitaine and similar to the town of Cognac where the departmental weather station is located. Styrieix argence

Neighbouring communes and villages

Toponymy

Old forms of the name ''Balzac'' are ''Balazacum'' and ''Balazaco'' in 1298. According to Dauzat, the origin of the name ''Balzac'' dates back to a Gallo-Roman person ''Ballitius'', which itself is derived from ''Ballius'', to which is added the suffix ''-acum'' which would give ''Ballitiacum'' or "Domain of Ballitius". According to other sources, ''Balatius'' was the name of a Gallic man, derived from ''Balatos''.

History

Aerial archaeology has revealed evidence of a

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

Promontory fort A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to da ...

on the slopes of Coursac in a position dominating the Charente. A Chateau existed in the 12th century and Balzac was a former fief under the

Bishopric of Angoulême In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

and the barony of

Tourriers Tourriers () is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Charente department The following is a list of the 364 communes of the Charente department of France. The communes coopera ...

which was acquired in 1398 by Guy de La Rochefoucauld. From the 12th to the 17th century the chateau passed through many hands. The present chateau was rebuilt on the same site in 1600 by Guillaume Guez and his wife who left from time to time for their house in Angoulême. It was the residence of the family Guez de Balzac and Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, the "Restorer of the French Language", lived there. From 4 March to 29 August 1619

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

was hosted there by the Guez family, "not wishing to stay elsewhere until the peace that made her son

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

". The castle became the crossroads for personalities of the time during her stay - such as

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

, the

Duke of Épernon Duke of Épernon (french: Duc d'Épernon) was a noble title in the peerage of France granted to Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette by Henry III of France in 1581. It is named after Épernon. List of Dukes of Épernon, 1581—1736 Louis de Pa ...

, the

Cardinal de La Rochefoucauld Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, and the Count of Bethune. The road to

Vars Valyl-tRNA synthetase is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''VARS'' gene. Function Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases catalyze the aminoacylation of tRNA by their cognate amino acid. Because of their central role in linking amino acids with ...

was a transport route by donkey for Salt to the port of Basseau. The name ''la Montée des Sauniers'' (Ascent of Salt workers) above Coursac came from this. Formerly the ''Terrier de Bourguignol'', then called the ''Plantier de Bourguignone'', located near the ''Pont Suraud'' (Suraud Bridge) on the Argence was a

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

called the ''Tomb of Bourguignon'' which was still visible in 1760. At the beginning of the 20th century cherries and peas from Balzac were particularly appreciated from Angoulême to Paris. The fields provided milk feeding two major dairy factories in the commune, run by Messrs. Hortolan and Rochier.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive

Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 1,337 inhabitants. Balzac lost 30% of its population in the second half of the 19th century which then stabilised and experienced consistent growth in the last quarter of the 20th century.

Distribution of Age Groups

Percentage Distribution of Age Groups in Balzac and Charente Department in 2017 Source: INSEEÉvolution et structure de la population en 2017: Commune de Balzac (16026)
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Facilities

Education

The school is an Inter-communal Educational Grouping (RPI) with Vindelle. Balzac has a primary school (Nursery and from CP to CE2) and Vindelle has an elementary school (from CE2 to CM2). The Jean Caillard High School for Balzac is located in Genins.

Sites and monuments

*The Chateau of Balzac (17th century) is registered as an historical monument. was built by the father of Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac. This chateau has lodgings which overlook the Charente and is surrounded by a park enclosed by walls with pierced portals. There are also a canal, a fishpond, a lavoir, and a feudal church. *The Parish church of Saint Martin is located in the town next to the castle. It is of

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

and dates from the 12th century.Church of Saint-Martin
Balzac official website, 2012, consulted on 14 March 2014 Balzac is also the location of the headquarters of the ''Community of communes of Braconne and Charente''.

Chateau of Balzac Picture Gallery

File:Balz ch3.JPG , The Chateau File:Balzac2.2.jpg, Gate at the Chateau entrance File:Balzac2.5.jpg, Entrance to the Chateau File:Balzac2.15.jpg, The Lavoir in the Chateau File:Balzac2.17.jpg, The fishpond File:Balzac2.1.JPG, The kitchen in the Chateau File:Balzac2.8.JPG, The well in front of the Chateau

Notable people linked to the commune

* Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac (1597-1654), French writer, lived in the Château of Balzac.