Ballans () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

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, ...

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square ki ...

, southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Ballansois'' or ''Ballansoises'' and ''Balançais'' or ''Balançaises''.

Geography

Ballans is located some north-west of

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a commune, the prefecture of the Charente department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Angoumoisins'' ...

and east by north-east of Saintes. The southern border of the commune is the departmental border between

and

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, a ...

. Access to the commune is by the D124 road from Brie-sous-Matha in the west which passes through the village and continues south-east to Macqueville. The D133 from Macqueville to Siecq forms part of the eastern border of the commune. Apart from the village there is the hamlet of ''Les Gorains'' south-east of the village. The commune is entirely farmland.Google Maps
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Geology and terrain

The commune is in a Jurassic limestone area which dates to the Tithonian (formerly called Portlandian) at the boundary of 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 na ...

and Lower Cretaceous (

Berriasian In the geological timescale, the Berriasian is an age/stage of the Early/Lower Cretaceous. It is the oldest subdivision in the entire Cretaceous. It has been taken to span the time between 145.0 ± 4.0 Ma and 139.8 ± 3.0 Ma (million years ag ...

stage) areas and there are marl and clay outcrops. This is a zone of low relief that is part of the drainage basin of the Charente river. Ballans commune is on a hill high which overlooks the lowlands of other communes ( or lower).

Climate

The climate is oceanic Aquitaine.

Neighbouring communes and villages

Toponymy

The name ''Ballans'' is of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

origin meaning "low land".

History

It was in Ballans that Richard I of England fought against his father,

King Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

, on 4 July 1189 and became king two days later. With the help of King Philip, Richard defeated his father in Ballans and was then pronounced heir to the throne of England. Henry II retreated to

Chinon Chinon () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. The traditional province around Chinon, Touraine, became a favorite resort of French kings and their nobles beginning in the late 15th and early 16th centurie ...

where he died and Richard became King of England,

Count of Anjou The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by Charles the Bald in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the title of Count of Anjou. The Robertian ...

, and Duke of Normandy. In 1417 Jean Godefroy was Lord of Ballans. According to the State of Parishes in 1686 the Parish of Ballant had Louis Audouyn as Lord with 80

fires Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are p ...

and land which produced grains and wine. Baron de Livenne was Lord of Ballans in the 18th century. The botanist

Bernard de Jussieu Bernard de Jussieu (; 17 August 1699 – 6 November 1777) was a French naturalist, younger brother of Antoine de Jussieu. Bernard de Jussieu was born in Lyon. He took a medical degree at Montpellier and began practice in 1720, but finding the w ...

presented him with a cedar in 1734. By its girth and its majesty, it was greater than the cedar in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris which was planted by Bernard Jussieu in the same year. A third cedar from Lebanon brought with the first two trees was planted by Bernard de Jussieu on his Loiret property but it died after several years. In 1789 Ballans participated in the drafting of the list of grievances which provides us valuable information: "The parish of Ballans complains that ecclesiastical tithes are paid at Saintes college and what the priests take is not only for charitable works but even for their own needs. It requires mercy and the justice of your Majesty in this regard that the tithes be for the pastor in charge of maintaining the church and the rectory and to fill other functions and duties without perquisites and as tithes of this parish assigned to the College of Saintes, your Majesty is humbly begged to order that all ecclesiastical tithes and other benefits, to be raised annually an amount equivalent to that of the farm tithes of the said parish which currently amount to seventeen hundred and fifty

livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 g ...

." In the 20th century the main activity was the raising and selling of horses.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Inter-communality

Ballans is part of the Community of communes of Vals de Saintonge Communauté which includes 110 communes, and has its seat in

Saint-Jean-d'Angély Saint-Jean-d'Angély (; Saintongeais: ''Sént-Jhan-d'Anjhéli'') is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France. The commune has its historical origins in the Abbey of Saint-Jean-d'Angély. Royal abbey Founded in the ...

Town planning

According to the census of 2010 there were 137 dwellings in the commune, of which 86 are principal homes, 23 secondary residences and 28 vacant. The principal homes are mostly old: 43 (50%) are from before 1919.Dossier complet: Commune de Ballans (17031)
INSEE, retrieved 14 September 2020

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 197 inhabitants.

Distribution of Age Groups

The population of the town is similar to the departmental average. Percentage Distribution of Age Groups in Ballans and Charente-Maritime Department in 2017 Source: INSEEÉvolution et structure de la population en 2017: Commune de Ballans (17031)
/ref>Évolution et structure de la population en 2017: Département de la Charente-Maritime (17)
/ref>

Economy and employment

According to the 2017 census there are 95 employable people of which 90 are active employees or self-employed. Most of them (74%) work outside the commune. The activity is totally related to viticulture in this Fins Bois area of the

Cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cognac production falls under French appe ...

region. The town has several rural multi-service shops with a bar and a post office.

Facilities

Education

The school is an Inter-communal Educational Grouping (RPI) between Macqueville, Neuvicq, Siecq, and Ballans. Ballans hosts one class which is a large children's section and CP.

Sports and recreation

There is a Hiking route and a Tennis court. There is a local festival on the third weekend in June, Fireworks on 14 July, and a flea market in the schools on the 1st Sunday of October.

Associations

There is a Senior Citizens Club, the festival committee, and the ACCA hunting society.

Sites and Monuments

*The Church of Saint-Jacques was rebuilt in the 15th century. The

Choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

and

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

kept their broken arched vault and are separated by two small columns with capitals decorated with Gothic foliage. *The rural heritage is represented by Charentais porches, fountains, one of which feeds a

Lavoir A lavoir (wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by laund ...

(public laundry). There are old wells including one dating to the 17th century . *A remarkable tree, a cedar from Lebanon was given to Baron de Livenne, Lord of Ballans, by the botanist Bernard de Jussieu in 1734. This cedar, despite being hit by lightning, dominates the village. It was planted at the same time as the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.