Limousin ( oc, Lemosin) is a former

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

of the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...

. It existed from 1589 until 1790, when the National Constituent Assembly adopted a more uniform division into departments (''départements'') and

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

(''arrondissements''). It is located in the foothills of the western edge of the

Massif Central The (; oc, Massís Central, ; literally ''"Central Massif"'') is a highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,00 ...

and surrounds the city of

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

( oc, Limòtges). The territory of the former province of Limousin corresponds to an area smaller than the administrative region, comprising the current

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, ...

Corrèze Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, ...

, the southern half of

Haute-Vienne Haute-Vienne (; oc, Nauta Vinhana, ; English: Upper Vienne) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve departments that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitai ...

(including

, its historic capital), and a small part of the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named af ...

History

The history of Limousin reaches back to

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 Fo ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

times (50 BC to 550 AD). Its name is derived from the name of a Gallic tribe, the

Lemovices The Lemovīcēs (Gaulish: *''Lēmouīcēs'', 'those who vanquish by the elm') were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the modern Limousin region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name They are mentioned as ''Lemovices'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. B ...

, whose main sanctuary was recently found in

Tintignac Tintignac is a hamlet near Naves in the Corrèze region of France. It is primarily known for the archaeological remains of a sanctuary where Gallic and Gallo-Roman artefacts have been found, including seven carnyces (war trumpets) and ornamente ...

and became a major research site of the Celtic world. During the 10th century, Limousin was divided into many ''

seigneuries ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (o ...

''. The most important of them, located in the southern part of the region, were the '' vicomtés'' of

, Comborn (in present-day

), Ventadour (today Ussel and

Plateau de Millevaches 220px, Plateau de Millevaches The Plateau de Millevaches (; oc, Replanat de Miuvachas) is an upland area in Limousin a former administrative region of France. It covers approximately 3,500 km² and crosses the boundaries of three French d ...

), and

Turenne Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne , was a French general and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the ...

. The northernmost part of Limousin belonged to the

County of La Marche The County of La Marche (; oc, la Marcha) was a medieval French county, approximately corresponding to the modern ''département'' of Creuse. La Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when William III, D ...

, while the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

s of

controlled most of present-day

. Such political fragmentation led to the construction of many

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

s, whose ruins still evoke memories of that historical period. The territory was attached to the

kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...

in 1589, with the accession to the throne of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

. The province of Limousin disappeared during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. It was dismantled and divided between three new departments established by the National Constituent Assembly: mostly

and

, and to a lesser extent the

. The region was reconstituted in 1960 as an

Limousin (administrative region) Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vi ...

until 2015, when it was merged into 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..

Bibliography

* Bernard-Allée, Philippe; André, Marie-Françoise; Pallier, Ginette (1994). ''L'Atlas du Limousin''. Limoges: Pulim * Bonneton, Christine ed. (2000). "Limousin". ''Encyclopédie Bonneton''. Paris: Bonneton * Bourdelas, Laurent (2001). ''Plaidoyer pour un limogeage''. Limoges: Lucien Souny * Capot, Stéphane; Valade, Jean-Michel (2008). ''Limousin 14–18, un abécédaire de la Grande guerre''. Limoges: Les ardents éditeurs

References

External links

History of Limousin
{{Authority control Former provinces of France History of Limousin History of Nouvelle-Aquitaine History of Corrèze History of Dordogne History of Haute-Vienne Massif Central States and territories established in 1589 States and territories disestablished in 1790 1589 establishments in France 1790 disestablishments in France

History

See also

Bibliography

References

External links