Pouancé () is a former

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

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-e ...

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 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 ...

. On 15 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune

Ombrée d'Anjou Ombrée d'Anjou () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France. The municipality was established on 15 December 2016 and consists of the former communes of La Chapelle-Hullin, Chazé-Henry, Combrée, Grugé-l'Hôpital, No� ...

. It is located on the border of 4 French departements: Maine-et-Loire,

Mayenne Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et ...

in the north,

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019.

in the north-west, and

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population o ...

in the west. During the Middle Ages, Pouancé was situated on the border between

Anjou Anjou may refer to: Geography and titles France * County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou **Count of Anjou, title of nobility *Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France **Duk ...

, part 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. ...

, and the independent

duchy of Brittany The Duchy of Brittany ( br, Dugelezh Breizh, ; french: Duché de Bretagne) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The city gained the nickname of "''Door of Anjou, March of Brittany''". The town retains its partially preserved

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

s, some of its

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

s and its

medieval 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 ...

, which is the second largest in

History

The

menhir A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...

of Pierrefrite is one of the only remains from the

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

in Pouancé region, along with some stone

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

s and an

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

head. The menhir is located on the border of the commune of

Armaillé Armaillé () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. Geography The village lies on the right bank of the Verzée, which flows east-southeast through the commune. Population See also *Communes of the Maine-et-Loire ...

Saint-Michel-et-Chanveaux Saint-Michel-et-Chanveaux () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 15 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Ombrée d'Anjou.slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

and stands 5 meters tall. After the discovery of pieces of tegulae in a wood, it is assumed that a Roman

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

existed, and along with it, a

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

settlement. The earliest location of a settlement on the territory is believed to be the village of Saint-Aubin, about one kilometre from the center of Pouancé. In the walls of Saint-Aubin's church (which dates from the 12th century) the remains of a

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

were found. The first known lord of Pouancé was Manguinoë, from 990 to 1037. It is believed that he built the first castle, which was constructed in a

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

style. For defensive reasons, the motte was built one kilometre from Saint-Aubin, on a slate hill. At the end of the 12th century, a medieval village grew up around the castle, the first towers were built, and the village was fortified. When the fortress was complete, it consisted of 15 towers and 3 defensive walls. During the reign of

Charles V of France Charles V (21 January 1338 – 16 September 1380), called the Wise (french: le Sage; la, Sapiens), was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War, with his armi ...

, a permanent tax (the

gabelle The ''gabelle'' () was a very unpopular tax on salt in France that was established during the mid-14th century and lasted, with brief lapses and revisions, until 1946. The term ''gabelle'' is derived from the Italian ''gabella'' (a duty), itself ...

) was placed on salt. Anjou became a ''pays de grandes gabelles'', where tax was heaviest. Because Brittany was exempt from this tax, an important smuggling route developed across the border of Anjou and Brittany. In 1343, a ''greniers à sel'' (salt granary) was established in Pouancé to store the salt and judge disputes surrounding the tax. The smuggling was so prevalent in Pouancé that a special jail for the ''faux-sauniers'' (name for the salt smugglers) was built. During the Hundred Years' War, Pouancé was besieged twice: first in 1432 by

John VI, Duke of Brittany John V, sometimes numbered as VI, (24 December 1389 – 29 August 1442) bynamed John the Wise ( br, Yann ar Fur; french: Jean le Sage), was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort from 1399 to his death. His rule coincided with the height of th ...

, who was allied with English and Scottish troops. The second time was in 1443, by

John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, 3rd Earl of Somerset, KG (25 March 1404 – 30 May 1444) was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was the maternal grandfather of Henry VII. Origins Born on 25 ...

. However, the city managed to resist both times, and the attackers were forced to retreat. During the 16th century, Pouancé was also famous in Anjou for its

forge A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to th ...

s. The French royal navy commissioned the forges for several thousand

round shot A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a la ...

s. After 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 ...

, Pouancé became the

chef-lieu An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lux ...

of a canton. The canton of Pouancé groups together 14 communes.

Toponymy

The etymology of Pouancé could come from the

latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

name, ''Potentius'', derived from the latin ''potens'' (powerful). Others make its derived from the

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 ...

''pouleum'' (a hill, or a butte). The first mention of Pouancé dated from 1050, when the town was named ''Poenciacum'' and ''Pautiacum''. As time passed by, Pouancé bore the following names:Histoire de Pouancé et des environs, Henri Godivier, seconde édition 2006, Le Livre d'Histoire, page 19

Coat of arms

Geography

Geology and hydrology

The river

Semnon The Semnon (; br, Sevnon) is a long river in the Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire, Ille-et-Vilaine and Loire-Atlantique ''départements'', northwestern France. Its source is at Congrier. It flows generally west-northwest. It is a left tributary of the V ...

forms part of the commune's northern border, along with the Araize. The river

Verzée The Verzée () is a river in the Loire-Atlantique and Maine-et-Loire ''départements'', western France. Its source is at Soudan. It flows generally east-southeast. It is a right tributary of the Oudon into which it flows at Segré. Communes ...

flows southeastward through the southern part of the commune and crosses the town. It forms the lake of Saint-Aubin, then the lake of Pouancé just under the castle, and finally the lake of Tressé.

History

Toponymy

Coat of arms

Geography

Geology and hydrology

Climate

Nearby places

Evolution

Places of interest

Twin cities

See also