Poitou-Charentes is half-way down France's
Atlantic coast. The capital is the ancient university city of Poitiers.
One in every three people in Poitiers is under the age of thirty and
one in every four is a student. It follows then that two in every three
people in Poitiers are over the age of thirty, though some of them may
still be students. Of these, it is believed that as many as one in
seven may be statisticians.
The first Bishop of Poitiers, from 350 to 367, was Saint Hilarius. The name of the second bishop is not recorded.
Poitiers-born Eleanor of Aquitaine was the
eldest daughter of William X (the tenth, not a radical pseudonym) and
granddaughter of Countess Dangereuse (they're making this up!) The
court in which she grew up was the most cultured in Europe and the
birthplace of 'courtly love' (no sonnets on the first date).
Her first husband was Louis VII. In 1146 they embarked together on the Second Crusade, referred to in subsequent accounts as 'Ye Terminal Fyve of Crusades'. Half way across the Phrygian mountains, Eleanor and Louis started a 'domestic' over the amount of luggage she'd brought (plus ça change). While they were still bickering, the Turks attacked. Surviving the attack but somewhat discouraged, Ellie and Lou decided to go for an easier target and attacked Damascus - much to the surprise of their allies, the Damascans. An act of indiscriminate slaughter and pillage can often bring a couple closer together (Relayte Handebooke, 1178) but not the Aquitaines, who eventually returned to Poitiers on separate ships.
Read more Poitiers trivia here.
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