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- historical region in today's France
- former County of Limoges (vice county)
• Flag
• Meaning/Origin of the Flag
• Coat of Arms
• Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms
• Map of the historical Regions in France
• Explanations about the Regions
• History
• Origin of the Country's Name
Flag of the Limousin
– Drapeau du Limousin,
1960–2016,
Unofficial flag of Limousin
– Drapeau de officieux de Limousin
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)
The flag of Auvergne shows the image of the coat of arms of the House of Dreux-Bretagne, who owned the county from the 13th to 14th century. The between 1960 and 2016 existing Region of "Limousin", to which the old Limousin mostly belonged since then, used that model as an unofficial flag.
Source:
Volker Preuß
11th–12th century,
Coat of arms of the Vice-Counts of Liomges
– blason de l'vicomtes de Limoges,
Source, by:
Wikipedia (FR)
1139–1152,
Comborn,
Coat of arms of the House of Comborn
– blason de Maison de Comborn,
Source, by:
Wikipedia (FR)
1152–1290,
Comborn,
Coat of arms of the House of Comborn
– blason de Maison de Comborn
1290–1384,
Dreux-Bretagne,
Coat of arms of the House of Dreux
– blason de Maison de Dreux,
Source, by:
Wikipedia (FR)
1384–1481,
Blois-Châtillon
Coat of arms of the House of Blois-Châtillon
– blason de Maison de Blois-Châtillon,
Source, by:
geni.com
1481–1572,
d'Albret,
Coat of arms of the House of d'Albret
– blason de Maison d'Albret,
Source, by:
Wikipedia (FR)
1572–1789,
de Bourbon,
Coat of arms of the House of Bourbon
– blason de Maison du Bourbon,
Source, by:
Wikipedia (D)
since 1661,
Rochechouart,
Coat of arms of the House of Rochechouart as titular Counts of Limoges
– blason de Maison de Rochechouart comme titulaire Comtes de Limoges,
Source, by:
By Bruno (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The heraldry of Limousin is quite changeable and connected with the heraldry of their respective sovereigns. That coat of arms, which is considered today as the coat of arms of Limousin, is the coat of arms of the House of Dreux, who owned the county from the 13th to the 14th century. The associated Heraldry showed a red bordered ermine shield. However, no image of the coats of arms achieved as a Heraldic feature that would have been taken over in the coats of arms of the successors in the rule over the county. The Viscounts of Limoges used in the 11th and 12th century a golden coat of arms with three blue lions. In 1139 the Vicecounty was given to the House of Comborn as fief, which uses a several times between gold and red diagonally right splited shield. In 1152 the House Planatgenet took over the Duchy of Aquitaine, to which the Vicecounty of Limoges belonged. The Comborns were further enfeoffed, but their arms became splited, and into the heraldically right placed side was added a blue field with three golden lions, the heraldical hand of the Planatgenets, who used until the end of the 12th century golden lions on blue. Between 1290 and 1384, the House of Dreux from Brittany was enfeoffed with the Vice County of Limoges. Their coat of arms showed the well known red-bordered ermine shield. Between 1384 and 1481, the House of Blois-Châtillon was enfeoffed with the Vicecounty of Limoges. The House of Blois-Châtillon were powerful gentries who were temporarily enfeoffed with several counties, but never ascended to the high nobility. Their coat of arms showed a six-fold clefted shield, between red and blue and white iron helmets, and a golden shield-head, which is added with a black loepard for the Vice-Counts of Limoges. Between 1481 and 1572, the House of d'Albret was enfeoffed with the Vicecounty of Limoges. Their coat of arms was squared - four times divided - and the first and third field showed three golden lilies on blue, and the second and fourth field was solid red. In 1572 the Vicecounty of Limoges was inherited to the House of Bourbon. The associated Heraldry showed the blue, with golden lilies topped shield of the Capetians, which was covered with a red oblique-right bar. The coat of arms of the Capetians showed three golden lilies on blue, but originally was the coat of arms sprinkled with lilies. From 1365 (by others sources 1376), the number of lilies was reduced to three. The lily-symbol is very old, already the Germanic tribe of the Franks has used it. The House of the Capetians has provided the kings of France between 987 and 1328. It goes back to Hugo Capet, son of Hugo the Great, who was electet to the King of France, in 987, after the death of King Ludwig V. from the House of the Carolingians. The Capetians brought out three branch lines which became the Kings of France: Valois 1328–1589, Bourbon 1589–1792 and 1814–1830, and Orléans 1830–1848. In 1661, François de Rochechouart, Count of Chandenier, was appointed to titular Count of Limoges. On this occasion, the coat of arms of the house was divided, and the heraldry of the House of Rochechouart was moved in the upper part. The lower part showed the heraldry of the Viscounts of Limoges in the 11th and 12th century, three blue lions on gold.
Source:
1.) Wikipedia (FR),
2.) Wikipedia (FR),
wikimedia.org,
Volker Preuß
The historical, French Regions:
in black: governorate and province in 1776,
in red: former county, province oder governorate
Map: Volker Preuß
The until the French Revolution existing provinces (or governorates) have been historically grown structures, which had their roots oftenly in former fiefdoms of the French crown, historic counties and duchies. They oftenly existed for hundreds of years and had preserved regionality (e.g. cultural particularities and regional languages). On the occasion of the French Revolution such phenomena were of course not desirable, and as part of their bloody and violent egalitarianism any regional references were eliminated. Shortly after the French Revolution the provinces were dissolved and France became divided into many départements, which should have approximately the same size and the same status. The départements were named after rivers or mountains, to use never and in no circumstances the name of an old province. However, there was no success in cutting the connections of the people of France to their respective regions, so that administrative regions were re-created in 1960, to have a better control in regional administrative processes. In this way became départements, which were placed in a historical province, administratively grouped to an oftenly historically named region. The resulted structures coincide only approximately with the boundaries of the old provinces. In the strictly centralist France any regionality is avoided, so that even the official flags of these regions mostly look like flags of companies, unloving, unhistorical, technocratic and modernistic, and these flags should not be a subject of any lexical considerations here. Only in a few of that regions, exist official flags which remember the historical models. But, even the existence of these today's regions is douptful, because in 2014 was passed a territorial reform valid from the year 2016, that reduces the number of the existing regions by merging to nearly the half. However, there exist unofficial flags in nearly all of these regions, which should remember the old provinces and the old heraldry.
Wikipedia Link to the regions of France:
click or tap here
FOTW Link to the regions of France:
click or tap here
Source: Flags of the World,
Wikipedia (D),
Volker Preuß
Antiquity · settlement by Celtic tribes, especially by the Lemoviks
52 B.C. · Roman conquest, forming of the province of Aquitania in the west of Gaul
418 A.D. · the Visigoths be settled as federates
5th century A.D. · conquest of Gaul by the Franks (under King Clovis) to 507 conquest of Aquitaine, expansion of the empire to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pyrenees and the Alps
511 · death of King Clovis, division of the Frankish Empire by Salic law of succession among his four sons (residences in Paris, Soissons, Orléans, Reims)
550 · administrative division of the empire into the kingdoms of Austrasia and Neustria, and the Duchy of Aquitaine and the Kingdom of Burgundy
639 · death of King Dagobert I., the power goes over to the Mayors of the Palace (maior domus) of Austrasia (House of the Carolingians)
687 · Pepin II. asserts itself as Mayor of the Palace throughout the Frankish Empire
751 · Pepin the Short (III., grandson of Pepin II.) eliminates the Merovingian monarchy and let hisself elect to the king from the Franks
8th century · fights between the Dukes of Aquitaine and the Frankish kings, in the Limousin arise many vice-counties, appointed by the Duke of Aquitaine, e.g. Limoges, Comborn, Ventadour, Turenne, Lastours, Exicideuil
843 · division of the Frankish Empire (Treaty of Verdun), there arise the West Frankish Kingdom of Charles II. (the Bald), the Middle Frankish Kingdom of Lothar (Lotharingia), and the East Frankish Kingdom of Louis II., Aquitaine comes to the Empire of Charles the Bald
870 · at the division of the Frankish Empire (Treaty of Meersen) arises the West Frankish Kingdom, the East Frankish Kingdom, and the Frankish Kingdom of Italy
877 · Ludwig ascends the West Frankish throne
880 · by the division of the Frankish Empire (Treaties of Verdun and Ribbemont) arises the West Frankish Kingdom (later France), the East Frankish Kingdom (later German Empire), the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of Upper Burgundy (under Rudolf the Welf) and the Kingdom of Lower Burgundy persists, the Limousin comes to the West Frankish Kingdom
898 · Odo, Count of Paris and Duke of Francia, is elected to the king of the East Frankish Empire
10th-12th century · Limousin (actually Viscounty of Limoges) seems to centralize into a single viscounty of Aquitaine
1139 · the house of Comborn is enfeoffed with the county of Limousin
1152 · Henry Plantagenet marries Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, the duchies of Aquitaine (and thus the Limousin) and Gascony come to the house of Anjou-Plantagenet
1154 · death of Stephen of Blois (King of England) , Henry is his successor as Henry II., Anjou becomes in this way a fief of the French king, which is a part of the crown of England (House of Anjou-Plantagenet)
1204 · Philip Augustus, King of France, conquers Normandy, Anjou, Maine and Touraine (Angevin Empire of the Plantagenets)
1224 · King Louis VIII. of France, son of Philip Augustus, conquers Aquitaine, except Gascony the last possession of the Plantagenets in France, Poitou and Saintonge come directly to the crown, La Marche, Périgord, Angoulême and Auvergne become fiefs, probably also the Limousin
1290 · the house of Dreux of Brittany is enfeoffed with the county of Limousin
1328 · death of King Charles IV. (the Fair), extinction of the direct Capetian line, according to Salic Law Count Philip of Valois (Son of Prince Charles of Valois, first cousin of King Charles IV.) came on the French throne (as King Philip VI .), the English king Edward III. lays claim to the throne as a maternal nephew of Charles IV., reason for the "Hundred Years War" (Anglo-French War, 1338–1453), out of the House of Valois came all kings of France from 1328 to 1589
1384 · death of Countess Johanna de Penthièvre (out of the house of Dreux), widow of Charles de Blois, via her heir and son John I. de Châtillon begins the reign of the house of Blois-Châtillon
1481 · death of Countess Françoise de Châtillon, married to Alain d'Albret, via her heir and son John III. d'Albret begins the reign of the house of d'Albret (Kings of Navarre)
1572 · death of Countess Johanna d'Albret, married to Antoine de Bourbon, via her heir and son Henry III., King of Navarre, begins the reign of the house of Bourbon
1589 · death of Henry III., King of France, Henry III. had no descendants, extinction of the line of Valois, Henry III. determined Henry of Navarre, Count of Limoges (House of Bourbon) as his successor, which is as Henry IV., the Good, Henri le Bon, the new King of France, the County of Limoges becomes in this way part of the royal domain
1661 · François de Rochechouart, Count of Chandenier, receives from King Louis XIV. for himself and his descendants, the right to use the title of a Count of Limoges
1773–1776 · Charles, Count of Artois, gets the Limousin as an appanage
1776 · the already in the 14th century created governorates of the civil administration of the kingdom of France become committed to a number of 39, and correspond in this way to the number of provinces, in previous years could any provinces be summarized in one governorate
1789 · French Revolution, the governorates and provinces become abolished, Limousin is divided into departments (essentially Correze and the south of Haute-Vienne)
1960 · reintroduction of regions in France, forming the Region of Limousin to which the Limousin thereby largely belongs (capital Limoges), but not within the historic boundaries, just by integrating of the departments of Correze, Creuse and Haute-Vienne
2016 · the Limousin region merges with the Aquitaine and Poitou-Charentes regions in the new, larger region of New Aquitaine (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
Source:
Wikipedia (FR),
Meyers Konversationslexikon
The name "Limousin" goes back to the Celtic tribe of the Lemoviks, who lived here in Roman times, and who gave its name to the town of Limoges. The surrounding area of the town later became the County (Vice-County) of Limoges. Topographically the county of Limoges is called Limousin.
Source:
Volker Preuß
