History History

The first humans settled in Charente-Maritime in the Lower Paleolithic. In 1979, researchers discovered the skeleton of a young Neanderthal woman and, beside her, tools dating from the Cro-Magnon period.

The Santons (who gave the origin of the names "Saintes", "Saintonge") organized themselves around the city of Pons and developed the production of salt. They established a trading port in Barzan, a city located at the entrance of the Gironde estuary, to trade with the Romans. But the Santons lost a part of their territory which was compensated by the creation of the province of Aquitaine. Saintes - Mediolanum Santonum - became the capital of this area. Connected by the Via Agrippa to Lyon, it is endowed with several monuments of which the amphitheatre, the thermal baths and the basilicas.

The Roman emperor Flavius Honorius ceded authority over the entire southwest to the Visigoths, who occupied the region for nearly a century. They were dislodged by the Franks at Vouillé in 507.

Saintonge is now part of a new kingdom of Aquitaine founded by Charlemagne. But this period of peace was short-lived. In 843, the Charente coast was pillaged by the Vikings who controlled the mouth of the Charente. The Normans even reached Royan and Saintes. Faced with this danger, the local lords built castles while the first pilgrims crossed the region

Although Châtelaillon was the first capital, it was dethroned by La Rochelle in 1130. Founded around the parish of Notre-Dame-de-Cougnes, the city benefited from the protection of the Dukes of Aquitaine. In 1175, Henry II Plantagenet granted it the first communal charter, thus allowing it to acquire a certain autonomy. The region was then a prosperous country and one of the main producers of salt, an indispensable commodity for food preservation. Thus, salt works were exploited in the country of Marennes, in Arvert, on the islands of Oléron or Ré. In 1224, Saintonge and Aunis came under French control.

Twelve years after coming under English occupation, La Rochelle drove out the English during a naval battle that resulted in the victory of the Franco-Castilian fleet. The maritime city became definitively French thanks to a ploy by Mayor Jean Chaudrier. At the same time, many strongholds were taken by the French: Saint-Jean-d'Angély, the island of Oléron, the island of Ré and the island of Aix and Saintes.

At the end of the 15th century, François^I - of Saintonge origin as he was born in Cognac - succeeded his cousin Louis XII. At the beginning of the following century, he was horrified to see several plague epidemics which decimated nearly a third of the population. A few years later, the coastal towns regained a certain prosperity, notably through the salt trade from which the region derived a large part of its income. This period also saw the departure of explorers such as Pierre Dugua de Mons and Samuel de Champlain, who founded the city of Quebec in 1608. Fishermen from Saintonge embarked in Meschers and Mortagne towards Newfoundland to fish cod.

Jean Calvin, who challenged the omnipotence of the Pope, took refuge in Saintonge where he continued to write and preach. The regions of the coastline gradually had many Reformed strongholds and the number of Calvinist followers gradually increased leading to the Wars of Religion.

François I wanted to standardize the right of gabelle throughout the kingdom, especially in La Rochelle, a city with a special regime. This attempt provoked several revolts forcing the king to move to the maritime city. The revolt of the Pitauds led Henry II to abandon this tax, and the region returned to the old system of the quart-denier

The last stronghold granted to the Protestants, the city saw its inhabitants rise up against the king. Determined to put an end to it, Cardinal de Richelieu ordered the siege of the maritime city and built a huge dike to close the port to the English. Led by its mayor, Jean Guiton, La Rochelle held out for a whole year, but the terrible famine endured by the inhabitants forced the mayor to give in. Recognizing his courage, Richelieu decided not to imprison him. With the loss of its main stronghold, the Reformation retreated, temples were destroyed before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes dealt a terrible blow to the last hopes of the Reformed.

After the creation of Rochefort, Aunis and Saintonge live a prosperous period. Saintes acquired a modern urbanism with the construction of major roads, agriculture developed with the introduction of corn and the improvement of brandy production techniques. If Brouage was bogged down, La Rochelle took part in the triangular trade allowing the shipowners to get rich. In 1790, the department of Charente Inférieure was created and Saintes was given the capital

Napoleon went to the department to inspect the coastal fortifications. Later, he granted La Rochelle the position of chief town, leaving only the seat of the court of assizes to Saintes. In 1815, Napoleon went to the island of Aix with the intention of going to the United States, but he was finally deported to the island of Saint Helena. The ^19th century was marked by the development of the train and the rise of seaside resorts such as Royan, Fouras or Châtelaillon-Plage. In 1890, the President of the Republic inaugurated the port of La Pallice while the seaside towns were adorned with villas, casinos and modern hotels. The century ends with the passage, in La Rochelle, of a famous prisoner: Alfred Dreyfus who will be deported from Saint-Martin-de-Ré to the Salvation Islands.

Like the other French departments, Charente-Inférieure was marked by the war effort. The factories were converted and the young Charentais left to fight. The port of La Pallice quickly became a hub for the transportation of raw materials and troops for the American army, which nevertheless chose the site of Talmont to house a deep water port

Becoming Charente-Maritime in 1941, the department underwent the German occupation with its blockhouses still visible today. Although La Rochelle was one of the last cities to be liberated, the city was spared, unlike Royan, 85% of which was destroyed.

Six years after the creation of the bridge linking the island of Oleron to the mainland, a new region was born: the Poitou-Charentes. The department is marked by some great novelties with the opening of the port of Minimes, the bridge linking the island of Ré to the continent but also the arrival of the TGV in La Rochelle station and the creation of the university

On February 28, 2010, the storm Xynthia hit the coast of the department with strong winds combined with a high tidal coefficient. Several coastal communities are submerged causing the death of 12 people.