Mélusine, in Lusignan

This is the story of a curse, a broken oath and a lost love, the love story of Mélusine and Raymondin which turned sadly sour. In the forest of Coulombiers their eyes met, a magical moment near the fountain of Thirst (Font-de-Cé, in Lusignan). Her dazzling beauty made him fall madly in love with her; he married her practically on the spot, swearing to let her retire every Saturday and never, oh never, to try to find her on that day. From their love affair came, in addition to many children, the imperious fortress of Lusignan (known as one of the largest in France, dismantled in 1586), a powerful house with a halo of glory. All these years Melusine took advantage of her hidden secret, a heavy punishment inflicted by her mother for eternity. Unbeknownst to her husband, she would spread her wings at night, fly over Poitou to work, carry tons of stones in her dorn and build cities, churches and grandiose fortresses in the name of the Lusignans. Thus appeared the Pierre-Levée, blocks that the fairy let escape above Poitiers (magnificent dolmen of the Neolithic, hidden in the district of Montbernage). Until his ardent jealousy led Raymondin to defy the ban, to push open the door of his beloved and to discover her diabolical appendage, a snake's tail - it was to bathe her that Melusine made water gush out of the hollows of seven oak trees in the forest of Chizé (Melusine's bathtub, a natural monument not to be missed). The tragic death of one of their illustrious sons, burned alive by his elder son, led to their loss: Raymondin, mad with grief, accused Mélusine in public. The infamous snake came back to her, announcing the inevitable ruin of the Lusignans, opened her wings, rose into the sky, flew three times around the citadel, uttering shrill cries, then disappeared forever. It is said today in the Mélusin country that the fairy reappears when one of her descendants dies...
If history mentions a legendary female hybrid creature in Poitou, Mélusine owes her extreme popularity to the bookseller-publisher Jean d'Arras. In 1392, Jean de Berry, Count of Poitou, commissioned the man of letters to write an epic genealogical chronicle dedicated to the Lusignans. This one, thanks to printing, is to be considered as one of the great best-sellers of its time: Mélusine ou la noble histoire de Lusignan. The work in prose, very widely distributed, is in line with the dynastic novels of the late Middle Ages, making the fairy, in addition to the founding myth of the house, a heroine half-woman, half-demon known by mounts and vales.
The Lusignans reigned from the 10th to the 14th century, as lords of their fiefdoms, Lusignan and Couhé, and managed to take over the counties of La Marche and Angoulême. The wheel will turn with Hughes X of Lusignan, heir of long years of discontent (with the marriage Aliénor-Plantagenêt, in 1152, the lords of Poitou will lose much of their autonomy and will organize several coalitions against their suzerains), allied with the Plantagenets. He came to insult Alphonse de Poitiers - Count of Poitou, prince of royal blood and brother of Louis IX (Saint Louis), in his palace. The following year, he suffered a violent royal counter-offensive in Taillebourg, or the crushing victory of the Capetian kingdom against the Lusignan-Plantagenet blockade. The ruin of the house was set in motion, dispossessed of nearly a third of its property... It is said that the battle of Taillebourg was one of the many events that triggered the Hundred Years War (1337-1453).
Organize a discovery tour of the most beautiful works of Mélusine, scattered between Vienne and Deux-Sèvres: the city of Lusignan, of course, where you can admire some remains of the noble fortress, the Coudray-Salbart, an innovative fortified castle built during the Hundred Years War (never venture there at night, under penalty of hearing enigmatic howls), the castles of Cherveux and Parthenay, the dungeon and the spire of Notre-Dame de Niort (Mélusine, surprised in the middle of her work, would have abandoned her construction site and forgotten to put the last window, the incident will be repeated elsewhere, for example in Celles-sur-Belles, Verruyes and Ménigoute).

La Grand'Goule, in Poitiers

The pious and charitable Radegonde (519-587), rebellious wife of Clotaire I and queen of the Franks, fled the court of Soissons to settle in Poitiers. She founded the monastery of Notre-Dame around 550, which became Sainte-Croix in 567 when it received the relics of the Holy Cross (built on the site of the current eponymous museum, the abbey was transferred, with its treasures, to the commune of Saint-Benoît). Radegonde, patron saint of Poitiers, has her own golden legend: it is said that she fought against the bloodthirsty and invincible creature who, coming out of her lair in the valley of the Clain, ventured through the subterranean tunnels into the cellars of the monastery in search of a few nuns to bite. Neither pleas nor prayers could stop the carnage, the Beast continued to rage. So much so that Radegonde asked to confront it, chased the dragon, giving it salvos of crosses and curses. The creature died in excruciating pain.
This Grand'Goule, local personification of the fight between good and evil, ensured the protection of Poitiers until the 19th century. She was associated with the Rogations procession (the three days preceding Ascension Thursday, inspired by pagan rituals in favor of the harvest), first painted on a banner and then, from 1677, in the form of an articulated effigy, a polychrome wooden work by master sculptor Jean Gargot. As it passed, people threw cakes, forget-me-nots, and pincushions while shouting the following formula: "Good holy vermin, pray for us" The cult disappeared completely with the modernization of agricultural practices; as for the 57 cm high monster, it was rediscovered by chance in the reserves of the major seminary of Poitiers. You can admire it in the Sainte-Croix museum, mouth gaping with all its fangs out.
A distant memory, the Grand'Goule is nevertheless struggling to leave the collective memory of the Poitevins. It will lend its name to a magazine dedicated to arts and heritage published from 1929 to 1944 (freely available on Gallica, site of the BNF; https://gallica.bnf.fr), and, above all, to the mythical nightclub of the city center inaugurated in 1965 (a must! www.lagoule.fr). Just walk a few steps to discover the Romanesque church of Sainte-Radegonde, also nestled at the foot of the Saint-Pierre cathedral, which was extensively remodeled in the 13th century in the purest Plantagenet style. This masterpiece with a single nave houses not only the sarcophagus and the remains of the saint, but also an exceptional suite of stained glass windows (including one dated 1270). The atmosphere is captivating. In the main staircase of the Poitiers City Hall, enthusiasts will have a look at this painting by Pierre Puvis de Chavanne, Sainte Radegonde listening to a reading by the poet Fortunat.

The dragon(s) of Niort

Impossible to ignore them, the four bronze dragons of Niort, works of the architect-plastician Jacques Hondelatte, installed in rue Aimable-Ricard in 1992, unbolted in 2011, then reinstated the following year. Also emblematic, they frame the pedestrian center of Niort telling the famous legend of the soldier and the dragon, which appeared in the 17th century.
Once upon a time, there was a gigantic winged snake that raged as much in the brackish waters of the wet marsh as on dry land, making its home in an underground passage in the rue Saint-Jean. To the young and deserter soldier Allonneau, condemned to death, one promised the grace if he succeeded in ridding the country and its people, terrified, of its bloody Beast. Adorned with his armor and his sword, he nimbly set about the task, until he pierced the monster's throat. The credulous unfortunate, believing his target to be dead, removed the glass helmet that protected him from the venom: the dragon poisoned him in a final breath and dragged him to his doom.
This legend echoes the dragonnades, persecutions carried out against the Huguenots in order to push the most recalcitrant to convert. It was the Intendant of Poitou, René de Marillac (1638-1719), who developed them in 1681, summoning the reformed to lodge and satisfy each of the rigorous demands of the dragoons, soldiers of the regular army. The process was used throughout the kingdom until 1686, and even repeated in the 18th century (the Mayenne dragoonade in 1758 was one of the most repressive). The rain of criticism from all over Europe led Colbert to ban them and to dismiss Marillac. The death of the Controller General of Finances in 1683 buried these measures.
It's a detail, but it's worth looking into: the legend of the soldier and the dragon is strangely reminiscent of this variant of the story of the Grand'Goule, which attributes the destruction of the Beast not to Radegonde but to a condemned man who emerged from the battle unharmed, for some, and poisoned, for others, after having removed his glass helmet and breathed in the creature's foul breath... And that's not all! The dragon, the local personification of evil, could well be neither more nor less than a crocodile. Indeed, several stuffed specimens had been introduced in Poitou, one, as many travelers will testify, exposed in the great hall of the ducal palace of Poitiers abandoned to the merchants and the curious, the other, as you will see it, in the collegiate church Saint-Maurice of Oiron. This last reptile, conceded to a travel souvenir of the admiral Gouffier de Bonnivet (XVIth century) is also commonly associated with a very old legend, the fight of saints Jouin and Hilaire, famous Christian preachers of Poitou, against the dragon of the marshes of the Dive...