Thouars

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title: "Thouars" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["communes-of-deux-sèvres", "châteaux-in-deux-sèvres", "poitou", "toarcian"] topic_path: "general/communes-of-deux-sevres" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thouars" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox French commune"]

Field	Value
name	Thouars
commune status	Commune
image	Thouars - Hotel de Ville 02.jpg
caption	The town hall in Thouars
image coat of arms	Armoiries Ville Thouars.png
arrondissement	Bressuire
canton	Thouars
INSEE	79329
postal code	79100
mayor	Bernard Paineau
term	2020–2026
intercommunality	Thouarsais
coordinates
elevation m	100
elevation min m	47
elevation max m	117
area km2	81.48
population
population date
population footnotes
::

Thouars () is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France. On 1 January 2019, the former communes Mauzé-Thouarsais, Missé and Sainte-Radegonde were merged into Thouars.

It is on the River Thouet. Its inhabitants are known as Thouarsais. The Toarcian stage of the Jurassic takes its name from the town.

History

Although there is evidence of human habitation here 5,000 years ago, it is only in the seventh century that the town appears in the historical record. In the 760s, Thouars found itself in Aquitaine, the most robust fortress in the entire region according to contemporary chroniclers. This was a violent decade as Duke Waïfre, struggling to preserve the independence of Aquitaine, fought against the expansionist ambitions of the French King, Pepin the Short. In 762, accompanied by his son, the future Charlemagne, appeared outside Thouars. He destroyed the Gallo-Roman town and torched the castle.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Blason_famille_fr_Thouars.svg" caption="Arms of the Viscounts of Thouars"] ::

In the ninth century the first of a line of viscounts took charge of Thouars: he and his successors would control the fiefdom for more than five centuries until the end of the fourteenth century. The earliest of these Viscounts of Thouars for whom information survives is Geoffrey I, known as the founder of the Thouars dynasty. Located at the south of Anjou and at the frontier with Aquitaine, the Viscountcy of Thouars became a rich fiefdom with a strategic location extending from Upper Poitou all the way to the coast.

Aimery IV of Thouars was a companion of William the Conqueror as a commander in the Battle of Hastings.

In Angers in 1199, Guy of Thouars married Constance of Brittany to become Duke of Brittany jure uxoris, and after the death of Constance, Regent of Brittany for her daughter Alix of Thouars. In 1372 the English were expelled from the town by Bertrand du Guesclin.

Thouars was the birthplace of the medieval general Louis de La Trémoille, created duke by Charles IX in 1563. In 1619 his heir Henri de La Trémoille married Marie de la Tour d'Auvergne, sister of Turenne. She razed the old gothic château-fort to build the present château.

Population

|footnote=Populations of the area corresponding with the commune of Thouars at 1 January 2020. |source = INSEE |percentages = pagr |align = none |graph-pos = right |1968 |15139 |1975 |16063 |1982 |15935 |1990 |15657 |1999 |15498 |2007 |14797 |2012 |14385 |2017 |13990

Main sights

The castle of the Dukes of La Trémoille, designed by Jacques Lemercier and completed in 1635–1638. Its main façade is more than 110 m tall. After the Trémouilles were dispossessed during the French Revolution, the château became a barracks and later a prison. It has been restored for its present use as a middle school.
Walls, with several historical towers (Tour du Prince-de-Galles, Tour Porte au Prévost) dating from the 13th century; a bridge of the same period crosses the Thouet.
Church of Saint-Laon (12th century), subsequently attached to an abbey, whose buildings later became a town hall. The church houses the tomb of Margaret Stewart, first wife of King Louis XI of France.
Church of St. Medard (15th century), in Romanesque style
The Neo-Gothic Chapel of Joan of Arc
Henri-Barré museum

People

Thouars was the birthplace of:

Louis II de La Trémoille (1460–1525), general
Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby (1599–1664)
Prosper Depredomme (1918–1997), cyclist
Jean-Hugues Anglade (born 1955), actor

It is associated with:

Emilie von Hessen-Kassel (1626–1693), Duchess of Thouars from 1648

Thouars is also the final resting place of:

Margaret Stewart, Dauphine of France (1424–1445), daughter of James I of Scotland.

Twin towns

Thouars is twinned with:

BEL Hannut, Belgium
GAB Port-Gentil, Gabon
GER Diepholz, Germany
POL Międzyrzec Podlaski, Poland
GB Dumbarton, Scotland, United Kingdom

Climate

|metric first=y |single line=y |collapsed = Y |location = Thouars (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1975–present) |Jan record high C = 16.9 |Feb record high C = 22.3 |Mar record high C = 27.0 |Apr record high C = 31.3 |May record high C = 35.1 |Jun record high C = 41.2 |Jul record high C = 41.7 |Aug record high C = 43.0 |Sep record high C = 35.8 |Oct record high C = 31.3 |Nov record high C = 23.1 |Dec record high C = 19.4 |Jan record low C = -14.6 |Feb record low C = -12.6 |Mar record low C = -10.7 |Apr record low C = -3.8 |May record low C = 0.4 |Jun record low C = 2.5 |Jul record low C = 5.6 |Aug record low C = 5.1 |Sep record low C = 1.1 |Oct record low C = -4.6 |Nov record low C = -8.2 |Dec record low C = -11.2 |Jan high C = 8.9 |Feb high C = 10.4 |Mar high C = 14.3 |Apr high C = 17.5 |May high C = 21.4 |Jun high C = 25.2 |Jul high C = 27.5 |Aug high C = 27.5 |Sep high C = 23.7 |Oct high C = 18.2 |Nov high C = 12.7 |Dec high C = 9.4 | year high C = 18.1 |Jan mean C = 5.9 |Feb mean C = 6.5 |Mar mean C = 9.3 |Apr mean C = 11.8 |May mean C = 15.5 |Jun mean C = 19.0 |Jul mean C = 21.0 |Aug mean C = 21.0 |Sep mean C = 17.6 |Oct mean C = 13.7 |Nov mean C = 9.1 |Dec mean C = 6.3 | year mean C = 13.1 |Jan low C = 2.9 |Feb low C = 2.5 |Mar low C = 4.3 |Apr low C = 6.1 |May low C = 9.7 |Jun low C = 12.9 |Jul low C = 14.6 |Aug low C = 14.5 |Sep low C = 11.5 |Oct low C = 9.3 |Nov low C = 5.6 |Dec low C = 3.2 | year low C = 8.1 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 51.1 |Feb precipitation mm = 39.2 |Mar precipitation mm = 40.4 |Apr precipitation mm = 46.0 |May precipitation mm = 49.7 |Jun precipitation mm = 43.0 |Jul precipitation mm = 38.4 |Aug precipitation mm = 37.8 |Sep precipitation mm = 48.9 |Oct precipitation mm = 65.3 |Nov precipitation mm = 58.7 |Dec precipitation mm = 57.0 |year precipitation mm = 575.5 |unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm | Jan precipitation days = 10.0 | Feb precipitation days = 8.4 | Mar precipitation days = 8.4 | Apr precipitation days = 8.8 | May precipitation days = 8.8 | Jun precipitation days = 7.1 | Jul precipitation days = 6.2 | Aug precipitation days = 6.2 | Sep precipitation days = 7.0 | Oct precipitation days = 9.9 | Nov precipitation days = 11.0 | Dec precipitation days = 10.9 | year precipitation days =102.7 |source 1 = Meteociel{{cite web |url=https://www.meteociel.fr/obs/clim/normales_records.php?code=79329001 |title=Normales et records pour Thouars (79) |publisher=Meteociel |access-date=21 November 2024}}}}

References

(9 August 2021). "Répertoire national des élus: les maires".
[https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/arrete/2018/10/30/TERB1833247A/jo/texte Arrêté préfectoral] 30 October 2018 {{in lang. fr
[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-79329#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE
{{Cite EB1911
"Annuaire des villes jumelées : Gabon".

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