The Bas-Vendômois is a small district in central- western France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, consisting of the 14 communes

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 of the canton of Montoire-sur-le-Loir, in the arrondissement of Vendôme

Arrondissement of Vendôme

The arrondissement of Vendôme is an arrondissement of France, located in the Loir-et-Cher département, in the Centre région. It has 9 cantons and 107 communes.-Cantons:The cantons of the arrondissement of Vendôme are:# Droué# Mondoubleau...

, département of Loir-et-Cher

Loir-et-Cher

Loir-et-Cher is a département in north-central France named after the rivers Loir and Cher.-History:Loir-et-Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and...

, France.

History

The area corresponds to the central portion of the east-west flowing Loir

Loir

The Loir is a river in western France. It is a left tributary of the Sarthe River. Its source is in the Eure-et-Loir département, north of Illiers-Combray...

 valley. Before the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 the area depended administratively on Vendôme

Vendôme

Vendôme is a commune in the Centre region of France.-Administration:Vendôme is the capital of the arrondissement of Vendôme in the Loir-et-Cher department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It has a tribunal of first instance.-Geography:...

 and was part of the Orléanais

Orléanais

Orléanais is a former province of France, around the cities of Orléans, Chartres, and Blois.The name comes from Orléans, its main city and traditional capital. The province was one of those into which France was divided before the French Revolution...

 province

Provinces of France

The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces. The provinces of France were roughly equivalent to the historic counties of England...

, but ecclesiastically on the Diocese of Le Mans in the Tours

Tours

Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...

 province. The division thus corresponds to that between the late Roman province

Roman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...

s of Tertia Lugdunensis (Tours) and Quarta Lugdunensis (Sens

Sens

Sens is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France.Sens is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is crossed by the Yonne and the Vanne, which empties into the Yonne here.-History:...

) and the civitates

Civitas

In the history of Rome, the Latin term civitas , according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the cives, or citizens, united by law . It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities on the one hand and rights of citizenship on the other...

 of the Cenomani

Cenomani

The Cenomani or Aulerci Cenomani were a Gallic people, a branch of the Aulerci in Gallia Celtica, whose territory corresponded generally to Maine in the modern départment of Sarthe, west of the Carnutes between the Seine and the Loire...

 and of the Carnutes

Carnutes

The Carnutes, a powerful Celtic people in the heart of independent Gaul, dwelled in a particularly extensive territory between the Sequana and the Liger rivers. Their lands later corresponded to the dioceses of Chartres, Orléans and Blois, that is, the greater part of the modern departments of...

 respectively.

The Bas-Vendômois was part of the Frankish

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 kingdom of Neustria

Neustria

The territory of Neustria or Neustrasia, meaning "new [western] land", originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating most of the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities...

. The area was fought over during struggles between the Angevin Plantagenêts

House of Plantagenet

The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...

 and the French monarchy. There are fortified castles at Montoire-sur-le-Loir

Montoire-sur-le-Loir

Montoire-sur-le-Loir is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France.The inhabitants of Montoire-sur-le-Loir are called montoiriens.-History:...

 and Lavardin

Lavardin, Loir-et-Cher

Lavardin is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France.It is located on the banks of the Loir River.Its inhabitants are called Lavardinoises and Lavardinois....

. There are a number of Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 churches, e.g. Saint-Jacques-des-Guérets

Saint-Jacques-des-Guérets

Saint-Jacques-des-Guérets is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. Lying on one of the tradititional pilgrimage routes to Santiago da Compostella, across the river from the partly troglodyte hillside of Trôo, its small church of St. James the Great is celebrated for its...

, the chapel of St. Giles at Montoire. The area shared in the general prosperity of the later 15th century and the Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

- e.g. Manor of La Possonnière at Couture-sur-Loir

Couture-sur-Loir

Couture-sur-Loir is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France.It is situated in the north west of the Loir-et-Cher département, to the west of Vendôme...

.