VENDÉE INFORMATION
VENDEE Geography
The Vendée is a department in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in west central France, on the Atlantic Ocean. The name Vendée is taken from the Vendée river which runs through the south-eastern part of the department.
Vendée is surrouned by the departments of Maine-et-Loire and Loire-Atlantique, in the region of Poitou-Charentes by the departments of Deux-Sèvres and Charente-Maritime.
Vendée's highest point is Mont Mercure (935 feet/285 m).
The department is crossed by four rivers: the Sèvre Nantaise (135 km), the Vendée (70 km), the Lay (110 km) and the Sèvre Niortaise (150 km).
VENDEE History
The area today called the Vendée was originally known as the Bas-Poitou and is part of the former province of Poitou. In the south-east corner, the village of Nieul-sur-l'Autise is believed to be the birthplace of Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) and was part of her kingdom. Eleanor's son, Richard I of England (the Lionheart) often had his base in Talmont. The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) turned much of the Vendée into a battleground.
Since the Vendée held a considerable number of influential Protestants, including control by Jeanne d'Albret, the region was greatly affected by the French Wars of Religion which broke out in 1562 and continued until 1598. Eventually King Henri IV issued the Edict of Nantes and the Wars came to an end. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 caused many Huguenots to flee from the Vendée.
It is also remembered as the place where the peasants revolted against the Revolutionary government in 1793. They resented the changes imposed on the Roman Catholic Church by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) and broke into open revolt in defiance of the Revolutionary government's military conscription. A guerrilla war, known as the Revolt in the Vendée, led at the outset by an underground faction called the Chouans (tawny owls), cost more than 100,000 lives before it ended in 1796.
In 1815, when Napoleon returned from Elba for his Hundred Days, La Vendée refused to recognise him and stayed loyal to King Louis XVIII. General Lamarque led 10,000 men into La Vendée to pacify the region.[1]
In 1850, British author Anthony Trollope published his book La Vendée, detailing the history of the region and the war. In the preface he pays tribute to Madame de la Rochejaquelein, on whose memoirs of the war he based his story.
The Revolt in the Vendée is the subject of Ninety-Three (Quatre-vingt-treize), the last novel by the French writer Victor Hugo and also the backdrop of Les Chouans by Balzac.
In the writings of Karl Marx regarding revolutionary struggles in various countries, he uses the term "a Vendée" as meaning "a focus of persistent counter-revolutionary activities".
VENDEE Tourism
The coast of the Vendée extends over 200 km of mostly sandy beaches. Coupled with an exceptionally mild climate, these have long attracted large numbers of overseas and domestic tourists. Some popular resorts include Les Sables-d'Olonne, La Tranche-sur-Mer and Saint-Jean-de-Monts. Some beaches are "blue flagged" for cleanliness.
Inland, the chief attractions include the Marais Poitevin (an area of marshlands famed for wildlife), the forested area around the village of Mervent, the rolling countryside of the Bocage and the historical theme park at the Puy du Fou.
VENDEE Administration
Region Pays de la Loire
Prefecture : La Roche-sur-Yon
Subprefectures : Fontenay-le-Comte, Les Sables-d'Olonne
Arrondissements : 3
Cantons : 31
Communes : 282
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