Angers

Angers is a city in France in the département of Maine-et-Loire, 191 miles south-west of Paris. (The area surrounding Angers is more popularly known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou.)

History

The first sign of human presence on the site of Angers is a stone tool dated back to 400,000 BCE (Lower Paleolithic). The earliest known inhabitants were the Andecavi, a Gallic tribe that was overrun by the Romans. The city, while under Roman rule, was called Juliomagus.

Related Topics:
Lower Paleolithic - Andecavi - Gallic tribe - Romans

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Angers was once the capital of the historic province of Anjou. Beginning in the ninth century, the region was controlled by a powerful family of feudal lords. In the twelfth century, it became part of the Angevin empire of the Plantagenet Kings of England. During this time the Hospital of Saint-Jean was built in Angers by King Henry II of England. The edifice still stands to this day, now housing an important museum. In 1204 Angers was conquered by King Philippe II.

Related Topics:
Anjou - Ninth century - Twelfth century - Angevin - Plantagenet - England - Hospital of Saint-Jean - Henry II of England - 1204 - King Philippe II

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The city suffered severely from the invasions of the Normans (in 845 and succeeding years) and the arrival of the English in the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. The Huguenots took it in 1585, and the Vendean royalists were repulsed nearby in 1793. Till the Revolution Angers was the seat of a celebrated university founded in the fourteenth century.

Related Topics:
Normans - 845 - 1585 - 1793 - Fourteenth century

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