P I C T A V I A. Poitou

This Pictavia today is divided into Lower and Upper. They call that Lower which defines itself toward the West into the Aquitanian Ocean; Upper, which looks toward the East, as far as the Turones Tours and Bituriges Bourges. From the South, it touches the Santones Saintes, the Angolesmenses Angoumois, and the Lemovices Limousin. The Bretons and Andegavenses Anjou are nearest to it from the North. The soil is most fertile in crops and livestock; it is rich in wine and grain, and abounding in fish. But there is a huge supply of birds and wild beasts here in particular; and for that reason, hunting and fowling are frequent here.

In this Pictavia, two hundred and more than a thousand dioceses, or rather parishes, are comprised, under three bishoprics: namely, Pictavensis Poitiers, Luçon, and Maillezais, as they are commonly called. More famous places besides these are (I pronounce them by the names of the inhabitants): Roche sur Yon, Talmont, Mervil, Vouvant, Mervent, Bressuire, Loudun, Fontenay-le-Comte; and these are in the upper region, which we mentioned. The lower has Niort, Parthenay, Thouars, Moncontour, Hernault, Mirebeau, Châtellerault, etc. However, Pictavia or Poitiers obtains the primacy among these, the most ample of all the cities of Gaul after Paris; it is surrounded for the greatest part by the living river Clain. The Theater (commonly the Arenas), the palace of Galienus, and the arches of the aqueducts which remain, which the common people call Arceaux de Parigné Arches of Parigné, sufficiently testify to its antiquity; they are traces of Roman rule in this place. Yet, before their arrival, one might suspect from the writings of Aimoin and Ado that the area of this city was elsewhere. For these places mention the old Pictavi, in which they narrate that the kingdom was divided between the Frankish kings Carloman and Pippin. A place named Vies Poictiers (as if you were to say Old Poitiers) also appears on this map, at the same river Clain, toward Châtellerault. Talmont, or more anciently Talon du Monde Heel of the World, is what the French call the town, because it is situated in the most remote part of this region by the Ocean, and therefore it should be considered the last place on earth.

P I C T A V I A.

A detailed engraved map of the Poitou region (labeled "POICTOV") and surrounding areas including Brittany, Touraine, Berry, and Saintonge. The map shows major rivers (like the Clain), coastal features, and numerous towns such as Poitiers, Niort, La Rochelle, and Angély. A distance scale is provided at the bottom left, and the title "POICTOV" is enclosed in a rectangular box at the top right.