Montendre

Montendre lies beneath a hilltop castle overlooking the woods and heath of Saintonge. In 1402, during the Hundred Years’ War, seven French knights fought seven Anglo-Aquitanian knights near the castle in a celebrated trial of arms. French forces took the stronghold in 1452. Later, Protestantism gained adherents here, and Montendre became a Huguenot place of security under the settlement of 1598.