Rochechouart

Rochechouart lies near the western edge of Limousin, below the castle of its long-established viscounts. Until the French Revolution it belonged administratively to Poitou, while its church came under the diocese of Limoges. The castle was a centre of resistance to English forces during the Hundred Years' War. Its lords served the French crown: Viscount Jean fought at Crécy in 1346 and died at Poitiers ten years later. The castle was later restored in Renaissance style under Jean de Rochechouart-Ponville, and its decorated rooms reflected the family's status. A Protestant community also existed in the district; its numbers dwindled after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, though a clandestine synod still recorded adherents at Rochechouart in 1744.