Aquitaine (Occitan: Aquitània; Basque: Akitania), archaic Guyenne/Guienne (Occitan: Guiana), is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. In the Middle Ages it was a kingdom and later a duchy, with boundaries considerably larger than the modern ones. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, Lot et Garonne, Pyrenees Atlant...
more
Aquitaine (Occitan: Aquitània; Basque: Akitania), archaic Guyenne/Guienne (Occitan: Guiana), is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. In the Middle Ages it was a kingdom and later a duchy, with boundaries considerably larger than the modern ones. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, Lot et Garonne, Pyrenees Atlantiques, Landes and Gironde.
Apart from prehistoric peoples—largely in the Perigord—the earliest inhabitants of the southwest were Aquitanians, who were not proper Celtic people, but more akin to the Iberians. The Gauls maintained control of the southwest of France until conquered by the Romans in 52 B.C.E.
Under Roman rule, the province of Aquitania extended almost as far north as the River Loire, comprissing proper Gaul tribes and old Aquitanians (cf. Novempopulania and Gascony). The title “Duke of Aquitaine” was held by the counts of Poitiers...
less
