Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/292

Rh 282 P I P K feet in height, begun in the 13th century. Most of the windows of the choir and the transepts preserve their stained glass of the 12th and 13th centuries; the end window, which is certainly the first in the order of time, contains the figures of Henry II. of England and Eleanor. The choir stalls, carved between 1235 and 1257, are the oldest in France. The church of St Jean (originally a baptistery) near the cathedral is the most ancient Christian monument in the country. The church of St Hilaire was erected at the close of the 4th century over the tomb of the celebrated bishop. At first an unpretending oratory, it was rebuilt on a larger scale by Clovis, and afterwards became, in the 10th, llth, and 12th centuries, a sumptuous collegiate church, of which the nave was flanked by triple aisles and surmounted by six cupolas. Great damage was done to it in the wars of religion and the French Revolu tion. The confessional or oratory under the choir contains the relics of St Hilary and a Christian sarcophagus of the 4th century. The church of St Baclegonde, a great resort of pilgrims, commemorates the consort of Hlothar I. (c. 550), and preserves in its crypt, not only the tomb of Radegonde, who founded at Poitiers the abbey of the Holy Cross, but those of St Agnes and St Disciola. The church is in the Angevin style; the choir is of the llth, and the nave of the 13th century. Notre Dame la Grande, which dates from the close of the llth century, and re presents a collegiate church one or two hundred years older, has a richly sculptured Romanesque facade. The first stone of the church of Moutierneuf (Monasterium Nwum) was laid in 1077 by William, duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitiers, who is buried within its walls ; and the choir (afterwards in the 13th century modified by the erection of a &quot; lantern &quot;) was solemnly consecrated by Urban II. in 1096. Mutilated about 1640 and during the Revolution, the building was partly restored between 1850 and 1860. The tower of St Porchaire, a precious remnant of 11th-century architecture, has been restored in the present generation under the auspices of the Anti- quaires de 1 Ouest and the French archaeological society. Other churches of interest are the Chapel of the Lycee, that of the Sisters of the St Croix, and the old church of the Jesuits. Among the secular buildings the first place belongs to the law courts, formerly the palace of the dukes of Aquitaine and counts of Poitiers, and rebuilt between the 12th and the 15th century. The Salle des Pas Perdus forms a fine nave 160 feet long by 56 feet wide, with a vaulted wooden roof. The southern wall is the work of Duke Jean de Berri, brother of Charles V. ; above its three vast fireplaces are mullioned windows filled with stained glass. The Maubergeon tower attached to the palace represented the feudal centre of all the lordships of the countship of Poitiers. The pre&quot;v6W or provost s mansion, now occupied by a communal school, has a fine fagade of the 15th century. In the new hotel de ville, erected between 1869 and 1876, are museums of archaeology, natural history, and painting. The museum of the Anti- quaires de 1 Ouest occupies the chapel and the great hall of the old university, now located in the old hotel de ville; it is a valuable collection comprising Roman antiquities, Merovingian sculptures, medals, a fine Renaissance fire place, &&. The building devoted to the faculties of law, science, and literature (of which the first dates from 1431) also contains the library (35,000 printed volumes and 300 MSS.). The municipal records are very rich in charters of Eleanor cf Aquitaine, Philip Augustus, Alphonse of Poitiers, &c. Convents and religious educational estab lishments are numerous in the town. The population of Poitiers in 1881 was 34,355. Poitiers, called Limonum at the time of the Roman conquest, then took the name of its Gallic founders the Pictones or Pictavi. and become one of the principal residences of their kings. Alaric, one of their number, was defeated by Clovis at Vouillenot far from Poitiers in 507. This was the first occasion on which the peoples of northern and southern Gaul met in conflict in the neighbour hood of the town which was destined to see them so frequently join battle. By his victory in 732 over the Mohammedans at Moussais-la-Bataille in this region, Charles Martel proved the saviour of Christendom. Under the C arlovingians, Poitiers was dependent on the crown and afterwards on the duchy of Aquitaine. Eleanor of Guienne, after her divorce from Louis VII., carried it to her new husband Henry Plantagenet. She frequently re sided in the city, which she embellished and fortified, and 11/1199 entrusted with communal rights. Philip Augustus, having confis cated the Continental territories of John of England, united Poitou to the French crown ; Louis VIII. made it an apanage for his son Alphonse of Poitiers, who afterwards became count of Toulouse. At a plenary court held in 1241 in the great hall of the palais de justice, Alphonse received the homage of his numerous vassals. After his death in 1271 Poitou reverted to the crown. But, King John having been defeated and made prisoner in the disastrous battle of Poitiers (fought 4 miles E. of the town on the hillside of Nouaille, 19th September 1356), Poitou was recognized as an English possession by the treaty of Bretigny (1300). Nine years later it was recovered by Duguesclin ; and it became in succession the apanage of Jean de Berri, brother of king Charles VI., and of the dauphin, afterwards Charles VII. It was at Poitiers that the latter was proclaimed king (1423) ; and he removed thither the parlement and university of Paris, which remained in exile till the English with drew from the capital in 1436. During this interval (1429) Joan of Arc was subjected to a formal inquest by the doctors of the uni versity. Calvin had numerous converts at Poitiers. Of the violent proceedings which attended the wars of religion the city had its share. In 1569 it was defended by Count du Lude against Coligny, who after an unsuccessful bombardment retired from the siege at the end of seven weeks. POITOU, one of the old provinces of France, which also formed one of the great military governments of the kingdom, was bounded N&quot;. by Brittany, Anjou, and Touraine ; S. by Angoumois and Aunis ; E. by Touraine, Berri, and Marche ; and &quot;VV. by the ocean. It was divided into Lower Poitou, which corresponded to the modern department of La Vendee, and Upper Poitou, now split into the departments of Deux-Sevres and Yienne. The principal towns in Upper Poitou were Poitiers the capital, Mirebeau, Chatellerault, Richelieu, Loudun, Thouars, Mauleon, Parthenay, Niort, etc. ; and in Lower Poitou Fontenai-le-Comte, Maillezais, LUC.OII, and Roche-sur-Yon. lie d Yeu or lle-Dieu and Noirmoutier belonged to the province. Ecclesiastically Poitou was distributed among the dioceses of Poitiers, Lugon, and La Rochelle ; for the administration of justice, it was attachdd to the parlement of Paris. Poitou (Poictou, Pictavia) takes its name from the Pictones or Pictavi, a Gallic nation mentioned by Ca?sar, Strabo, and Ptolemy, and described by Strabo as separated from the Namnetes on the north by the Loire. It formed part of the territory known as AQUITANIA (q.v.}. For the history see POITIERS. POKER, a game at cards, probably a development of ilfrusso (played in Italy in the 15th century) A similar but less simple game, called primiera, was also played in Italy in the 16th century, whence under the name of primero it travelled to Spain. La prime is mentioned by Rabelais (16th century) ; and later the game of prime elaborated was played in France under the name of Vambigu or le meslc. Prime was also played in Eng land in the 1 6th century ; and later a bastard kind of prime, called post and pair, was much played in the west of England. Gleek had some points of resemblance to these games. The more modern game of brag is only post and pair with variations. Poker (originally played in America) may be described as developed brag, though in some respects it &quot; throws back &quot; to the parent games post and pair, 1 ambigu, and primero.