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{{about|the French commune|the botanist|Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars|other uses}}
{{More footnotes|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name               = Thouars
|commune status     = [[Communes of France|Commune]]
|image              = Thouars - Hotel de Ville 02.jpg
|caption            = The town hall in Thouars
|image coat of arms = Armoiries Ville Thouars.png
|arrondissement     = Bressuire
|canton             = Thouars
|INSEE              = 79329
|postal code        = 79100
|mayor              = Bernard Paineau<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/en/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|website=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=9 August 2021|language=fr}}</ref>
|term               = 2020&ndash;2026
|intercommunality   = Thouarsais
|coordinates        = {{coord|46.9758|-0.2142|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m        = 100
|elevation min m    = 47
|elevation max m    = 117
|area km2           = 81.48
|population         = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date    = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes   = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
}}
'''Thouars''' ({{IPA|fr|twaʁ|pron}}) is a [[Communes of France|commune]] in the [[Deux-Sèvres]] [[Departments of France|department]] in western [[France]]. On 1 January 2019, the former communes [[Mauzé-Thouarsais]], [[Missé]] and [[Sainte-Radegonde, Deux-Sèvres|Sainte-Radegonde]] were merged into Thouars.<ref>[https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/arrete/2018/10/30/TERB1833247A/jo/texte Arrêté préfectoral] 30 October 2018 {{in lang|fr}}</ref>
It is on the [[Thouet|River Thouet]]. Its inhabitants are known as ''Thouarsais''. The [[Toarcian]] stage of the [[Jurassic]] takes its name from the town.
==History==
Although there is evidence of human habitation here 5,000 years ago, it is only in the seventh century that the town appears in the historical record. In the 760s, Thouars found itself in [[Aquitaine]], the most robust fortress in the entire region according to contemporary chroniclers. This was a violent decade as [[Waifer of Aquitaine|Duke Waïfre]], struggling to preserve the independence of Aquitaine, fought against the expansionist ambitions of the French King, [[Pepin the Short]].   In 762, accompanied by his son, the future [[Charlemagne]], appeared outside Thouars. He destroyed the [[Gallic Empire|Gallo-Roman]] town and torched the castle.
[[File:Blason famille fr Thouars.svg|100px|thumb|left|Arms of the Viscounts of Thouars]]
In the ninth century the first of a line of [[viscount]]s took charge of Thouars: he and his successors would control the fiefdom for more than five centuries until the end of the fourteenth century.  The earliest of these [[List of viscounts of Thouars|Viscounts of Thouars]] for whom information survives is Geoffrey I, known as the founder of the Thouars dynasty.   Located at the south of [[County of Anjou|Anjou]] and at the frontier with Aquitaine, the Viscountcy of Thouars became a rich fiefdom with a strategic location extending from [[Poitou|Upper Poitou]] all the way to the coast.
[[Aimery IV of Thouars]] was a [[Companions of William the Conqueror|companion of William the Conqueror]] as a commander in the [[Battle of Hastings]].
In [[Angers]] in 1199, [[Guy of Thouars]] married [[Constance of Brittany]] to become Duke of Brittany ''jure uxoris'', and after the death of Constance, Regent of Brittany for her daughter [[Alix of Thouars]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} In 1372 the English were expelled from the town by [[Bertrand du Guesclin]].<ref name="EB1911"/>
Thouars was the birthplace of the medieval general [[Louis de La Trémoille]], created duke by [[Charles IX of France|Charles IX]] in 1563.<ref name="EB1911"/> In 1619 his heir [[Henri de La Trémoille]] married [[Marie de la Tour d'Auvergne]], sister of [[Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne|Turenne]]. She razed the old gothic château-fort to build the present [[château]].
==Population==
{{Historical populations
|footnote=Populations of the area corresponding with the commune of Thouars at 1 January 2020.
|source = INSEE<ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-79329#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE</ref>
|percentages = pagr
|align = none
|graph-pos = right
|1968 |15139
|1975 |16063
|1982 |15935
|1990 |15657
|1999 |15498
|2007 |14797
|2012 |14385
|2017 |13990
}}
==Main sights==
*The [[Château des Ducs de La Trémoille|castle of the Dukes of La Trémoille]], designed by [[Jacques Lemercier]] and completed in  1635&ndash;1638. Its main façade is more than 110 m tall. After the Trémouilles were dispossessed during the [[French Revolution]], the château became a barracks and later a prison. It has been restored for its present use as a [[middle school]].
*Walls, with several historical towers (''Tour du Prince-de-Galles'', ''Tour Porte au Prévost'') dating from the 13th century; a bridge of the same period crosses the Thouet.<ref name="EB1911"/>
*Church of Saint-Laon (12th century), subsequently attached to an abbey, whose buildings later became a town hall.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Thouars|volume=26|page=883}}</ref> The church houses the tomb of [[Margaret Stewart, Dauphine of France|Margaret Stewart]], first wife of King [[Louis XI of France]].
*Church of St. Medard (15th century), in [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque style]]
*The [[Neo-Gothic]] Chapel of [[Joan of Arc]]
*[[Henri-Barré]] museum
==People==
Thouars was the birthplace of:
* [[Louis II de La Trémoille]] (1460–1525), general
* [[Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby]] (1599–1664)
* [[Prosper Depredomme]] (1918–1997), cyclist
* [[Jean-Hugues Anglade]] (born 1955), actor
Thouars is also the final resting place of:
* [[Margaret Stewart, Dauphine of France]] (1424–1445), daughter of [[James I of Scotland]].
==Twin towns==
Thouars is twinned with:
*{{flagicon|BEL}} [[Hannut]], Belgium
*{{flagicon|GAB}} [[Port-Gentil]], Gabon<ref>{{cite web|title=Annuaire des villes jumelées : Gabon | url=http://afccre.org/fr/nos-membres/annuaire-des-villes-jumelees#.Yphm1S8RqgQ|website=afccre.org, Réseau de près de 1000 collectivités territoriales françaises|access-date=2022-06-02|language=fr}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Diepholz]], Germany
*{{flagicon|POL}} [[Międzyrzec Podlaski]], Poland
*{{flagicon|GB}} [[Helensburgh]], Scotland, United Kingdom
==Climate==
{{Weather box|width=auto
|metric first=y
|single line=y
|collapsed = Y
|location =  Thouars (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1975–present)
|Jan record high C = 16.9
|Feb record high C = 22.3
|Mar record high C = 27.0
|Apr record high C = 31.3
|May record high C = 35.1
|Jun record high C = 41.2
|Jul record high C = 41.7
|Aug record high C = 43.0
|Sep record high C = 35.8
|Oct record high C = 31.3
|Nov record high C = 23.1
|Dec record high C = 19.4
|Jan record low C = -14.6
|Feb record low C = -12.6
|Mar record low C = -10.7
|Apr record low C = -3.8
|May record low C = 0.4
|Jun record low C = 2.5
|Jul record low C = 5.6
|Aug record low C = 5.1
|Sep record low C = 1.1
|Oct record low C = -4.6
|Nov record low C = -8.2
|Dec record low C = -11.2
|Jan high C = 8.9
|Feb high C = 10.4
|Mar high C = 14.3
|Apr high C = 17.5
|May high C = 21.4
|Jun high C = 25.2
|Jul high C = 27.5
|Aug high C = 27.5
|Sep high C = 23.7
|Oct high C = 18.2
|Nov high C = 12.7
|Dec high C = 9.4
| year high C = 18.1
|Jan mean C = 5.9
|Feb mean C = 6.5
|Mar mean C = 9.3
|Apr mean C = 11.8
|May mean C = 15.5
|Jun mean C = 19.0
|Jul mean C = 21.0
|Aug mean C = 21.0
|Sep mean C = 17.6
|Oct mean C = 13.7
|Nov mean C = 9.1
|Dec mean C = 6.3
| year mean C = 13.1
|Jan low C = 2.9
|Feb low C = 2.5
|Mar low C = 4.3
|Apr low C = 6.1
|May low C = 9.7
|Jun low C = 12.9
|Jul low C = 14.6
|Aug low C = 14.5
|Sep low C = 11.5
|Oct low C = 9.3
|Nov low C = 5.6
|Dec low C = 3.2
| year low C = 8.1
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 51.1
|Feb precipitation mm = 39.2
|Mar precipitation mm = 40.4
|Apr precipitation mm = 46.0
|May precipitation mm = 49.7
|Jun precipitation mm = 43.0
|Jul precipitation mm = 38.4
|Aug precipitation mm = 37.8
|Sep precipitation mm = 48.9
|Oct precipitation mm = 65.3
|Nov precipitation mm = 58.7
|Dec precipitation mm = 57.0
|year precipitation mm = 575.5
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 10.0
| Feb precipitation days = 8.4
| Mar precipitation days = 8.4
| Apr precipitation days = 8.8
| May precipitation days = 8.8
| Jun precipitation days = 7.1
| Jul precipitation days = 6.2
| Aug precipitation days = 6.2
| Sep precipitation days = 7.0
| Oct precipitation days = 9.9
| Nov precipitation days = 11.0
| Dec precipitation days = 10.9
| year precipitation days =102.7
|source 1 = Meteociel<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.meteociel.fr/obs/clim/normales_records.php?code=79329001
|title=Normales et records pour Thouars (79)
|publisher=Meteociel
|access-date=21 November 2024}}</ref>}}
==See also==
* The [[Toarcian]] Age of the [[Jurassic]] Period of geological time is named for Thouars
*[[Communes of the Deux-Sèvres department]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{wikivoyage|Thouars}}
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.thouars.fr/ Official town website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041229120410/http://hebergement.ac-poitiers.fr/c-ta-thouars/chateau.htm Château de Thouars]
{{Deux-Sèvres communes}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Communes of Deux-Sèvres]]
[[Category:Châteaux in Deux-Sèvres]]
[[Category:Poitou]]
[[Category:Toarcian| ]]