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Description

An early manuscript map showing the Viscounty of Limoges

16th Century Map of the southern part of Limousin, drawn in an early hand.

The map is oriented with south at the top and extends from Limoges on the Vienne River to the towns of Tulle and Brive-la-Gaillarde, tracing the valley between the Perigord-Limosin Natural Park and the Milevaches en Limousin National Park.

We estimate the date of the map based upon opinions on the handwriting as being from the late 16th Century.  We offer a second map in the same early hand for the area near Venaissin here: https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/60728

Limousin and The Viscounty of Limoges

From the 12th to the 15th century, Limousin was one of the areas disputed between the English and the French. The marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to the future Henry II of England (1152) brought suzerainty over Limousin to the English, but Philip II Augustus recovered the province in the early 13th century.

During the course of the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453), Limousin was ceded to the English by the Treaty of Calais (1360) and reconquered by the French king Charles V from 1370 to 1374. After further disruptions during the war, Limousin remained under the suzerainty of the French kings. Royal control became direct when the viscounty of Limoges was added to the domain (1607) and when Turenne was purchased in 1738.

The Viscounty of Limoges, nominally part of Limousin, was de facto an independent feudal state. In 1275, Mary of Combron, daughter of the last Viscount, married the heir of Brittany, later Duke Arthur II. In the 15th century, Limousin was owned by the Albret family, and was therefore incorporated to the royal domain by Henry IV, son of Joan of Albret, in 1589.

Between Limoges, Brive and Périgueux, the viscounts of Limoges, also called viscounts of Ségur created a small principality, whose last heir was Henry IV. Ségur was the main home of these viscounts, in the heart of their domain. The viscounty went from the Limoges-Ségur family into the hands of the Brittany one, then to Albret's and eventually to Bourbons'.

Their territory included the castles of Ségur, Excideuil, Aixe-su-Vienne, Auberoche and Nontron. From time to time the Segur name has been in the Royal line whether in France or England. Clearly there has always been a set of Monarchs or even three monarchs especially in England and at least a second set of a Queen or King in France bearing the Segur name or not.