Saint-wolf-Lamairé

Saint-Wolf-Lamairé is a common French, located in the department of the Two-Sevres and the area Poitou-Charentes.

Demography

Geography

Situation

the town of Saint-Wolf is located at the North-East of Two-Sevres, the confluence of Thouet and Cébron, lain between Gâtine with the west, the Scrap-metal in the North-West and the plains of Thouarsais in the east. Moreover, the inhabitants - Lupéens - regard themselves neither as the ones, nor like the others, in spite of the short distance which separates these three different reliefs. Actually, the city is built directly on a primary education old base used by erosion, composed of hard stones, granite and granulite. One thus finds with Saint-Wolf several types of rocks which depend on the erosion of the granite. For example, the least resistant parts form sandy rock while the granite broken up by iron oxide is transformed into friable rock of reddish color, that one finds in certain old mortars. However, in fact the argilo-silicieuses grounds of tertiary origin dominate the commune.
the city is established with approximately seventy kilometers of Poitiers, to about thirty kilometers of Thouars and Bressuire, and with a score of kilometers of Parthenay, main ground of Gâtine.

Saint-wolf is surrounded by two rivers, Thouet and Cébron, whose confluence is located almost in the middle of the city. The two rivers occur on the heights of Gâtine where water abounds in mass, at an average altitude of 200 meters.

(Text written for Wikipedia by Mathieu Chartier -- Carter79 October 24th, 2007 with 11:54 (CEST))

Advantages and constraints of the site

Saint-Wolf falls under a content of valley surrounded by hills. The downtown area is at an average altitude of 74 meters to the top of the sea while the small hills which include the city spread out between 110 and 140 meters on average, the culminating point being with 162 meters of altitude.
With regard to the rivers, the Thouet is not navigable but could be used to make function mills. It forms an outer loop starting from Saint-Wolf, whose left bank is dominated by wooded hills and whose Right Bank is rather plane and alluvial, with the direct contact with the city. Is added to this river its affluent on its left bank, the Cébron, born him also in the Gâtine. These two rivers brought their advantages but also their constraints to the site of Saint-Wolf. Indeed, the latter made it possible to obtain two considerable natural barriers to defend the city during the Moyen-âge. They moreover brought a certain fertility to the surrounding grounds, thus facilitating the daily life of the inhabitants. But n the other hand, the proximity and the low altitude of Thouet, comparison with that of Cébron, had to cause many floods during the centuries. Admittedly the stopping of Cébron controlled these risings considerably, but there did not exist with the Middle Ages and it is thus necessary to wonder which was the impact of strong precipitations and the overflows with Saint-Wolf during all this period. Parts of the city had certainly to undergo several phases of rebuildings.
the accesses to the city are rather not very consequent. In north, one can join Louin, Airvault and Thouars, and thus Poitiers; in the south, one can reach Chillou, Gourgé, and by this same axis Parthenay; In the east and the west, one can respectively go in small boroughs such as Assais-the-Twins and Amailloux. It was thus necessary to pass by certainly secondary roads to join Saint-Wolf, this conferred a certain peace to him but probably did not allow him to make important great strides during the Middle Ages.

(Text written for Wikipedia by Mathieu Chartier -- Carter79 October 24th, 2007 with 11:54 (CEST))

History and Archeology

Etymology

Few studies were carried out in connection with Saint-Wolf, in particular in connection with the etymology. Only Bélisaire Ledain, in its " Topographic dictionary of Deux-Sèvres" , the result of its research brought. Only, these last appeared incomplete and the contribution of additional sources at the time of my study made it possible to restore the list of terms used since the origin of the city.
First of all, it is necessary to know that Saint-Wolf knew two radically different names, certain late mentions feel some. Indeed, Saint-Wolf determines the city while the Stronghold-Franc is a unit including/understanding Saint-Wolf and two small surrounding boroughs, Chillou and Louin. It is thus necessary to be interested in these two writings for better including/understanding the history of the city, I thus separately will study the etymology of these two names.

the first mention written of Saint-Wolf comes from the Charter of reform of the abbey of Airvault by the bishop of Poitiers Pierre II, in 1095-1096. The following Latin terms there are found: “Ecclesie Sancti Lupi and Sancti Pancratii”. The second mention brought by the searchs for Bélisaire Ledain do not give precise dating; indeed, it is satisfied to bring back “sanctus Lupus” of XIIè century. It found a form of 1356 then, speaking about a “Chaplaincy of Saint-Wolf”, the same writing still finding itself in 1376 but also in 1391. It will change in 1422 since one finds the form “Saint-Lou”. The end of the Moyen-âge makes it possible as for it to obtain a more consequent number of written mentions. Indeed, one finds successively the mentions of “Sainct-Wolf” in 1461, the “castle of Saint-Wolf” in 1463, of the “lord of Saint-Lou” in January 1476, “Lou Saint in Poictou” in January 1479, of “Sainct-Wolf” in December 1480, and finally of “Sainct-Lou” in May 1482. All the other forms come then from the modern Time. One finds successively the mentions of “Saint-Wolf” in 1569, “Saint-Lou” in 1598, of the “Priory-Cure of Notre-Dame of Saint-Wolf” in 1648, then of a “hospital founded in 1710 per Jacques de Boyer of the boissière”. Last mention of this period being that of “Saint-Wolf-in-Poitou” in 1761. With regard to the forms of the contemporary Time, one finds regularly “Saint-Wolf-on-Thouet” and more recently “Saint-Wolf-Lamairé”, the commune of Lamairé having been annexed a few years ago.

With regard to the Stronghold-Franc, one finds first of all the terms “Francum feodum” in 1258. It is the first form known to date, the second mention being “Feodum francum” of 1263 according to a text of the abbot Vincent d' Airvault. One obtains from them only three other later mentions: “Saint-Wolf the trust-franc” in 1413, “the stronghold-franc of Saint-Wolf” in 1424 and “Stronghold-Franc and Saint-Wolf” in 1447. I did not find any other mention of the Stronghold-Franc then, the variable terms around Saint-Wolf taking again the top.

(Text written for Wikipedia by Mathieu Chartier -- Carter79 October 24th, 2007 with 11:54 (CEST))

Places and monuments

Castle of Saint-Wolf-on-Thouet. ;
Notre-Dame Church of the Assumption and her imposing retable;
old Houses.

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