Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Its name is originated from two rivers which cross it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher in its southern part. Its prefecture is Blois. The INSEE and La Poste gave it the number 41. It had a population of 329,470 in 2019. History The department of Loir-et-Cher covers a territory which had a substantial population during the prehistoric period. However it was not until the Middle Ages that local inhabitants built various castles and other fortifications to enable them to withstand a series of invasions of Normans, Burgundians, the English and others. The economy is quite flourishing: there are shops in the valley, and agriculture is prominent in the region of the Beauce and the Perche to the Sologne which were prosperous until the 17th century. However, politically, the region remained quartered between the neighboring earldoms and duchies. In 1397, the House of Orleans became the possession of the Comté of Blois. In 1497, Louis d’Orleans (23rd count hereditary of Blois) was crowned with the name of Louis XII. This marked the beginning of the importance of Blois and of the Blaisois in the politic life of the French, especially under the last Valois. During that period, kings and financiers competed to build castles and elegant abodes which now form an important part of the French national heritage. (Chambord, Blois, Cheverny and so on.) After that, there were religious wars which were extremely ferocious under Charles IX's reign. In 1576 and 1588, the General Estates convened in Blois. L’Orléanais, le Berry, la Touraine, le Perche et le Maine occupied le Loir-et-Cher and its provinces in 1790. The Loir-et-Cher's birth as a department was very difficult and laborious. On 29 September 1789, the constitution's advisory board made a report in which he wanted to attribute one of the 80 departments to Blois. However, some cities and canton capitals disagreed, such as Tours and Orleans. Inside of the department, Montrichard turns to Amboise and Tours, Saint-Aignan wants to turn to the Berry and Salbris to Vierzon. Finally, Orleans gave Blois an important part of the Sologne except Beaugency and Tours didn't give Amboise. The department was founded 4 March 1790, in accordance with the law of 22 December 1789. It is constituted of some old provinces of the Orleanais and of the Touraine along with a Berry's plot (left bank of the Selles en Berry's Cher which becomes Selles sur Cher, to Saint-Aignan). The department's constriction in its centre and the maximum stretching out in its surface area beyond the Loir on the North and the Cher on the South is due to these tribulations. After the victory of the Coalises during the Waterloo's battle (18 June 1815), the Prussian's troops occupied the department from June 1815 to November 1818. ( to learn more about it, go on to "France’s occupation at the end of the First Empire") The poet Pierre de Ronsard, the inventor