county · France and the Low Countries
Viscounty of Limoges
Origins
Viscounts appear at Limoges in the late 9th century as deputies of the counts of Poitou, who as dukes of Aquitaine claimed overlordship of the Limousin. The office became hereditary in a local family, which governed the city's castle quarter while the bishop and the abbey of Saint-Martial dominated the rest of the town.
Rule and society
The viscounts were middling lords caught between Aquitaine, the Plantagenet kings and the French crown, often clashing with their own townsmen and with English overlords; Richard the Lionheart died in 1199 besieging Châlus, a castle in the viscounty. Limoges itself was known for its enamel work and as a pilgrimage centre on the road to Compostela.
Decline and legacy
Through marriage the viscounty passed to the dukes of Brittany in 1275, then to the Blois-Penthièvre line and the house of Albret. It reached the Bourbons through Jeanne d'Albret, and when her son Henry IV became king in 1589 it was merged with the crown.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Viscounty of Limoges was a vassal of Duchy of Aquitaine893 CE – 1204 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Viscounty of Limoges. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/viscounty-of-limoges
- MLA
- “Viscounty of Limoges.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/viscounty-of-limoges. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Viscounty of Limoges.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/viscounty-of-limoges.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Viscounty of Limoges’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/viscounty-of-limoges (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻