page_title: Angers
section_title: Renaissance
hierarchical_section_title: Angers / History / Renaissance
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Logis Barrault, actuel musée des beaux-arts - Angers (Maine-et-Loire)
context_page_description: Angers is a city in western France, about 300 km southwest of Paris. It is chef-lieu of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the province are called Angevins. Not including the metropolitan area, Angers is the third most populous commune in northwestern France after Nantes and Rennes and the 18th in France.
  For centuries, Angers was an important stronghold in northwestern France. It was the cradle of the Plantagenet dynasty and became one of the intellectual centers of Europe during the reign of René of Anjou. Angers developed at the confluence of three rivers, the Mayenne, the Sarthe, and the Loir, all coming from the north and flowing south to the Loire. Their confluence, just north of Angers, creates the Maine, a short but wide river that flows into the Loire several kilometres south. The Angers metropolitan area is a major economic centre in western France, particularly active in industry, horticulture, and tourism.
  Angers proper covers 42.70 square kilometers and has a population of 152,960 inhabitants, while around 422,700 live in its metropolitan area.
context_section_description: King René of Anjou contributed to the economic revival in a city that had been diminished by the Black Death (1347–1350) and the Hundred Years War (1337–1453). A man of great culture and generosity, René transformed Angers into a cultural and political center and held court there. He transformed the castle moat into a menagerie and built several gardens. He also founded in Angers a new Ordre du Croissant which was supposed to compete with the Order of the Golden Fleece, created several years earlier.
  In 1474, Louis XI of France, in his attempt to conquer Anjou, came to Angers with his army, asking for the keys of the city. René, then 65 years old, did not want to lead a war against his nephew and surrendered his domains without a fight. Thus, Anjou ceased to be an appanage and fell into the Royal domain. After his death, René was buried in 1480 in Saint-Maurice cathedral.
  In 1551, Angers became the seat of a bailiwick and the présidial of a jurisdiction, a position the city kept until 1790. At the same time, with the growth of Protestantism in France, a Catholic was placed at the head of the city and its castle while the bourgeoisie formed a Catholic militia to protect Angers from the Huguenots. The bishop, Gabriel Bouvery, organized on his side an "Angevin League".
  When the news of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre reached Angers, another massacre took place in the city. The bodies of slain Protestants were thrown into the Mayenne. It was the aldermen who stopped the slaughter.
  In 1598, the Edict of Nantes was prepared by Henri IV in Angers. From 6 March until 2 April, Angers was the de facto capital of France and the King tried all means to satisfy the Catholics of the city, for example by laying the cornerstone of the new Capucine convent.
caption: The Logis Barrault, where the Edict of Nantes was prepared
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