1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Périgord

PÉRIGORD, one of the old provinces of France, formed part of the military government of Guienne and Gascony, and was bounded on the N. by Angoumois, on the E. by Limousin and Quercy, on the S. by Agenais and Bazadais, and on the W. by Bordelais and Saintonge. It is now represented by the departments of Dordogne and part of Lot-et-Gaionne. Périgord was in two divisions: Périgord blanc (cap. Périgueux) and Périgord noir (cap. Sarlat). In the time of Caesar it formed the civitas Petracoriorum, with Vesunna (Périgueux) as its capital. It became later part of Aquitania secunda and formed the pagus petragoricus, alter wards the diocese of Périgueux. Since the 8th century it had its own counts (see the Histoire généalogique of P. Anselme, tome iii), who were feudatories of the dukes of Aquitaine and in the 13th century were the vassals of the king of England. In the 15th century the county passed into the hands of the dukes of Orleans, and in the 16th came to the family of d’Albret, becoming Crown land again on the accession of Henry IV.

See Dessalles, Histoire du Périgord (1888), the Bulletin of the Societé historique et archéologique du Périgord (1874 seq.), l’Inventaire sommaire de la “Collection de Périgord ” in the Bibliothèque nationale (1874); the Dictionnaire topographique du département de la Dordogne by the Vicomte de Gourgues (1873).