Although there is evidence of human habitation here 5,000 years ago, it is only in the seventh century that the town appears in the historical record. In the 760s, Thouars found itself in
Aquitaine, the most robust fortress in the entire region according to contemporary chroniclers. This was a violent decade as
Duke Waïfre, struggling to preserve the independence of Aquitaine, fought against the expansionist ambitions of the French King,
Pepin the Short. In 762, accompanied by his son, the future
Charlemagne, appeared outside Thouars. He destroyed the
Gallo-Roman town and torched the castle. In the ninth century the first of a line of
viscounts took charge of Thouars: he and his successors would control the fiefdom for more than five centuries until the end of the fourteenth century. The earliest of these
Viscounts of Thouars for whom information survives is Geoffrey I, known as the founder of the Thouars dynasty. Located at the south of
Anjou and at the frontier with Aquitaine, the Viscountcy of Thouars became a rich fiefdom with a strategic location extending from
Upper Poitou all the way to the coast.
Aimery IV of Thouars was a
companion of William the Conqueror as a commander in the
Battle of Hastings. In
Angers in 1199,
Guy of Thouars married
Constance of Brittany to become Duke of Brittany
jure uxoris, and after the death of Constance, Regent of Brittany for her daughter
Alix of Thouars. In 1372 the English were expelled from the town by
Bertrand du Guesclin. Thouars was the birthplace of the medieval general
Louis de La Trémoille, created duke by
Charles IX in 1563. In 1619 his heir
Henri de La Trémoille married
Marie de la Tour d'Auvergne, sister of
Turenne. She razed the old gothic château-fort to build the present
château. ==Population==