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Montignac-Charente (Municipality, Charente, France)

Flag of Montignac-Charente - Image by Ivan Sache, 8 March 2010

Presentation of Montignac-Charente
Flag of Montignac-Charente

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Presentation of Montignac-Charente

The municipality of Montignac-Charente (763 inhabitants in 2007; 863 ha) is located on the river Charente, 20 km north of Angoulême.
Montignac was mentioned for the first time in 1212 as Montiniacum, Montinius' Estate. The village developed around a feudal castle built in the 12th-13th centuries, of which only the 12-m high donjon built by Count of Angoulême Vulgrain II has been preserved.

Ivan Sache, 8 March 2010

Flag of Montignac-Charente

The flag of Montignac-Charente, as shown hoisted over the donjon on a photo in the Guide Charente edited by Didier Piganeau (Fanlac, 1995), is white with the municipal arms.

The arms of Montignac-Charente (image and blazon) are made of three shields:
1. Losangé d'or et de gueules ("Lozengy or and gules"), the shield surmounted by a Count's coronet;
2. Burelé d'argent et d'azur de 10 pièces, à trois chevrons de gueules brochant sur le tout, le premier écimé ("Barry of ten argent and azur three chevrons that in chief couped gules"), the shield surmounted by a Baron's coronet;
3. Burelé d'argent et d'azur ("Barry of ten argent and azure"), the shield surmounted by a Count's coronet.
The whole is surmounted by a mural crown and surmounts a blue scroll charged with "C'est mon plaisir" (It is my pleasure).

These arms represent the three main feudal lords of Montignac-Charente:
1. Taillefer. Count of Angoulême William IV Taillefer seized in 1028 the castle from the Viscount of Marcillac and got his fief confirmed by the Bishop of Angoulême, with permission to increase the castle. These arms are those assigned to the Province of Angoumois.
2. De la Rochefoucauld, who purchased on 13 January 1399 the domain from the Lusignan and kept it, erected a Barony in the 15th century, until the French Revolution. These arms are currently used by the municipality of La Rochefoucauld, the lineage's cradle.
3. Lusignan, who were transferred the domain in the 13th century. In spite of similar arms, the La Rochefoucauld and the Lusignan lineages are not related. The motto "C'est mon plaisir" belongs to the Lusignan.

Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 8 March 2010