La Tourasse d'Aiguillon est un édifice gallo-romain imposant situé à Aiguillon, en Lot-et-Garonne. Ce monument cylindrique, en forme de tour pleine de cinq mètres de haut est largement tronqué ; il est parementé en petit appareil de moellons calcaires. Il est érigé à proximité d'une nécropole gallo-romaine et à proximité du croisement des deux voies romaines d'Agen à Bordeaux, d'une part, et de Sos à Excisum, d'autre part.
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Aiguillon is a railway station in Aiguillon, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. The station is located on the Bordeaux–Sète railway. The station is served by TER services operated by SNCF.
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The canton of Le Confluent is an administrative division of the Lot-et-Garonne department, southwestern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Aiguillon.
It consists of the following communes:
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Aiguillon is a commune and bastide town of the Lot-et-Garonne department in southwestern France. It lies near the confluence of the rivers Lot and Garonne and not far from the confluence of the Baïse and the Garonne between Agen and Tonneins. Aiguillon station has rail connections to Agen, Langon and Bordeaux.
The organist and composer Marc de Ranse was born in Aiguillon.
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The siege of Aiguillon, an episode in the Hundred Years' War, began on 1 April 1346 when a French army commanded by John, Duke of Normandy, laid siege to the Gascon town of Aiguillon. The town was defended by an Anglo-Gascon army under Ralph, Earl of Stafford.
In 1345 Henry, Earl of Lancaster, was sent to Gascony in south-west France with 2,000 men and large financial resources. In 1346 the French focused their effort on the south west and, early in the campaigning season, an army of 15,000–20,000 men marched down the valley of the Garonne. Aiguillon commands both the Rivers Garonne and Lot, and it was not possible to sustain an offensive further into Gascony unless the town was taken. Duke John, the son and heir apparent of Philip VI, laid siege to the town. The garrison, some 900 men, sortied repeatedly to interrupt the French operations, while Lancaster concentrated the main Anglo-Gascon force at La Réole, some 30 miles away, as a threat. Duke John was never able to fully blockade the town, and found that his own supply lines were seriously harassed. On one occasion Lancaster used his main force to escort a large supply train into the town.
In July the main English army landed in northern France and moved towards Paris. Philip VI repeatedly ordered his son, Duke John, to break off the siege and bring his army north. Duke John, considering it a matter of honour, refused. By August, the French supply system had broken down, there was a dysentery epidemic in their camp, desertion was rife and Philip VI's orders were becoming imperious. On 20 August the French abandoned the siege and their camp and marched away. Six days later the main French army was decisively beaten in the Battle of Crécy with very heavy losses. Two weeks after this defeat, Duke John's army joined the French survivors.
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The Baïse is a 188-kilometre long river in south-western France, left tributary of the Garonne. Its source is in the foothills of the Pyrenees, near Lannemezan. It flows north through the following départements and towns:
Hautes-Pyrénées: Lannemezan, Trie-sur-Baïse
Gers: Mirande, Castéra-Verduzan, Valence-sur-Baïse, Condom
Lot-et-Garonne: Nérac, Lavardac
It flows into the Garonne near Aiguillon.
On n'a pas de certitude à ce jour sur la finalité à l'origine de son érection : funéraire ? militaire ? prestige ? La Tourasse fait l'objet d'un classement sur la première liste des monuments historiques français établie en 1840.
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