La Tremblade 2.15

La Tremblade is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in south-western France.ToponymyThe name of the town probably derives from the presence of aspen trees (French: tremblers) in the forests of the region during the Middle AgesEnvironmentPerfumed by the smell of resin, the forest is in spring all fragrant with the scent of broom and gorse whose bright yellow form with green trees a symphony of colors. What a charming hiking, tasting long solitary walks than winning Ronce-les-Bains by La Coubre forest, Louis Desgraves, Saintonge.La Tremblade consists of 78% forest and semi-natural areas (forest of La Coubre essentially), with the rest of the territory being divided between wetlands (9%), agricultural land (6%) and artificialized (6%).A bastion of ProtestantismIn the sixteenth century, Protestantism took hold in the provinces of Aunis and Saintonge. Men like Philibert Hamelin (founder of the Reformed Churches in the municipalities of Arvert and Oléron) organised the nascent communities.The authorities reacted inconsistently. There were periods of relative tolerance and successive waves of persecution. Philibert Hamelin was arrested in 1557, strangled and burned. During the religious wars, terror changed sides and Catholics came under attack. The monasteries of La Garde and the Crown were ransacked, the monks dispersed and monastic lands leased. These fratricidal wars ended with the enactment of the Edict of Nantes. After the series of conflicts, village populations were almost entirely Protestant.