Vendée

Vendée, LA, a maritime dept. of western France, bounded on the W. by the Bay of Biscay, on the N. by Loire-Inferieure, and on the S. by Charente-Inferieure. Area, 2588 sq. m.; pop. (1886) 434,808; (1891) 442,355. The dept., which owes its name to a small affluent of the Charente, is traversed from east to west by a range of hills, called in the east the Plateau de Gatin, and in the west the Collines Nantaises, and is watered in the north by the affluents of the Loire, and in the south by the Lay and the affluents of the Charente. Of its three divisions the western is the Marais, occupied by salt marshes and lakes; the northern, the Bocage, covered with plantations; in the south and middle is the Plaine, an open and fertile tract. The coast-line, 93 miles in length, presents few deep indentations, the chief being the safe Bay of Aiguillon. There are three arrondissements—La Roche-sur-Yon, Fontenay-le-Comte, and Sables-d'Olonne. The capital is La Roche-sur-Yon.—For the obstinate resistance of the Vendéans to the Revolution, and the bloody vengeance of the Republic (1793, 1794-95, 1799, and 1815), see CATHELINEAU, LAROCHEJACQUELEIN, HOCHÉ, and CHOUANS.