And in 719, the Pyrenees were crossed by the Muslim armies, who got as far as Poitiers before being stopped by the army of Charles Martel in 732. Under the Carolingians and Charlemagne, a more closely united Aquitaine began to take shape.
Saint-Front Cathedral, Perigueux, DordogneThe period also saw the emergence of the Catholic Church from the 4th century onwards, and many of those born in Aquitaine at the time will have taken part in building bishops’ palaces, monasteries and abbeys. Places of worship such as churches and basilicas were also constructed for the people: Saint Front in Périgueux, Saint Pierre and Sainte Eulalie in Bordeaux. This development continued with the construction of a series of routes pointing pilgrims along their way to Compostella.
In the 10th and 11th centuries, the region was divided once again, this time between the Duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony, before being reunited within a vast, single State forming the dowry of Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, newly divorced from King Louis VII of France. She went on to marry Henry II Plantagenet, future King of England, in 1152.