Aquitaine 53Further reading:Anton Pegis, ed., Basic Writings of
Saint Thomas Aquinas,2 vols. (New York: Random House,
1945); Norman Kretzmann and Eleanor Stump, eds., The
Cambridge Companion to Aquinas(Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1993); James A. Weisheipl, Friar
Thomas D’Aquino: His Life, Thought, and Work (with Corri-
genda and Addenda)(Washington, D.C.: Catholic Univer-
sity of America Press, 1983).
Aquitaine(Gascony)The name AQUITAINE refers to
the Aquitanian Basin in the southwest of France. The
first known mention of Aquitaine is that by Julius
Caesar, for whom Aquitaine was a region that extended
from the Garonne River to the Pyrenees Mountains.
From 418 to 507, the Visigothic kingdom of Aquitaine
included all or part of Aquitaine as well as the present
LANGUEDOC. After CLOVIS’S victory over Alaric II
(r. 484–507) in 507, the descendants of the king of the
FRANKSparcelled out Aquitaine on several occasions.
On CHARLEMAGNE’S return from SPAIN, the future
emperor created the kingdom of Aquitaine, which he
entrusted to his son, LOUIS the Pious, in about 781.
When Louis became emperor in 814, he was succeeded
in the kingdom by his younger son, PÉPIN(817–838).
CHARLESthe Bald recognized his sons, Charles in 855
and Louis II the Stammerer in 867, as kings of
Aquitaine.
In the late ninth century, powerful lordships
appeared, including the counts of Auvergne, TOULOUSE,
and Poitiers. William I the Pious (r. 898–918), a son of
Bernard Plantevelue or Hairyfoot Duke of Aquitaine,
soon founded the abbey of CLUNYin 911. A crisis of suc-
cession, which started in 1032, ended in the union of the
duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony, under the dynasty of
the house of Poitiers.The Church Militant and Triumphant, with Thomas Aquinas and Heretics,a fresco by Andrea di Bonaiuto (14th century) in the
Spanish Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence (Scala / Art Resource)