former province of France, nearly corresponding to the modern département of Charente, that represented the possessions of the counts of Angoulême from the 10th to the 12th century. Long part of Aquitaine, it was recovered by France from the English in 1373. Henry IV subordinated it to the gouvernement of Orléanais, and under Louis XIV it was made part of a joint gouvernement of Saintonge and Angoumois.