POITIERS 



POKER-WORK 



and an old one; the former, on 

 the Place d'Armes, is in the French 

 Renaissance style and was finished 

 in 1876. In it is a museum and 

 picture gallery, and the city has 

 other museums. The palais de 

 justice embodies some parts of 

 the castle of the counts of Poitou. 

 Its finest apartment is the guard- 

 room built early in the 15th 

 century by the duke of Berry. 

 The university, founded in 1432, 

 occupies the building originally 

 the Hotel Dieu ; it has a valuable 

 library. The Hotel Berthelot is one 

 of several fine old houses. The 

 Lycee was once a Jesuit college. 

 The Pont Neuf is an 18th century 

 bridge ; the Pont Joubert dates in 

 part from the 12th. There is a 

 botanic garden, and the Pare de 

 Blossac is a public recreation 

 ground. The Roman remains in- 

 clude those of an amphitheatre and 

 baths. Poitiers has some manu- 

 factures and a trade in agricul- 

 tural produce. It has a service of 

 steam and electric tramways. 



Poitiers is named after the 

 Gallic tribe of the Pictones. It was 

 a Roman station and afterwards a 

 stronghold of the Visigoths before 

 passing to the Franks about 500. 

 The bishopric was founded by S. 

 Hilary about 350. It was the 

 residence of the counts of Poitou 

 and their successors the dukes of 

 Aquitaine, and as such came to 

 the heiress of the duke, Eleanor, 

 the wife of the English king, 

 Henry II, who gave municipal 

 rights to the inhabitants. In 1432 

 Charles VII was crowned here. 

 Pop. 41,000. 



Several battles have been fought 

 near Poitiers. In 507 the Visigoths 

 were defeated near here by the 

 Frankish king, Clovis. The great 

 battle of Oct., 732, between the 

 invading host of Mahomedans 

 and a Christian army under Charles 

 Martel is sometimes called the 

 battle of Poitiers. Resulting in the 

 rout of the invaders, it put a 

 definite stop to the advance of the 

 Moslems into western Europe. 

 See Poitou. 



Poitiers, BATTLE OF. English 

 victory over the French during the 

 Hundred Years' War, Sept. 19, 

 1356. Edward, the Black Prince, in 

 command of some 8,000 men, was 

 marching up from Guienne, where 

 he had landed the previous year, 

 when, near Poitiers, he found his 

 way barred by a French army of 

 15,000 under King John. Attempts 

 at peace having failed, the battle 

 opened with a French attack made 

 with the dismounted knights of one 

 of the four divisions into which the 

 army was divided. The English 

 archers, skilfully placed behind 

 hedges, met them with a flight of 



arrows, and they failed utterly. The 

 next assault made more impres- 

 sion, but these knights, too, had to 

 give way after a stout exchange of 

 blows. The third division there- 

 upon fled from the field, but the 

 fourth, under the king himself, ad- 

 vanced, and the English were hard 

 pressed. The Black Prince, how- 

 ever, sent a small body to the rear 

 of this force, and this move de- 

 cided the day. The French 

 knights fought to the last, but by 

 night the army was routed. John, 

 his son Philip, and some 2,000 

 knights were made prisoners, 

 while about 3,000 were killed. The 

 English losses were slight, but no 

 certain figures are known. 



The actual site of the battle is 

 said to be some six m. S.E. of 

 Poitiers, at a place called Mauper- 

 tuis. It is described by the English 

 chronicler, Geoffrey le Baker, and 

 by Froissart. See Art of War in the 

 Middle Ages, C. Oman, 1898. 



Poitou. Prov. of France before 

 the Revolution. It lay between 

 the Loire and the Garonne, around 

 Poitiers, its capital. From the 

 9th century it was ruled by the 

 counts of Poitiers, who later be- 

 came dukes of Aquitaine (q.v.), of 

 which it formed part. It was di- 

 vided into lower and upper Poitou. 

 Apart from Poitiers its chief towns 

 were Mirebeau, Loudun, Niort, 

 Luon, Maillezais, Thouars, and 

 Roche-sur-Yon. Since the Revolu- 

 tion it has been divided into the de- 

 partments of Vendee, Deux Sevres, 

 and Vienne, stretching also into 

 Charente and Charente Inferieure. 



Poivre Hill. Hill of France, in 

 the dept. of Meuse. Officially 

 known as La Cote du Poivre, it is 

 1,120 ft. in height and is situated 

 on the right bank of the Meuse, 3 

 m. N. of Verdnn. It figured pro- 

 minently hi the German attacks on 

 Verdun, Feb., 1916. See Verdun, 

 Battles of. 



Poker (Gael, puc, to push ). Iron 

 rod used for poking or stirring a 

 fire. A poke bonnet is one with a 

 projecting or poking front. Such 

 were worn in the early part of the 

 19th century. The word poke also 

 means a bag, as in the phrase a pig 

 in a poke. 



Poker. Card game. Various 

 sources of origin have been claimed 

 for it, the most authentic being 

 that a species of poker played with 

 20 cards made its appearance in 

 America on the Mississippi steam- 

 boats about 1830 ; this was after- 

 wards superseded in 1860 by the 

 now more prevalent draw-poker. 



A full pack of cards is used (gen- 

 erally including the joker, which 

 may 'stand for any card the holder 

 chooses), bearing their usual face 

 value, except that the ace may 



count either as the highest or 

 lowest. Five players make the best 

 number. The dealer shuffles and 

 makes up the pack, which is cut by 

 the player on his right ; he then 

 deals five cards, one at a time, to 

 each person. Every player is for 

 himself, and the object of the game 

 is to hold the best hand ; the differ- 

 ent hands ranking in this order : 

 1. A sequence flush : a sequence of 

 five cards all of the same suit. 2. 

 Fours : four cards of the same de- 

 nomination. 3. A full : a hand con- 

 sisting of three and two cards of the 

 same denominations. 4. A flush : 

 five cards of the same suit. 5. A 

 sequence or straight : five cards of 

 different suits, but all in sequence. 

 6. Threes : three cards of the same 

 denomination. 7. Two pairs. 8. 

 One pair. 9. Highest card. 



If two players should each hold 

 a sequence or pair, the one having 

 the highest cards would win ; a 

 sequence of jack, ten, nine, eight, 

 and seven beating one beginning 

 with a nine ; and a pair of queens 

 would beat a pair of jacks. 



Before the deal is completed the 

 player at the dealer's left, who is 

 styled the age, puts up half the 

 stake he is willing to risk, called the 

 blind. The next player looks at his 

 cards, and if he considers them good 

 enough to come in, doubles the 

 blind ; otherwise he throws down 

 his cards and goes out. This con- 

 tinues with the other players until 

 it comes to the turn of the age, 

 who must either double his blind 

 and play, or drop out and lose the 

 amount of his blind. 



Any player who has staked his 

 money and has remained in the 

 game is entitled to ask for one to 

 five cards more to replace any of 

 his original hand. The betting now 

 starts, each player going above 

 the other according to the strength 

 of his hand ; continuing until only 

 two are left in, when one of them 

 either gives way, in which event 

 the cards are thrown in ; or one 

 player pays to see the other, the 

 two hands being laid upon the 

 table, the holder of the highest 

 cards taking the pool. See Practical 

 Poker, with a bibliography, R. F. 

 Foster, 1904. 



Poker-Work. Simple method 

 of artistic decoration. Formerly a 

 red-hot poker with a sharp point 

 was used, and the design, after 

 being drawn on wood, was burnt 

 in, but a special apparatus is now 

 hi use, consisting of a lamp, with a 

 tube and hand bellows, and a metal 

 point, which is held in the flame 

 until heated. Cedar, chestnut, pear, 

 elm, and other woods are chosen, 

 and leather, velvet, and other 

 materials can be decorated with 

 charming effect. See Pyrography. 



