ORLEANAIS  , one of the provinces into which

France was divided before the Revolution . It was the country around Orleans, the pagus Aurelianensis; it lay on both banks of the Loire, and for ecclesiastical purposes formed the diocese of Orleans . It was in the possession of the Capet family before the advent of Hugh Capet to the throne of France in 987, and in 1344 Philip VI. gave it with the title of duke to Philip (d . 1375), one of his younger sons . In a geographical sense the region around Orleans is sometimes known as Orleanais, but this is somewhat smaller than the former province . See A . Thomas, Les bats provinciaux de la France centrale (1879) .