PERIGORD  , one of the old provinces of

France, formed part of the military government of Guienne and Gascony, and was bounded on the N. by Angoumois, on the E. by Limousin and Quercy, on the S. by Agenais and Bazadais, and on the W. by Bordelais and Saintonge . It is now represented by the departments of Dordogne and part of Lot-et-Garonne . Perigord was in two divisions: Perigord blanc (cap . Perigueux) and Perigord noir (cap . Sarlat) . In the time of Caesar it formed the civitas Petrocoriorum, with Vesunna (Perigueux) as its capital . It became later part of Aquitania secunda and formed the pages petragoricus, afterwards the diocese of Perigueux . Since the 8th century it had its own counts (see the Histoire genealogique of P . Anselme, tome iii.), who were feudatories of the dukes of Aquitaine and in the 13th century were the vassals of the king of England . In the 15th century the county passed into the hands of the dukes of Orleans, and in the 16th came to the family of d'Albret, becoming Crown land again on the accession of Henry IV . See Dessalles, Histoire du Perigord (1888), the Bulletin of the Societe historique et archeologique du Perigord (1874 seq.), l'Inventaire sommaire de la " Collection de Perigord " in the Bibliotheque nationale (1874) ; the Dictionnaire topographique du departement de la Dordogne by the Vicomte de Gourgues (1873) .