THOUARS  , a

town of western France, in the department of Deux-Sevres, on the right bank of the Thouet, 24 M . S. by W. of Saumur on the railway to Bordeaux . Pop . (1906), 5321 . A massive stronghold built in the first half of the 17th century by the La Tremoille family, and now used as a prison, stands on a rocky eminence overlooking the river, towards which it has a frontage of nearly 400 ft . The adjoining Sainte-Chapelle dating from the early years of the 16th century is in the Gothic style with Renaissance details, and was built by Gabrielle de Bourbon, wife of Louis II. of La Tremoille . The church of St Medard, rebuilt in the 15th century, preserves a doorway of a previous Romanesque building . That of St Laon (12th and 15th centuries) was formerly attached to an abbey, the buildings (17th century) of which serve as town-hall . It has a fine square tower in the Romanesque style and contains the sculptured tomb of the abbot Nicholas . Remains ofl'histoire ancienne et modern . ' 'His brother, MICHEL AUGUSTIN THOURET (1748-3810), a physician, was a keen opponent of the ideas of Mesmer and a promoter of vaccination in France . See F .

Aulard, Les Orateurs de l'assemblee constituante (2nd ed., Paris, 1905) ; E . Carette and A . Sanson, Thouret . . . se vie, ses muvres (1890) .