Aunis, within what is now the Charente-Maritime department, was a "pays" erected into a historical province, the smallest of France, in 1374; it was a fief of the Duchy of Aquitaine, brought to the English monarchy by Eleanor of Aquitaine. In Aunis the grape may have once been grown, but is currently not widely planted. However, wine writer Oz Clarke believes that the grape was named after a priory known as "Aunis" that existed outside of the commune of Saumur during the Middle Ages. Today what is left of the Aunis priory belongs to the Fontevraud Abbey in Chinon.