Marmande, in the Lot et Garonne region of south-west France, was founded in 1182 by Richard the Lionheart, then Duke of Aquitaine and future King of England. For the next five centuries, the town experienced a turbulent history including the crusade against the Cathars, the Hundred Years War, plague and the Religious Wars. The church of Notre Dame de Marmande was built between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries and the cloisters are now fronted by a formal garden with impressive parterres and topiary.