Penne, set on a hilltop overlooking the Lot (where there is a sister village, Port de Penne) is today peaceful and beautifully ancient in appearance. This was not always the case, and over the many centuries the village has endured cruelty and hardship.

In the late C12th Richard the Lionheart (Coeur de Lion) the English king created Penne as a powerful defensive and strategic location. Richard spent most of his life in Aquitaine, although born in Oxford. Within a comparatively short period of time the Cathar wars enveloped southern France and Penne, under siege, was forced to capitulate to Catholic forces. More turmoil and bloodshed occurred during the C14^th Hundred Years war, with Penne sometimes held by the English (Plantagenet) and sometimes the French. The town was set ablaze in 1373.

Once again, in the C16th, Penne suffered the consequences of a religious war when, as a Protestant settlement, it was attacked and lost to the Catholic army under Blaise de Montluc in 1562. Many inhabitants - defenders – were killed.

At this time the region also endured annual bouts of widespread death from the plague (the second Black Death pandemic). In 1653, the villagers sought divine relief through the rebuilding of their church of Notre-Dame de Peyragude and an obligation to process there every August 15^th.

Even in spite of these catastrophes Penne gradually prospered and this was enhanced in the post-revolutionary period. By 1800 the town had grown to 4,000 inhabitants and its name was changed to Penne-d’Agenais in 1919. More recently, Penne has become revitalised as a centre of heritage tourism and artistic endeavour.