Rochechouart (French: [ʁɔʃ(ə)ʃwaʁ] ⓘ, locally [ʁɔʃwaʁ]; Occitan: Rechoard, earlier La Ròcha Choard) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, west central France.

[3] The name of the town comes from Latin roca cavardi, which roughly translates as the rock of Cavardus, the lord who had the fortified place built at the beginning of the 11th century.

[4] At the end of the 13th century, Aimeric XI renounced a large part of his privileges and promulgated a charter of enfranchisement which transformed Rochechouart into a democratic city, and turned its inhabitants from slaves to the state into citizens.

He also accorded the inhabitants of Rochechouart the essential conditions for total liberty – they could dispose of their goods, buy or sell, import and export whatever they wanted, build, move about freely within the viscountcy, all without intervention from their lord.

[5] François de Rochechouart in the late 15th century is known for his study on the Dialogues of Pierre Salmon, the secretary of Charles VI of France.