Seine-Maritime: Difference between revisions

Template:Infobox Department of France Seine-Maritime is a French department in Normandy. Before 1955 it was known as Seine-Inférieure.

History

- 12 000 B.C. – First inhabitants

The engravings of the Gouy cave attest human presence in Seine- Maritime at the superior paleolithic

- 450 – Celtic invasions

Celtic tribes and then Belgian settle in the region, the Seine (river) being their main communication facility

56 AD – Roman occupation

The Véliocasses de Rotomagus (Rouen) region and les Calètes de Juliobona (Lillebonne) is conquered by Julius Caesar. Rouen becomes the capital of the Seconde Lyonnaise, one of de two provinces of Gaule.

450 - Francs and Neustrie

After the Francs invasion, the region becomes part of the Neustrie. Rouen and its bishop Prétextat get closely involved in some tragic battle with Clovis’ successor.

619 - Foundation of Abbey of Saint-Wandrille

At the VIIth century, Church growth has an effect on the creation of abbeys in the seine valley. Former King Dagobert I’ counsellor, Wandrille helped the building of one of the biggest monastic centers of the Northern Gaule during the carolingien era. The Jumièges abbey is also founded in 654.

841 - The Vikings

B:lazes, pillages... The town of Rouen is ravaged. Foulques, abbot of Saint-Wandrille, saves temporarily its abbey for a ransom. The Normans (Northmen) settle.

911 – Founding of Normandy

Due to the Treaty of Saint Clair-sur-Epte, the franc king Charles le Simple give up the region to Rollo, Norwegian war chief settled in Rouen’s location. The Normandie’s duchy is born.

1066 - William, Anglo-Normand conqueror

The Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, invades England. He wins the Battle of Hastings, beginning the [[Norman Conquest].

1144 - A Plantagenêt crowned

After years of fights between William's successors, Normandy is handed over to Plantagenêt. Geoffroy is crowned by force in Rouen.

1204 – Linked to France

Stake of the rivality with Capétiens, the region is annexed to France by Philip II.

1315 - La Charte aux Normands

Because of riots, French Kings are obliged to acknoledge the specificity of the Normand case. As a symbol of local rights, the Normand charter will be effective until the XVIInd century.

1415 - 1449 – Hundred Years' War

Harfleur is invaded in 1415 and shows the start of a new conquest led by Henry V of England. The 19th of 1419 February Rouen pass to the English hands, after a tragic one-month long assault. In 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is sentenced in Rouen as an heretic and witch by an ecclesiastic tribunal (including the bishop Cauchon). 30 may, she’s burnt alive. Given back to France in 1449, Normandy watches the last English troops driven from Dieppe in 1453.

1517 – Le Havre founded

For military and commercial purpose, Francis I of France founds Le-Havre-de-Grâce (now Le Havre).

1639 - The “va-nu-pieds” revolt

The region is richer but its inhabitants are weighted down by high taxes. The “va-nu-pieds” riot starts in Rouen, followed by a terrible repression conducted by Richelieu.

1667 – Royal drapery in Elbeuf

Colbert creates the royal manufacture of drapry in Elbeuf.

1790 - La Seine-Inférieure

Normandy is divided into five departments. The Seine-Inférieure is established with its administrative center at Rouen.

1800 – Five, then three, arrondissements

The arrondissements of Rouen, Dieppe, Le Havre, Neufchâtel and Yvetot are created and would be suppressed only in 1926.

1843 – Railways and industry

In Rouen, Elbeuf, and Bolbec, the number of textile factories is increasing. Metallurgy and naval construction as well. At the end of the XVIIIrd century, the region sees an important industrial revolution and in the spring of 1843, spring, the railway of Rouen allows the town to be the first linked with Paris.

1942 – World War II - Early Allied landings

Occupied by the Wehrmacht, Seine-Maritime is the witness of two Allied military raids in 1942. During the night of 27th to 28th February, in the Bruneval raid, British parachutists destroy a German radar station and leave almost unscathed. However, 19 August, in Dieppe, the Jubilee operation consisting of 6000 Canadian soldiers is a bloody failure except in the value of the lessons it taught. These were valuable in planning later landings such as that in Normandy, 1944.

1944 - Liberation and pain

Seine-Maritime pays a high price for its freedom. In Rouen, 2,000 people are killed and 60,000 wounded during the « red week ». In Le Havre, the French town having recorded the highest number of losses during the war, bombings kill 5,000 people.

1955 - Seine-Maritime

The department’s name is changed to Seine-Maritime on January 18, 1955.

Since then, all department names starting with "Bas-" (Low-) or including "Inférieur" have been gradually switched to a more "positive" denomination, with the exception of the department Bas-Rhin.

1959 – Tancarville Bridge

The bridge of Tancarville is opened, followed in 77 by the Brotonne bridge.

1995 – Normandy Bridge

The highest stay-bridge in the world is built.

Geography

The department includes the chalky plateau of the Pays de Caux and the cliffs of the English Channel coast. There are two types of landscape - the dry chalky plateaux which are under intense arable cultivation, and generally flat. This is a "champaign" landscape characterised by huge fields with very few hedgerows. In contrast, there are deep valleys forming a reticulum which is carved into the plateaux. These are often a surprise to the visitor, as they are not visible from most parts of the plateaux. They form a much more intimate landscape, with woodlands (many of them ancient woodlands) of beech and oak, and small fields and meadows along the streams. This is known as "bocage" landscape. The major example of this is the Pays de Bray, part of which is included in the eastern end of the département.

Culture

The novel La Place by Annie Ernaux largely takes place in Seine-Maritime and describes events and changes that take place in relation to French society in the 20th century especially in relation to the rural population.

See also

• Cantons of the Seine-Maritime department
• Communes of the Seine-Maritime department
• Arrondissements of the Seine-Maritime department

External links

• Template:Fr icon General Council website
• Template:Fr icon Communes 76
• Template:Fr icon Prefecture website
• Template:En icon FrenchEntrée Normandy : The online guide to life, property and holidays in Normandy