Mortain

Mortain
Part ofMortain-Bocage
Abbaye Blanche
Coat of arms
Location of Mortain
Mortain Mortain
Coordinates:48°38′55″N0°56′23″W
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Manche
Arrondissement	Avranches
Canton	Le Mortainais
Commune	Mortain-Bocage
Area 1	7.44 km2(2.87 sq mi)
Population (2019)	1,528
• Density	210/km2(530/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(CEST)
Postal code	50140
Elevation	102–327 m (335–1,073 ft) (avg. 232 m or 761 ft)
1French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2(0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Mortain(French pronunciation:[mɔʁtɛ̃]) is a formercommunein theManchedepartmentinNormandyin north-westernFrance.On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune ofMortain-Bocage.

Geography

Mortain is situated on a rocky hill rising above the gorge of theCance,a tributary of theSélune.

Administration

Mortain is the seat of thecanton of Le Mortainais.It is a formersubprefectureof the Manche department and the seat of the former arrondissement of Mortain, which existed from 1800 to 1926.

Remembrance memorial -30th Infantry Division

History

See also:List of counts of Mortain

In theMiddle AgesMortain was the head of an important county (comté), reserved for the reigning house ofNormandy.Around 1027 it was established for Robert, who was probably an illegitimate son ofRichard I of Normandy.He was succeeded by William Warlenc ( "the waning" ) who was probably his son. In or about 1049 Duke William took it from William Warlenc and bestowed it on his half-brother,Robert,thenceforth known as "count of Mortain," whose vast possessions inEnglandafter the Conquest (1066) gave name to "the small fees of Mortain," which owed less feudal service than others. Robert was succeeded as count by his sonWilliam, Count of Mortain,who rebelled againstHenry I,was captured at thebattle of Tinchebrai(1106) and forfeited his possessions. Some years later, Henry bestowed the comtéship on his nephewStephen,who became king in 1135. On Stephen's death (1154) his surviving son William became count of Mortain, but when William died childless in 1159 the title was resumed by Henry II. On the accession ofRichard I(1189) he granted it to his brotherJohn,who was thenceforth known as count of Mortain until he ascended the throne (1199). With his loss of Normandy thecomtéwas lost, but after the recapture of the province by the House of Lancaster, Edmund Beaufort, a grandson ofJohn of Gaunt,was created count of Mortain and so styled till 1441, when he was madeearl of Dorset.

In August 1944, Mortain was the site of an important battle between the German and American forces. Over a period of six nights the30th Infantry Divisionfought (with one radio with dying batteries) against the German Panzer counter-attack ofOperation Lüttich,to preserve the breakout established inOperation Cobra.The defence failed and the Germans recaptured the town but could not hold it owing to developments along the front. The famed American authorJ.D. Salinger,who wroteThe Catcher in the Rye,fought alongside the American forces, an experience that his daughter claims led to hispost-traumatic syndrome.

Heraldry

Arms of Mortain

The arms of Mortain areblazoned: Azure, semy de lys Or, a bend compony argent and gules. arms borrowed fromÉvreux-Navarrefamily, former counts of Mortain and kings of Navarre.

Sights

The parish church ofSt Evroultis a magnificent example of the transitional style of the early 13th century. Close to the town is theAbbaye Blanche,founded as aBenedictineconvent in 1105 and soon afterwards affiliated toCîteaux.The church is a perfect example of aCistercianmonastic church of the late 12th century, and portions of the 12th-centurycloistersalso survive. The ruins of a castle was once the home of the cruel Sir Guillaume de Mortain and the site of the Gap of Goeblin.

Notable people

Mortain was the birthplace ofFerdinand André Fouqué(1828–1904),geologistandpetrologist.

Émigrés from Mortain are remembered in the name of the village ofMarston Moretainein England.

International relations

See also:List of twin towns and sister cities in France

Mortain istwinnedwith:

• Blandford Forum,United Kingdom
• Thannhausen,Germany

External sources

• World War II Germain Mortaine offensive

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Mortain".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 875.