Mortain
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Mortain | |
---|---|
Part ofMortain-Bocage | |
Coordinates:48°38′55″N0°56′23″W/ 48.6486°N 0.9397°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] | 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.[2]
Geography
[edit]Mortain is situated on a rocky hill rising above the gorge of theCance,a tributary of theSélune.
Administration
[edit]Mortain is the seat of thecanton of Le Mortainais.[3]It is a formersubprefectureof the Manche department and the seat of the former arrondissement of Mortain, which existed from 1800 to 1926.[4]
History
[edit]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
[edit]The arms of Mortain areblazoned: Azure, semy de lys Or, a bend compony argent and gules.
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Sights
[edit]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.[citation needed]
Notable people
[edit]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
[edit]Mortain istwinnedwith:
- Blandford Forum,United Kingdom[5][6]
- Thannhausen,Germany
External sources
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2019,INSEE
- ^Arrêté préfectoral15 December 2015(in French)
- ^"Décret n° 2014-246 du 25 février 2014 portant délimitation des cantons dans le département de la Manche | Legifrance".Retrieved2017-05-16.
- ^Historique de la Manche
- ^"British towns twinned with French towns[via WaybackMachine ]".Archant Community Media Ltd.Archived fromthe originalon 5 July 2013.Retrieved2013-07-20.
- ^"Dorset Twinning Association List".The Dorset Twinning Association.Archived fromthe originalon 2012-06-21.Retrieved2013-08-01.
- public domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Mortain".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 875. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the