Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region in northern
France. Upper Normandy (
Haute-Normandie) consists of the French
départements of
Seine-Maritime and
Eure, and Lower Normandy (
Basse-Normandie) of the
départements of
Orne,
Calvados, and
Manche.
The
Duchy of Normandy is a formerly independent
duchy situated in northern France occupying the lower
Seine area, the
Pays de Caux and the region to the west through the
Pays d'Auge as far as the
Cotentin Peninsula. Normandy was historically a
province of France. It comprised present-day Upper and Lower Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the
départements of
Eure-et-Loir,
Mayenne, and
Sarthe.
The
Channel Islands, although British, are culturally and historically a part of Normandy that never reverted to the crown of France.
Normandy has 3.2 million inhabitants, with an average population density of 107 per square kilometre, just under the French national average, but rising to 145 for upper Normandy. The principal cities are
Rouen (population 385,000, including suburbs), the capital of upper Normandy and formerly of the whole province;
Le Havre (247,000);
Caen (200,000), the capital of lower Normandy; and
Cherbourg-Octeville (89,000).
Other towns include:
Alençon;
Arromanches;
Avranches;
Bayeux;
Coutances;
Dieppe;
Doudeville;
Évreux;
Falaise;
Honfleur;
Houlgate;
Lisieux;
Mortain;
Saint-Lô;
Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte;
Sainte-Mère-Église; and
Villers-Bocage.
The region is bordered along the northern coasts by the
English Channel. There are granite
cliffs in the west and limestone cliffs in the east. There are also long stretches of beach in the center of the region. The
bocage, patchwork of small fields with high hedges, typical of the western areas caused problems for the invading forces in the
Battle of Normandy. There are
meanders of the Seine as it approaches its estuary which form a notable feature of the landscape.
Regions
*The
Suisse normande (Norman Switzerland), in the south, presents hillier terrain.
*The Pays d'Auge is considered typical of the rich agricultural landscape of central Normandy.
*The
Roumois*The
Lieuvin*The
Cotentin Peninsula**
La Hague*The
Pays de Caux*The
Bessin*The
Pays d'Ouche*The
Norman Vexin*The
Pays de BrayRivers
Rivers in Normandy include:
*the
Seine*the
Orne*the
Vire*the
Eure*the
Risle*the
Robec*the
Touques*the
Couesnon, which traditionally marks the boundary between the
Duchy of Brittany and the Duchy of Normandy.
The
Pont de Normandie crossing the estuary of the Seine is regarded as a feat of modern engineering.
Normandy was the home of the
Normans in the early
Middle Ages, the last people to successfully invade
England. The Normans were a mixture of the indigenous Gauls and of the
Viking invaders under the leadership of
Rollo, who besieged
Paris and was given the area of Normandy (
Treaty of St.-Claire-sur-Epte,
911) in return for defending it against future
pirate attacks.
Rollo's descendant William, Duke of Normandy, invaded England in
1066 and became king
William I of England. Normandy remained associated with England until
1087, in
1106-
1144 and in
1154-
1204. Also see the
Battle of Bouvines in
1214. Normandy was occupied by English forces during the
Hundred Years' War in
1346-
1360 and again in
1415-
1450.
Norman families, such as that of
Tancred of Hauteville played important parts in the
Crusades and established a kingdom in
Sicily and the south of
Italy.
Both
Wace and
Orderic Vitalis are important Norman writers for the history of the province.
Jean de Béthencourt conquered and ruled the
Canary Islands in the 15th century.
Prosperity returned to Normandy after the
Hundred Years' War until the
Wars of Religion when many Norman town (Alençon, Rouen, Caen, Coutances, Bayeux) joined the
Reformation and battles ensued throughout the province. During the
French Revolution, Normandy generally supported the idea of a Federal republic against the highly centralised conception championed by the
Jacobins in Paris.
|
150mm World War II German gun emplacement in Normandy. |
During
World War II, the town of Dieppe was the site of the ill-fated
Dieppe Raid by Canadian and British units in 1942. Later, Normandy was also the site of the
Normandy Invasion or Operation Overlord that began on
June 6 1944, which today is also known as
D-Day. This was the successful invasion of German-occupied France by
Allied troops. Caen, Cherbourg, Carentan, and other Norman towns endured many casualties in the fight for the province, which continued until the liberation of Le Havre on
September 12.
Channel Islands
Since the Channel Islands have remained loyal to the English Crown since the division of Normandy in 1204, yet are not part of the UK but rather the Duchy of Normandy, the British monarch (currently
Queen Elizabeth II) is toasted as
Duke of Normandy. However, she is not regarded as Duke of Normandy outside her realms since claims by English monarchs to the title were given up by the
Treaty of Paris of 1259. Additionally, the rights of succession to that title are subject to
Salic Law, which does not allow for female inheritance of the ducal title.
Languages
The
Norman language, a
regional language, is spoken by a minority of the population, with a concentration in the Cotentin peninsula in the far West, and in the Pays de Caux in the East. Many place names show the influence of this
Norse-influenced
oïl language; for example
-bec (stream),
-fleur (river),
-hou (island),
-tot (homestead).
|
Romanesque nave of the abbey church of Saint-Georges-de-Boscherville |
Arts
Architecture
Main article is Architecture of Normandy.
Architecturally, Norman cathedrals, abbeys (such as the
Abbey of Bec) and castles characterise the former Duchy in a way that mirrors the similar pattern of
Norman architecture in England following the
Norman Conquest of
1066.
Domestic architecture in upper Normandy is typified by
half-timbered buildings that also recall vernacular English architecture, although the farm enclosures of the more harshly landscaped Pays de Caux are a more idiosyncratic response to socio-economic and climatic imperatives. Much urban architectural heritage was destroyed during the Battle of Normandy in 1944 - post-war urban reconstruction, such as in Le Havre and Saint-Lô, could be said to demonstrate both the virtues and vices of
modernist and
brutalist trends of the 1950s and 1960s. Le Havre, the city rebuilt by
Auguste Perret, was added to Unesco's World Heritage List in
2005.
Vernacular architecture in lower Normandy takes its form from
granite, the predominant local building material. The Channel Islands also share this influence -
Chausey was for many years a source of quarried granite, including that used for the construction of
Mont Saint Michel.
The south part of
Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, which is called "
Belle Époque" district is filled with superb bourgeois villas with polychrome façades, bow windows and unique roofing. This area, built between 1886 and 1914, has an authentic "Bagnolese" style and is typical of high-society country vacation of the time.
Philosophy
Philosophers Norman by birth include:
*Alain | width="33%" |
*Michel Onfray | width="33%" |
*Clément Rosset |}LiteratureWriters in the French language connected with Normandy include:
*Turold
*Boulainvilliers
*Alphonse Allais
*Jacques-François Ancelot
*Roland Barthes
*Olivier Basselin
*Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
*Rémi Belleau
*Isaac de Benserade
*Jean Bertaut
*Jean-Jacques Boisard
*François le Metel de Boisrobert
*Louis Bouilhet
*André Breton
*Alain Chartier
*Pierre Corneille
*Thomas Corneille
*Jean de Crèvecoeur | width="33%" |
*Madame d'Aulnoy
*Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly
*Casimir Delavigne
*Philippe Delerm
*Jean Dubuffet
*Annie Ernaux
*Octave Feuillet
*Gustave Flaubert
*Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle
*Jean Vauquelin de la Fresnaye
*Arthur de Gobineau
*Remy de Gourmont
*Pierre Gringore
*Maurice Leblanc
*François de Malherbe
*Hector Malot
*Jean Marot
*Guy de Maupassant
*André Maurois | width="33%" |
*François-Eudes de Mézeray
*Octave Mirbeau
*Antoine de Montchrestien
*Françoise Bertaut de Motteville
*Nicolas Oresme
*Raymond Queneau
*Pascal Quignard
*Henri de Régnier
*Jean Rotrou
*Antoine Gérard de Saint-Amant
*Charles de Saint-Évremond
*Abbé de Saint-Pierre
*Bernardin de Saint-Pierre
*Armand Salacrou
*Georges de Scudéry
*Madeleine de Scudéry
*Jean Renaud de Segrais
*Alexis de Tocqueville |}  | Guy de Maupassant |
Writers in the English language connected with Normandy include:
*Peter Motteux | width="33%" |
*J. Hector St. John de CrèvecÅ"ur | width="33%" | |}
Writers in the Latin language connected with Normandy include:
*Orderic Vitalis
Writers in the Norman language include:
*Béroul
*Marie de France
*Wace | width="33%" |
*Thomas of Britain
*Robert Pipon Marett | width="33%" | |}
See also Anglo-Norman literature, Gesta Normannorum Ducum PaintingFrom the 1860s, plein-air painters, who worked outside the studio, were attracted to Normandy by the ease of railway access from Paris. Claude Monet's waterlily garden at Giverny is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the region. Eugène Boudin's paintings of fashionable seaside scenes are also typical.
Artists Norman by birth include:
*Eugène Boudin
*André Breton
*Pierre Toutain Dorbec
*Jacques Toutain Dorbec
*Jean Dubuffet
*Marcel Duchamp | width="33%" |
*Suzanne Duchamp
*Raoul Dufy
*Othon Friesz
*Théodore Géricault
*Jean Hélion
*Jean Jouvenet | width="33%" |
*Fernand Léger
*Jean-François Millet
*Nicolas Poussin
*Jean Restout
*Jacques Villon |}MusicComposers and musicians Norman by birth include:
*Erik Satie
*Daniel Auber
*Arthur Honegger
*Marcel Dupré
*François-Adrien Boïeldieu | width="33%" |
*André Caplet
*François d'Agincourt
*Françoiz Breut
*Daniel Balavoine
*Guillaume Costeley | width="33%" |
*Vincent Delerm
*Jacques Duphly
*Maurice Duruflé
*Jean-Luc Ponty |}DesignChristian Dior, fashion designer, was born in Granville. Laetitia Casta, supermodel, was born in Pont-Audemer.Religion The cathedrals of Normandy have exerted influence down the centuries in matters of both faith and politics. Mont Saint Michel is a historic pilgrimage site. The influence of Celtic Christianity can still be found in the Cotentin.
Many saints have been revered in Normandy down the centuries, including:
*St. Aubert who is remembered as the founder of Mont Saint Michel
*Saint Marcouf and Saint Lô who are important saints in Lower Normandy
*Helier and Samson of Dol who are evangelizers of the Channel Islands
*Thomas Becket, an Anglo-Norman whose parents were from Rouen, who was the object of a considerable cult in mainland Normandy following his martyrdom
*St. Joan of Arc who was martyred in Rouen, and who is especially remembered in that city
*Thérèse de Lisieux whose cult in Lisieux is a focus for religious devotion
Normandy does not have one generally-agreed patron saint, although this title has been ascribed to Saint Michael, and to Saint Ouen.
Prominent Protestants ministers include Pierre Allix, Jacques Basnages, and Samuel Bochart.Food and drink | Abroad, Camembert cheese is thought of as typically French, but is specifically a Norman dairy product. |
Normandy is famous for its rich, rolling countryside, which provides plentiful pasture for dairy cattle and orchards for apples. The dairy produce of the region is renowned: its cheeses are world famous and include Camembert, Livarot, Pont l'Evêque, Brillat-Savarin, Neufchâtel, and Boursin. Normandy butter is highly prized, as is Normandy cream, both of which are lavishly used in local gastronomic specialties. Fish and seafood are of superior quality in Normandy. Turbot and oysters from the Cotentin Peninsula are major delicacies throughout France. Normandy is the chief oyster-cultivating, as well the biggest scallop-exporting, region in France.
Normandy is a major cider-producing region (very little wine is produced). Perry is also produced, but in less significant quantities. The apple brandy, of which the most famous variety is calvados, is also popular. The mealtime trou normand, or Norman break, is a pause between meal courses in which diners partake of a glassful of calvados, is still observed in many homes and restaurants. Pommeau is an aperitif produced by blending unfermented cider and apple brandy. Another aperitif is the kir normand, a measure of cassis topped up with cider. Benedictine is produced in Fécamp.
Apples are also used in cooking: for example, moules à la normande are mussels cooked with apples and cream, bourdelots are apples baked in pastry, partridges are flamed with reinette apples, and localities all over the province have their own variation of apple tart. A classic pastry dish from the region is flan Normand a flaky pastry-based variant of the apple tart.
Other regional specialities include tripes à la mode de Caen, andouilles and andouillettes, salt meadow (pré salé) lamb, seafood (mussels, scallops, lobsters, mackerel…), and teurgoule (spiced rice pudding).
Normandy dishes include duckling à la rouennaise, sautéed chicken yvetois, and goose en daube. Rabbit is cooked with morels, or à la havraise (stuffed with truffled pigs' trotters). Other dishes are sheep's trotters à la rouennaise, casseroled veal, larded calf's liver braised with carrots, and veal (or turkey) in cream and mushrooms. | Two-leopard and three-leopard flags at a Norman language festival in Jersey. |
Normandy is also noted for its pastries. It is the birthplace of brioches (especially those from Évreux and Gisors) and also turns out douillons (pears baked in pastry), craquelins, roulettes in Rouen, fouaces in Caen, fallues in Lisieux, sablés in Lisieux. Confectionery of the region includes Rouen apple sugar, Isigny caramels, Bayeux mint chews, Falaise berlingots, Le Havre marzipans, Argentan croquettes, and Rouen macaroons.
Normandy is the native land of Taillevent, cook of the kings of France Charles V and Charles VI. He wrote the earliest French cookery book named Le Viandier.SymbolsThe traditional provincial flag of Normandy, gules, two leopards passant or, is used in both modern regions. The historic three-leopard version (known in the Norman language as les treis cats, "the three cats") is used by some associations and individuals, especially those who support reunification of the regions and cultural links with the Channel Islands and England.
Image:Normandy flag large.png|Nordic Cross flag Image:Basse-Normandie flag.svg|"Two-leopard" provincial flag Image:Haute-Normandie flag.svg|"Three-leopard" version Image:Flag of Sark.svg|"Two-leopard" flag of Sark Image:BNor1.gif|Modern logo of Lower Normandy Image:HNlogo.gif|Modern logo of Upper Normandy
The unofficial anthem of the region is the song "Ma Normandie".
*Battle of Normandy
*Duchy of Normandy
*Duke of Normandy
*List of postal codes in Normandy
*British military history
*COGEMA La Hague site* Read hole Dudo´s "Gesta Normannorum" English translation here
* The Normans, a European People. The Norman heritage, 10th-12th century
* Gallery of photos of Normandy
* Normandie Web - A community Web site about Normandy (in French)
* Normandy Tourist Board
* Le Havre on the World Heritage Site
* Fine Art photographs of normandy
* Aerial movie of Omaha beach and the Normandy American Cemetery
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