History of Rouen
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Rouen, France, was founded by the Gaulish tribe of Veliocasses, who controlled a large area in the lower Seine valley, which today retains a trace of their name as the Vexin. The Gauls named the settlement Ratumacos[1] and the Romans called it Rotomagus.[2] Roman Rotomagus was the second city of Gallia Lugdunensis, after Lugdunum (Lyon). After the reorganization of the empire by Diocletian, Rouen became the chief city of the divided province of Gallia Lugdunensis II and reached the peak of its Roman development, with an amphitheatre and thermae, the foundations of which remain today. In the 5th century, it became the seat of a bishopric and later a capital of Merovingian Neustria.
The Middle Ages
After the first
During the early 12th century, the city's population reached 30,000.[4] In 1150, Rouen received its founding charter, which permitted self-government. During the 12th century, Rouen was probably the site of a Jewish yeshiva. At that time, about 6,000 Jews lived in the town, comprising about 20% of the total population[citation needed]. The well-preserved remains of a medieval Jewish building, that could be a yeshiva, were discovered in the 1970s under the Rouen Law Courts.
In 1200, a fire destroyed part of Rouen's Romanesque cathedral, leaving just St Romain's tower, the side porches of its front, and part of the nave. New work on the present Gothic cathedral of Rouen began, in the nave, transept, choir, and the lowest section of the lantern tower. On 24 June 1204, Philip Augustus entered Rouen and annexed Normandy to the Royal Demesne. The fall of Rouen meant the end of Normandy's vassal state status. He demolished the Norman castle and replaced it with his own, the Château Bouvreuil, built on the site of the Gallo-Roman amphitheatre.[5]
A textile industry developed based on wool imported from England, competing with the northern County of Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant. The city found its market niche in the Champagne fairs. Rouen also depended on the river traffic of the Seine for its prosperity. Wine and wheat were exported to England, with tin and wool received in return.
In the late 13th century, urban strife threatened the city: in 1291, the mayor was assassinated and noble residences in the city were pillaged. Philip IV restored order and suppressed the city's charter and the city's lucrative monopoly on river traffic, but he was quite willing to allow the Rouennais to repurchase their former liberties in 1294. In 1306, he decided to expel the Jewish community of Rouen, which then numbered some five or six thousand in the city of 40,000 people.[6]
In 1389, another
During the
Rouen became the capital city of English power in occupied France. When the
The king of France Charles VII recaptured the town in 1449, 18 years after the death of Joan of Arc and after 30 years of English occupation.
The Renaissance Period
The naval dockyards, where activity had been slowed by the Hundred Years' War, became busy again as did the church of Saint-Maclou, which had been founded under English occupation The nave of the church of Saint Ouen was completed at last. The salle des pas-perdus (a sort of waiting room or ante-room) of the present law courts was built during this time. The whole building was built in a flamboyant style into which the first decorative elements typical of the Renaissance style right at the beginning of the 16th century had been incorporated.
At that time Rouen was the fourth most populous city in the realm, after Paris, Marseille and Lyon. Rouen was also one of the Norman cradles of artistic Renaissance, in particular the one under the patronage of the archbishops and financiers of the town.
The city's economic upturn at the end of the 15th century was mainly due to the emergence of the cloth industry, but also partly due to the development of the silk industry and metallurgy. The fishermen of Rouen went as far afield as the Baltic to fish for herrings. Salt was imported from
At the beginning of the 16th century, Rouen became the main French port through which trade was conducted with Brazil, principally for the import of cloth dyes. By 1500, ten printing presses had been installed in the city following the installation of the first sixteen years earlier.
The Wars of Religion
In the years following 1531, part of the population of Rouen embraced
In 1550, King
From 1560 onwards, tensions rose between the Protestant and Catholic communities, and the
At this juncture, the Protestant town authorities requested help from Queen
The news of the
The town was attacked on several occasions by
The Classical Age
The permanent Exchequer of Normandy, which had been installed in Rouen in 1499 by George of Amboise, was transformed into a regional administrative assembly by Francis I in 1515 and up to the time of the Revolution was the administrative centre of the region. It had judicial, legislative and executive powers in Norman affairs and was only subordinate to the Privy Council. It also had power to govern French Canada. By the 1550s, Rouen reached a population of about 75,000 inhabitants and became the second largest city in France.[10] During the early modern era, warfare was a common threat to the city of Rouen. There was military improvement in technology and organization; however, the siege of 1591–1592 concluded with high casualties.[11] In the 16th century, The Protestant Reformation resulted in religious wars which caused a population decline in many areas of France.[10] Until the 1750s a lot of cities, including Rouen, were in a stage of stagnation or decline of population.[11]
The 16th and 18th centuries brought prosperity to the city through the textile trade and the increased use of port facilities, as well as the development of public transportation and other industries. In 1703, the Norman Chamber of Commerce was formed. Rouen was well known for the production of wool and faience – glazed ceramic ware; wool was the main source of wealth for the city. The printing industry was introduced to Rouen in 1485 and influenced its cultural and economic development. Rouen became a regional centre of production by introducing a variety of books to the industry.[12] Although it did not have a university, Rouen became an important intellectual centre by reason of its reputed schools of higher learning. In 1734, a school of surgery was founded (second only to that of Paris, founded in 1724). In 1758 a new hospital was opened, to the west of the town, which replaced the old medieval one which had become too small.
19th and 20th centuries
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, Rouen was occupied by the Prussians.
During the
During
See also
References
- toponymic suffix signifying "plain"[citation needed].
- Notitia dignitatum; other variants: Ratomagos (Ptolemy, Geography), Ratomagos (Antonine Itinerary, Tabula Peutingeriana).
- ^ Recorded in the chronicle of Fontenelle Abbey.
- ISBN 9781482705744. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
- Viollet-le-Duc, the castle was destroyed at the end of the 15th century, its stones used for other buildings.
- ISBN 9780415080712. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
- ^ Bill Marshall, Cristina Johnston, France and the Americas: culture, politics, and history Volume 3, p. 185
- ISBN 9780674038738. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
- ^ Beard, 31. See 32, Fig. 7 for a contemporary depiction of Henri's "Romanised" procession.
- ^ OCLC 767556295.
- ^ OCLC 326881736.
- S2CID 59158598– via EBSCOhost.
- ^ a b c d "Rouen". aussenlager-buchenwald.de (in German). Retrieved 21 August 2022.
Bibliography
Further reading
- Lajoye, Patrice. "L'évolution du nom de Rouen dans l'Antiquité et au Haut Moyen Âge en domaines celtique, latin et germanique". In: Annales de Normandie, 57e année, n°3-4, 2007. pp. 223–229. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/annor.2007.1618] www.persee.fr/doc/annor_0003-4134_2007_num_57_3_1618