Mortain

Coordinates: 48°38′55″N 0°56′23″W / 48.6486°N 0.9397°W / 48.6486; -0.9397
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mortain
Part of Mortain-Bocage
Abbaye Blanche
Abbaye Blanche
Coat of arms of Mortain
Coat of arms
Location of Mortain
Map
Mortain is located in France
Mortain
Mortain
Mortain is located in Normandy
Mortain
Mortain
Coordinates: 48°38′55″N 0°56′23″W / 48.6486°N 0.9397°W / 48.6486; -0.9397
CountryFrance
RegionNormandy
DepartmentManche
ArrondissementAvranches
CantonLe Mortainais
CommuneMortain-Bocage
Area
1
7.44 km2 (2.87 sq mi)
Population
 (2019)[1]
1,528
 • Density210/km2 (530/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal code
50140
Elevation102–327 m (335–1,073 ft)
(avg. 232 m or 761 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Mortain (French pronunciation:

commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Mortain-Bocage.[2]

Geography

Mortain is situated on a rocky hill rising above the gorge of the Cance, a tributary of the Sélune.

Administration

Mortain is the seat of the canton of Le Mortainais.[3] It is a former subprefecture of the Manche department and the seat of the former arrondissement of Mortain, which existed from 1800 to 1926.[4]

Remembrance memorial - 30th Infantry Division

History

In the

John, who was thenceforth known as count of Mortain until he ascended the throne (1199). With his loss of Normandy the comté was lost, but after the recapture of the province by the House of Lancaster, Edmund Beaufort, a grandson of John of Gaunt, was created count of Mortain and so styled till 1441, when he was made earl 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 the

J.D. Salinger, who wrote The Catcher in the Rye, fought alongside the American forces, an experience that his daughter claims led to his post-traumatic syndrome
.

Heraldry

Arms of Mortain
Arms of Mortain
 The arms of Mortain are blazoned :
Azure, semy de lys Or, a bend compony argent and gules.
arms borrowed from Évreux-Navarre family, former counts of Mortain and kings of Navarre.



Sights

The parish church of

Cistercian monastic church of the late 12th century, and portions of the 12th-century cloisters also 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

Mortain was the birthplace of Ferdinand André Fouqué (1828–1904), geologist and petrologist.

Émigrés from Mortain are remembered in the name of the village of

Marston Moretaine
in England.

International relations

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

Mortain is

twinned
with:

External sources

References

  1. ^ Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2019, INSEE
  2. ^ Arrêté préfectoral 15 December 2015 (in French)
  3. ^ "Décret n° 2014-246 du 25 février 2014 portant délimitation des cantons dans le département de la Manche | Legifrance". Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  4. ^ Historique de la Manche
  5. ^ "British towns twinned with French towns [via WaybackMachine.com]". Archant Community Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  6. ^ "Dorset Twinning Association List". The Dorset Twinning Association. Archived from the original on 2012-06-21. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
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