Seine-Maritime

Infobox_Department_of_France
department=Seine-Maritime|number=76
region=Haute-Normandie
prefecture=Rouen
subprefectures=Dieppe
Le Havre
population=1,245,457
1,239,138|pop_date=1 January 2004 estimate
-March 8 1999 census|pop_rank=10th|density=198
area=6,278|area_scale=9
arrond=3|cantons=69|communes=745
president=Didier Marie|pres_party=
img_coa=blason76.svg

Seine-Maritime is a French department in Normandy. Before 1955 it was known as Seine-Inférieure.

History

;- 12,000 B.C. – First inhabitants:The engravings of the Gouy cave attest human presence in Seine-Maritime in the upper Paleolithic

;- 450 – Celtic invasions:Celtic tribes and then Belgian settle in the region, the Seine (river) being their main communication facility

;56 AD – Roman occupation:The Veliocassi of Rotomagus (Rouen) region and the Caletes of Juliobona (Lillebonne) is conquered by Julius Caesar. Rouen becomes the capital of the Seconde Lyonnaise, one of two provinces of Gaul.

;450 - Franks and Neustria:After the Frankish invasion, the region becomes part of Neustria. Rouen and its bishop Praetextatus get closely involved in some tragic battle with Clovis’ successor.

;619 - Foundation of Abbey of Saint-Wandrille:In the VIIth century, Church growth has an effect on the creation of abbeys in the Seine valley. Former King Dagobert I’ counsellor, Wandrille helped the building of one of the biggest monastic centers of Northern Gaul during the Carolingian era. The abbey of Jumièges is also founded in 654.

;841 - The Vikings:Blazes, pillages... The town of Rouen is ravaged. Foulques, abbot of Saint-Wandrille, saves temporarily its abbey for a ransom. The Normans (Northmen) settle.

;911 – Founding of Normandy:Due to the Treaty of Saint Clair-sur-Epte, the Frankish king Charles the Simple gives up the region to Rollo, Norwegian war chief settled in Rouen’s location. The duchy of Normandy is born.

;1066 - William, Anglo-Norman conqueror:The Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, invades England. He wins the Battle of Hastings, beginning the Norman Conquest.

;1144 - A Plantagenet crowned:After years of fights between William's successors, Normandy is handed over to the Plantagenets. Geoffroy is crowned by force in Rouen.

;1204 – Linked to France:Stake of the rivalry with Capetians, the region is annexed to France by Philip II.

;1315 - La Charte aux Normands:Because of riots, French Kings are obliged to acknowledge the specificity of the Norman case. As a symbol of local rights, the Charte aux Normands will be effective until the XVIIth century.

;1415 - 1449 – Hundred Years' War:Harfleur is invaded in 1415 and shows the start of a new conquest led by Henry V of England. On 19 February of 1419 Rouen pass into English hands, after a tragic one-month long assault. In 1431, Joan of Arc is sentenced in Rouen as an heretic and witch by an ecclesiastic tribunal (including the bishop Cauchon). On 30 May, she is burnt alive. Given back to France in 1449, Normandy watches the last English troops driven from Dieppe in 1453.

;1517 – Le Havre founded:For military and commercial purposes, Francis I of France founds Le-Havre-de-Grâce (now Le Havre).

;1639 - The “va-nu-pieds” revolt:The region is richer but its inhabitants are weighed down by high taxes. The “va-nu-pieds” riot starts in Rouen, followed by a terrible repression conducted by Richelieu.

;1667 – Royal drapery in Elbeuf:Colbert creates the royal manufacture of drapery in Elbeuf.

;1790 - La Seine-Inférieure:Normandy is divided into five departments. Seine-Inférieure is established with its administrative center at Rouen.

;1800 – Five, then three, arrondissements :The arrondissements of Rouen, Dieppe, Le Havre, Neufchâtel and Yvetot are created and would be suppressed only in 1926.

;1843 – Railways and industry:In Rouen, Elbeuf, and Bolbec, the number of textile factories is increasing. Metallurgy and naval construction as well. At the end of the XVIIIth century, the region sees an important industrial revolution and in the spring of 1843, spring, the railway of Rouen allows the town to be the first linked with Paris.

;1942 – World War II - Early Allied landings:Occupied by the Wehrmacht, Seine-Maritime is the witness of two Allied military raids in 1942. During the night of 27th to 28 February, in the Bruneval raid, British parachutists destroy a German radar station and leave almost unscathed. However, 19 August, in Dieppe, the Jubilee operation consisting of 6000 Canadian soldiers is a bloody failure except in the value of the lessons it taught. These were valuable in planning later landings such as that in Normandy, 1944.

;1944 - Liberation and pain:Seine-Maritime pays a high price for its freedom. In Rouen, 2,000 people are killed and 60,000 wounded during the red week. In Le Havre, the French town having recorded the highest number of losses during the war, bombings kill 5,000 people.

;1955 - Seine-Maritime:The department’s name is changed to Seine-Maritime on January 18, 1955. Since then, all department names starting with "Bas-" (Low-) or including "Inférieur" have been gradually switched to a more "positive" denomination, with the exception of the department Bas-Rhin.

;1959 – Tancarville Bridge:The Tancarville Bridge is opened, followed in 77 by the Brotonne bridge.

;1995 – Pont de Normandie:The longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, the Pont de Normandie, is built.

;2005 - Le Havre:Le Havre has been classified as a World Heritage Site since July 2005.

Geography

The department includes the chalky plateau of the Pays de Caux and the cliffs of the English Channel coast. There are two types of landscape - the dry chalky plateaux which are under intense arable cultivation, and generally flat. This is a "champaign" landscape characterised by huge fields with very few hedgerows.

In contrast, there are deep valleys forming a reticulum which is carved into the plateaux. These are often a surprise to the visitor, as they are not visible from most parts of the plateaux. They form a much more intimate landscape, with woodlands (many of them ancient woodlands) of beech and oak, and small fields and meadows along the streams. This is known as "bocage" landscape. The major example of this is the Pays de Bray, part of which is included in the eastern end of the département.

Culture

"Madame Bovary" by Gustave Flaubert is set in Seine Maritime.

The novel "La Place" by Annie Ernaux largely takes place in Seine-Maritime and describes events and changes that take place in relation to French society in the 20th century especially in relation to the rural population.

Cauchois is the local dialect, and is one of the most vibrant forms of Norman language beyond Cotentinais

ee also

*Cantons of the Seine-Maritime department
*Communes of the Seine-Maritime department
*Arrondissements of the Seine-Maritime department

External links

*fr icon [http://www.cg76.fr/ General Council website]
*fr icon [http://www.communes76.com/ Communes 76]
*fr icon [http://www.seine-maritime.pref.gouv.fr Prefecture website]