Busnes

French commune
name= Busnes
region=
departement=
arrondissement=Béthune
canton= Lillers
insee=62190
cp=62350
maire=Francis Ternoy
mandat=2008-2014
intercomm=Communauté de communes Artois-Lys
longitude=2.51916666667
latitude=50.5886111111
alt moy=19 m
alt mini=17 m
alt maxi=20 m
hectares=955
km²=9.55
sans=1,250
date-sans=2005
dens=133
date-dens=2005

Busnes is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais "département" in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.

Geography

A farming village some convert|8|mi|km|1 northwest of Béthune and convert|23|mi|km|1 west of Lille, at the junction of the D916, D94 and the D187 roads.

History

In 1346, in retaliation for having besieged the town of Bethune, Flemish bands, commissioned by Oudart of Renty, sacked many of the neighbouring villages and particularly Busnes. The inhabitants took refuge in the church in order to protect themselves. The church was strengthened to make it more resilient to attacks.
In 1383, English troops pillaged and plundered the village, on their rampages during the Hundred Years War.
In 1519, the church was badly damaged and had to be rebuilt.
From 1537 to 1543, during the time of wars of religion and again in 1655, the Spanish and French came in their turn, causing fires and terrible destruction.
During revolutionary turmoil in 1793, demagogues from Saint-Venant decided to come to Busnes to burn the statues of the Saints in the church. The patriots of Busnes resisted valiantly and thus prevented further destruction.
During the French Revolution, the church was sold and became a public building, which, in turn, served as a club, dance hall and gunpowder factory. It was not until February 20th 1802 that it again became a place of worship.The church, which over the centuries had been badly burned and repaired, was finally demolished in 1870. Construction of the new church started in the following years.
The village was awarded the Croix de Guerre after World War I.

Population

Places of interest

* The church of St.Paul, dating from the 19th century.
* The chateau of Beaulieu.
* The chateau of Quesnoy, dating from the 17th century.
* The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery.
* The war memorial.

People with links to the commune

* Antoine Busnois, (1430-1492), composer and poet, was probably born here.

See also

* Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

Notes

*"This article is based on the equivalent article from the French Wikipedia, consulted on July 12th 2008."

External links

* [http://www.villagedebusnes.fr Official commune website] fr
* [http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=29405&mode=1 The CWGC graves in the Busnes communal cemetery]
* [http://www.quid.fr/communes.html?mode=detail&id=26687&req=Busnes Busnes on the Quid website] fr
* [http://hebergement-images.voiloo.net/viewimg.php?
]