Lisieux
Encyclopedia
Lisieux is a commune
in the Calvados
department in the Basse-Normandie
region
in northwestern France
.
Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge
area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. The inhabitants of Lisieux are known in France as Lexoviens (male) or Lexoviennes (female).
The town is in the heart of the Pays d'Auge
, of which it is the capital. Lisieux is therefore surrounded by Normandy's typical hedged farmland, where there is a mix of livestock farming (mostly milk cows) and cider apple cultivation (from which cider and calvados
are made, not forgetting pommeau
).
The table below shows the temperatures and precipitation for the year 2007 (provided by the Caen-Carpiquet weather station:
The table below shows the record minimum and maximum temperatures:
The town of Lisieux is served by a bus network called Lexobus, with 6 routes. The town is also linked to surrounding towns and villages by a network of buses; Bus Verts du Calvados
.
There is a train station in Lisieux, which is the connecting station between the Paris-Cherbourg and Paris-Trouville/Deauville main lines, served by Corail
Intercités Normandie trains. The station is also accessible by the Transport express régional (regional express) trains on the Basse-Normandie and Haute-Normandie routes.
The train station appeared in the film Un singe en hiver by Henri Verneuil
.
To reach the town by car, the D613 (formerly route nationale 13) from Paris
to Cherbourg crosses the town from east to west. The second main road of Lisieux is the D579, leading to Deauville
to the north and the department of Orne
to the south. Lisieux benefits from a bypass, built in the 1990s, running to the south of the town, easing traffic in the town-centre, particularly on boulevard Sainte-Anne.
during Gallo-Roman times. This explains why inhabitants are known as Lexoviens today. The commune was known as Noviomagus (Celtic novio, "new", and magos, "market") or Noviomagus Lexoviorum by the Romans.
, a term which refers to Celtic towns located on the tops of hills. The oppidum has been pinpointed to a place referred to as le Castellier, located 3 km to the south-west of the town. However the Gallo-Roman city was in fact located where Lisieux is to be found today.
, became a bishop of Lisieux after her death and is buried in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.
Lisieux has been the seat of one of the seven Roman Catholic dioceses of Normandy under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical province of Rouen
. The bishopric was abolished in 1801 before being recreated and merged with that of Bayeux in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux".
The most well known of the Bishops of Lisieux is probably Pierre Cauchon
who had a decisive influence during the trial
of Joan of Arc
.
Devotion to Sainte-Thérèse who lived in the nearby Carmelite
convent has made Lisieux France's second most important site of pilgrimage, after the Pyrenean
town of Lourdes
.
Lisieux (li.zjø) is a commune
in the Calvados
department in the Basse-Normandie
region
in northwestern France
.
Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge
area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. The inhabitants of Lisieux are known in France as Lexoviens (male) or Lexoviennes (female).
The town is in the heart of the Pays d'Auge
, of which it is the capital. Lisieux is therefore surrounded by Normandy's typical hedged farmland, where there is a mix of livestock farming (mostly milk cows) and cider apple cultivation (from which cider and calvados
are made, not forgetting pommeau
).
The table below shows the temperatures and precipitation for the year 2007 (provided by the Caen-Carpiquet weather station:
The table below shows the record minimum and maximum temperatures:
The town of Lisieux is served by a bus network called Lexobus, with 6 routes. The town is also linked to surrounding towns and villages by a network of buses; Bus Verts du Calvados
.
There is a train station in Lisieux, which is the connecting station between the Paris-Cherbourg and Paris-Trouville/Deauville main lines, served by Corail
Intercités Normandie trains. The station is also accessible by the Transport express régional (regional express) trains on the Basse-Normandie and Haute-Normandie routes.
The train station appeared in the film Un singe en hiver by Henri Verneuil
.
To reach the town by car, the D613 (formerly route nationale 13) from Paris
to Cherbourg crosses the town from east to west. The second main road of Lisieux is the D579, leading to Deauville
to the north and the department of Orne
to the south. Lisieux benefits from a bypass, built in the 1990s, running to the south of the town, easing traffic in the town-centre, particularly on boulevard Sainte-Anne.
during Gallo-Roman times. This explains why inhabitants are known as Lexoviens today. The commune was known as Noviomagus (Celtic novio, "new", and magos, "market") or Noviomagus Lexoviorum by the Romans.
, a term which refers to Celtic towns located on the tops of hills. The oppidum has been pinpointed to a place referred to as le Castellier, located 3 km to the south-west of the town. However the Gallo-Roman city was in fact located where Lisieux is to be found today.
, became a bishop of Lisieux after her death and is buried in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.
Lisieux has been the seat of one of the seven Roman Catholic dioceses of Normandy under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical province of Rouen
. The bishopric was abolished in 1801 before being recreated and merged with that of Bayeux in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux".
The most well known of the Bishops of Lisieux is probably Pierre Cauchon
who had a decisive influence during the trial
of Joan of Arc
.
Devotion to Sainte-Thérèse who lived in the nearby Carmelite
convent has made Lisieux France's second most important site of pilgrimage, after the Pyrenean
town of Lourdes
.
Lisieux (li.zjø) is a commune
in the Calvados
department in the Basse-Normandie
region
in northwestern France
.
Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge
area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. The inhabitants of Lisieux are known in France as Lexoviens (male) or Lexoviennes (female).
The town is in the heart of the Pays d'Auge
, of which it is the capital. Lisieux is therefore surrounded by Normandy's typical hedged farmland, where there is a mix of livestock farming (mostly milk cows) and cider apple cultivation (from which cider and calvados
are made, not forgetting pommeau
).
The table below shows the temperatures and precipitation for the year 2007 (provided by the Caen-Carpiquet weather station:
The table below shows the record minimum and maximum temperatures:
The town of Lisieux is served by a bus network called Lexobus, with 6 routes. The town is also linked to surrounding towns and villages by a network of buses; Bus Verts du Calvados
.
There is a train station in Lisieux, which is the connecting station between the Paris-Cherbourg and Paris-Trouville/Deauville main lines, served by Corail
Intercités Normandie trains. The station is also accessible by the Transport express régional (regional express) trains on the Basse-Normandie and Haute-Normandie routes.
The train station appeared in the film Un singe en hiver by Henri Verneuil
.
To reach the town by car, the D613 (formerly route nationale 13) from Paris
to Cherbourg crosses the town from east to west. The second main road of Lisieux is the D579, leading to Deauville
to the north and the department of Orne
to the south. Lisieux benefits from a bypass, built in the 1990s, running to the south of the town, easing traffic in the town-centre, particularly on boulevard Sainte-Anne.
during Gallo-Roman times. This explains why inhabitants are known as Lexoviens today. The commune was known as Noviomagus (Celtic novio, "new", and magos, "market") or Noviomagus Lexoviorum by the Romans.
, a term which refers to Celtic towns located on the tops of hills. The oppidum has been pinpointed to a place referred to as le Castellier, located 3 km to the south-west of the town. However the Gallo-Roman city was in fact located where Lisieux is to be found today.
, became a bishop of Lisieux after her death and is buried in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.
Lisieux has been the seat of one of the seven Roman Catholic dioceses of Normandy under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical province of Rouen
. The bishopric was abolished in 1801 before being recreated and merged with that of Bayeux in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux".
The most well known of the Bishops of Lisieux is probably Pierre Cauchon
who had a decisive influence during the trial
of Joan of Arc
.
Devotion to Sainte-Thérèse who lived in the nearby Carmelite
convent has made Lisieux France's second most important site of pilgrimage, after the Pyrenean
town of Lourdes
.
Evolution of the population of Lisieux (1793–2006)
was constructed in honour of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux, who was beatified
in 1923 and canonized
in 1925. It was built for pilgrims who came in increasing numbers to venerate the new saint in the town where she had lived and died.
of Saint-Germain-de-Livet
. It is to be found opposite the village church which dates from the 19th century. The château
has been owned by the town of Lisieux since 1958 when it was donated by the Riesener family.
From an architectural point of view the château comprises a half-timbered manor dating from the 15th century and a glazed brick and stone building from the Pré-d'Auge
dating from the end of the 16th century.
The chateau combines medieval
and Renaissance
elements and is surrounded by a moat
and a peacock garden.
From the outset, the architect designed quadripartite rib vaults and flying buttresses, making it one of Normandy’s first gothic buildings. The nave is fairly austere and is inspired by the Gothic style of the Île de France whereas the most recent parts of the building were constructed in the 18th century (the chevet, the lantern tower
and the western façade) in Norman style.
It is wrongly claimed that Henry
, the Count of Anjou
, the Duke of Normandy and the future king of England married Eleanor of Aquitaine
at the cathedral in 1152. Having been involved in the trial of Joan of Arc
, Pierre Cauchon was in fact named as Bishop of Lisieux in 1432 and is buried there.
Deaths
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Calvados
Calvados
The French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...
department in the Basse-Normandie
Basse-Normandie
Lower Normandy is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in northwestern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge
Pays d'Auge
The Pays d'Auge is an area in Normandy, straddling the départements of Calvados and Orne . The chief town is Lisieux.-Geography:Generally it consists of the basin of the Touques River....
area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. The inhabitants of Lisieux are known in France as Lexoviens (male) or Lexoviennes (female).
Geography
Lisieux is situated on the confluence of the river Touques and many of its tributaries: the rivers Orbiquet, Cirieux and Graindain.The town is in the heart of the Pays d'Auge
Pays d'Auge
The Pays d'Auge is an area in Normandy, straddling the départements of Calvados and Orne . The chief town is Lisieux.-Geography:Generally it consists of the basin of the Touques River....
, of which it is the capital. Lisieux is therefore surrounded by Normandy's typical hedged farmland, where there is a mix of livestock farming (mostly milk cows) and cider apple cultivation (from which cider and calvados
Calvados (spirit)
Calvados is an apple brandy from the French région of Basse-Normandie or Lower Normandy.-History:Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known Norman distillation was carried out by "Lord" de Gouberville in 1554, and the guild for cider...
are made, not forgetting pommeau
Pommeau
Pommeau is an alcoholic drink made in northern France by mixing apple juice with apple brandy .It is consumed as an apéritif, or as an accompaniment to melon or blue cheese...
).
Climate
Lisieux has a temperate oceanic humid climate.| Town | Sunshine | Rain | Snow | Storms | Fog | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... |
1,797 h/year | 642mm/year | 15 d/year | 19 d/year | 13 d/year | |
| Nice Nice Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of... |
2,694 h/year | 767mm/year | 1 d/year | 31 d/year | 1 d/year | |
| Strasbourg Strasbourg Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,... |
1,637 h/year | 610mm/year | 30 d/year | 29 d/year | 65 d/year | |
| Lisieux | 1,764 h/year | 711mm/year | 14 d/year | 17 d/year | 54 d/year | |
| National average | 1,973 h/year | 770mm/year | 14 d/year | 22 d/year | 40 d/year | |
The table below shows the temperatures and precipitation for the year 2007 (provided by the Caen-Carpiquet weather station:
| Month | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average max. temperature (°C) | 10.1 | 11.1 | 11.8 | 17 | 17.3 | 20.1 | 21.3 | 21 | 19.3 | 15.3 | 11.5 | 7.9 |
| Average min. temperature (°C) | 4.7 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 6.3 | 9.4 | 11.5 | 12.9 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 7.3 | 5.2 | 1.9 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 7.4 | 8.3 | 7.6 | 11.6 | 13.3 | 15.8 | 17.1 | 16.8 | 14.8 | 11.3 | 8.3 | 4.9 |
| Precipitation (average height in mm) | 45 | 83 | 90 | 23 | 91 | 83 | 135 | 49 | 56 | 39 | 44 | 81 |
The table below shows the record minimum and maximum temperatures:
| Month | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max. recorded temp. (°C) | 16.1 | 20.8 | 24.4 | 26.4 | 30.4 | 34.1 | 36.6 | 38.9 | 33.5 | 27.6 | 19.9 | 17.2 |
| Year of max. temp. | 1993 | 1960 | 1946 | 1984 | 1953 | 2001 | 1952 | 2003 | 1961 | 1985 | 1982 | 1989 |
| Min. recorded temp.(°C) | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 4.7 | 4 | 1.8 | |||||||||
| Year of min. temp. | 1985 | 1956 | 1965 | 1978 | 1955 | 1962 | 1962 | 1974 | 1948 | 1997 | 1989 | 1948 |
Transport
Bus Verts du Calvados
Bus Verts du Calvados is a network of interurban buses in the département of Calvados, France. The network is operated on behalf of the Conseil Général du Calvados by Keolis Calvados, a subsidiary of the French Keolis transport group....
.
There is a train station in Lisieux, which is the connecting station between the Paris-Cherbourg and Paris-Trouville/Deauville main lines, served by Corail
Corail (train)
Corail is the name given to a class of passenger rail cars of the SNCF that first entered commercial service in 1975. When introduced, Corail carriages featured air-conditioning, and superior levels of comfort, suspension and sound-proofing than previous InterCity carriages and gave arguably the...
Intercités Normandie trains. The station is also accessible by the Transport express régional (regional express) trains on the Basse-Normandie and Haute-Normandie routes.
The train station appeared in the film Un singe en hiver by Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who enjoyed a successful career in France.-Biography:...
.
To reach the town by car, the D613 (formerly route nationale 13) from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to Cherbourg crosses the town from east to west. The second main road of Lisieux is the D579, leading to Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...
to the north and the department of Orne
Orne
Orne is a department in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne.- History :Orne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Normandy and Perche.- Geography :Orne is in the region of...
to the south. Lisieux benefits from a bypass, built in the 1990s, running to the south of the town, easing traffic in the town-centre, particularly on boulevard Sainte-Anne.
Toponymy
The name of the town comes from the Gallic tribe which inhabited the region: the LexoviiLexovii
The Lexovii , were a Celtic people, on the coast of Gallia, immediately west of the mouth of the Seine. When the Veneti and their neighbors were preparing for Julius Caesar's attack , they applied for aid to the Osismii, Lexovii, Namnetes, and others. The Lexovii , were a Celtic people, on the...
during Gallo-Roman times. This explains why inhabitants are known as Lexoviens today. The commune was known as Noviomagus (Celtic novio, "new", and magos, "market") or Noviomagus Lexoviorum by the Romans.
Antiquity
Lisieux is the former capital of the Lexovii. In his work, Commentaries on the Gallic War, Caesar mentions a Gallic oppidumOppidum
Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age...
, a term which refers to Celtic towns located on the tops of hills. The oppidum has been pinpointed to a place referred to as le Castellier, located 3 km to the south-west of the town. However the Gallo-Roman city was in fact located where Lisieux is to be found today.
Middle Ages
Lisieux was an important center of power in medieval times. The bishopric of Lisieux controlled most of the Pays d'Auge by the 12th century. King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine are thought to have married at Lisieux in 1152, and the town remained powerful for several centuries afterwards until in the 14th century the triple scourges of the Plague, war and resulting famine devastated Lisieux and reduced its influence. The main judge of Joan of Arc, Pierre CauchonPierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon , bishop of Beauvais. A strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War, his role in arranging Joan of Arc's downfall led most subsequent observers to condemn his extension of secular politics into an ecclesiastical trial...
, became a bishop of Lisieux after her death and is buried in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.
Events
- 4th century: Presence of the Germanic lètes, auxiliaries of the Roman Army, who settled in Lisieux with their families. Their graves have been discovered in the “Michelet” necropolis, some of which contain artefacts typical of northern Germania.
- 1432: Pierre Cauchon, the supreme judge during the trial of Joan of Arc at Rouen became the bishop of Lisieux. He commissioned the building of the side chapel of the cathedral, in which he is now buried.
- 1590: During the Eighth War of Religion, Henri IV had to fight to win back his kingdom. When he arrived at Lisieux he took the town without force, after the garrison had fled the town.
- 1907: The first helicopter flight, piloted by Paul CornuPaul CornuPaul Cornu was a French engineer who manufactured bicycles by trade.French engineer Paul Cornu designed the world's first manned rotary wing aircraft and made the first piloted free flight with it at Lisieux, Calvados, France on November 13, 1907. This first flight lifted Cornu about 30 cm ...
. - 1897: Sister Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, later to become "St. Therese of Lisieux," died in the Carmelite monastery at Lisieux.
- 1925: Sister Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face was canonized.
- 1937: Monseigneur Eugenio Pacelli, papal legate and future Pope Pius XII, visited Lisieux.
- 6/ 7 June 1944: The allied bombardment killed 800 victims and destroyed two thirds of the town.
- 23 August 1944: Liberation by the allied troops.
- 1960: Lisieux merged with the Saint-Jacques commune.
- 2 June 1980: Pope Jean-Paul II visited Lisieux.
Religion
Since the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Lisieux has been the seat of one of the seven Roman Catholic dioceses of Normandy under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical province of Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
. The bishopric was abolished in 1801 before being recreated and merged with that of Bayeux in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux".
The most well known of the Bishops of Lisieux is probably Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon , bishop of Beauvais. A strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War, his role in arranging Joan of Arc's downfall led most subsequent observers to condemn his extension of secular politics into an ecclesiastical trial...
who had a decisive influence during the trial
Trial of Joan of Arc
The Trial of Joan of Arc, which took place before an English-backed church court in Rouen, France in the first half of the year 1431 was, in the minds of many people, one of the most significant and moving trials ever conducted in human history. It culminated in the execution of the person known to...
of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
.
Devotion to Sainte-Thérèse who lived in the nearby Carmelite
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
convent has made Lisieux France's second most important site of pilgrimage, after the Pyrenean
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
town of Lourdes
Lourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
.
Les maires de Lisieux
List of everyone who has held the position of Mayor of Lisieux :| March 2001 | incumbent | Bernard Aubril | UMP | Teacher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 2001 | Yvette Roudy | PS | |
| 1977 | 1989 | André-Eugène Baugé | ||
| 1953 | 1977 | Robert Bisson | ||
| 1945 | 1953 | André Carles | ||
| 1945 | Casimir Hue | |||
| 1936 | 1945 | Albert Degrenne | ||
| 1932 | 1936 | Henry Chéron | Lawyer | |
| 1909 | 1932 | Arthur Lesigne | ||
| 1908 | 1909 | Joseph Guillonneau | ||
| 1894 | 1908 | Henry Chéron]] | Lawyer | |
| 1881 | 1894 | Théodule Peulevey | Industrialist | |
| 1878 | 1881 | Louis Michel | ||
| 1875 | 1878 | Léopold Frauque | ||
| 1871 | 1875 | Jules Prat | ||
| 1853 | 1871 | François Fauque | ||
| 1848 | 1853 | Victor Godefroy | ||
| 1847 | 1848 | Jean-Lambert Fournet | Industrialist | |
| 1842 | 1847 | Adrien-Benjamin Formeville | ||
| 1832 | 1842 | François-Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu | ||
| 1816 | 1832 | Joseph-François de Bellemare | ||
| 1813 | 1816 | Jean-Jacques Nasse | ||
| 1808 | 1813 | Louis-Jacques-Hippolyte Thillaye du Boullay | ||
| 1798 | 1808 | Jean-Jacques Nasse | ||
| 1797 | Guillaume-François Riquier | |||
| 1796 | Pierre Lerebours | |||
| 1795 | Jean-Baptiste Vergé | |||
| 1795 | Michel Bloche | |||
| 1794 | Jean Coessin | |||
| 1793 | Louis-Jean-René Prieur | |||
| 1792 | Michel Bloche | |||
| 1791 | Thomas Gannel | |||
| 1790 | François-Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu | |||
Twin towns
- TauntonTauntonTaunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
(flag - England) - since 1951; - Saint-Georges, QuebecSaint-Georges, QuebecSaint-Georges is a city in the province of Quebec. It is the seat of Beauce-Sartigan Regional County Municipality, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region. The population was 30,113 as of 2009. Route 173 runs through Saint-Georges Est and heads south to the border with Maine, USA...
(Canada) - since 1996 - Saint-Jérôme (Canada)[ref. necessary] - since Jay 2010
Population
Lisieux is set to once again become Calvados' second largest town in terms of population. Its metropolitan area of 45,065 inhabitants is also the second largest of the department.Lisieux (li.zjø) is a commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Calvados
Calvados
The French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...
department in the Basse-Normandie
Basse-Normandie
Lower Normandy is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in northwestern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge
Pays d'Auge
The Pays d'Auge is an area in Normandy, straddling the départements of Calvados and Orne . The chief town is Lisieux.-Geography:Generally it consists of the basin of the Touques River....
area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. The inhabitants of Lisieux are known in France as Lexoviens (male) or Lexoviennes (female).
Geography
Lisieux is situated on the confluence of the river Touques and many of its tributaries: the rivers Orbiquet, Cirieux and Graindain.The town is in the heart of the Pays d'Auge
Pays d'Auge
The Pays d'Auge is an area in Normandy, straddling the départements of Calvados and Orne . The chief town is Lisieux.-Geography:Generally it consists of the basin of the Touques River....
, of which it is the capital. Lisieux is therefore surrounded by Normandy's typical hedged farmland, where there is a mix of livestock farming (mostly milk cows) and cider apple cultivation (from which cider and calvados
Calvados (spirit)
Calvados is an apple brandy from the French région of Basse-Normandie or Lower Normandy.-History:Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known Norman distillation was carried out by "Lord" de Gouberville in 1554, and the guild for cider...
are made, not forgetting pommeau
Pommeau
Pommeau is an alcoholic drink made in northern France by mixing apple juice with apple brandy .It is consumed as an apéritif, or as an accompaniment to melon or blue cheese...
).
Climate
Lisieux has a temperate oceanic humid climate.| Town | Sunshine | Rain | Snow | Storms | Fog | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... |
1,797 h/year | 642mm/year | 15 d/year | 19 d/year | 13 d/year | |
| Nice Nice Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of... |
2,694 h/year | 767mm/year | 1 d/year | 31 d/year | 1 d/year | |
| Strasbourg Strasbourg Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,... |
1,637 h/year | 610mm/year | 30 d/year | 29 d/year | 65 d/year | |
| Lisieux | 1,764 h/year | 711mm/year | 14 d/year | 17 d/year | 54 d/year | |
| National average | 1,973 h/year | 770mm/year | 14 d/year | 22 d/year | 40 d/year | |
The table below shows the temperatures and precipitation for the year 2007 (provided by the Caen-Carpiquet weather station:
| Month | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average max. temperature (°C) | 10.1 | 11.1 | 11.8 | 17 | 17.3 | 20.1 | 21.3 | 21 | 19.3 | 15.3 | 11.5 | 7.9 |
| Average min. temperature (°C) | 4.7 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 6.3 | 9.4 | 11.5 | 12.9 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 7.3 | 5.2 | 1.9 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 7.4 | 8.3 | 7.6 | 11.6 | 13.3 | 15.8 | 17.1 | 16.8 | 14.8 | 11.3 | 8.3 | 4.9 |
| Precipitation (average height in mm) | 45 | 83 | 90 | 23 | 91 | 83 | 135 | 49 | 56 | 39 | 44 | 81 |
The table below shows the record minimum and maximum temperatures:
| Month | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max. recorded temp. (°C) | 16.1 | 20.8 | 24.4 | 26.4 | 30.4 | 34.1 | 36.6 | 38.9 | 33.5 | 27.6 | 19.9 | 17.2 |
| Year of max. temp. | 1993 | 1960 | 1946 | 1984 | 1953 | 2001 | 1952 | 2003 | 1961 | 1985 | 1982 | 1989 |
| Min. recorded temp.(°C) | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 4.7 | 4 | 1.8 | |||||||||
| Year of min. temp. | 1985 | 1956 | 1965 | 1978 | 1955 | 1962 | 1962 | 1974 | 1948 | 1997 | 1989 | 1948 |
Transport
Bus Verts du Calvados
Bus Verts du Calvados is a network of interurban buses in the département of Calvados, France. The network is operated on behalf of the Conseil Général du Calvados by Keolis Calvados, a subsidiary of the French Keolis transport group....
.
There is a train station in Lisieux, which is the connecting station between the Paris-Cherbourg and Paris-Trouville/Deauville main lines, served by Corail
Corail (train)
Corail is the name given to a class of passenger rail cars of the SNCF that first entered commercial service in 1975. When introduced, Corail carriages featured air-conditioning, and superior levels of comfort, suspension and sound-proofing than previous InterCity carriages and gave arguably the...
Intercités Normandie trains. The station is also accessible by the Transport express régional (regional express) trains on the Basse-Normandie and Haute-Normandie routes.
The train station appeared in the film Un singe en hiver by Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who enjoyed a successful career in France.-Biography:...
.
To reach the town by car, the D613 (formerly route nationale 13) from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to Cherbourg crosses the town from east to west. The second main road of Lisieux is the D579, leading to Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...
to the north and the department of Orne
Orne
Orne is a department in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne.- History :Orne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Normandy and Perche.- Geography :Orne is in the region of...
to the south. Lisieux benefits from a bypass, built in the 1990s, running to the south of the town, easing traffic in the town-centre, particularly on boulevard Sainte-Anne.
Toponymy
The name of the town comes from the Gallic tribe which inhabited the region: the LexoviiLexovii
The Lexovii , were a Celtic people, on the coast of Gallia, immediately west of the mouth of the Seine. When the Veneti and their neighbors were preparing for Julius Caesar's attack , they applied for aid to the Osismii, Lexovii, Namnetes, and others. The Lexovii , were a Celtic people, on the...
during Gallo-Roman times. This explains why inhabitants are known as Lexoviens today. The commune was known as Noviomagus (Celtic novio, "new", and magos, "market") or Noviomagus Lexoviorum by the Romans.
Antiquity
Lisieux is the former capital of the Lexovii. In his work, Commentaries on the Gallic War, Caesar mentions a Gallic oppidumOppidum
Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age...
, a term which refers to Celtic towns located on the tops of hills. The oppidum has been pinpointed to a place referred to as le Castellier, located 3 km to the south-west of the town. However the Gallo-Roman city was in fact located where Lisieux is to be found today.
Middle Ages
Lisieux was an important center of power in medieval times. The bishopric of Lisieux controlled most of the Pays d'Auge by the 12th century. King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine are thought to have married at Lisieux in 1152, and the town remained powerful for several centuries afterwards until in the 14th century the triple scourges of the Plague, war and resulting famine devastated Lisieux and reduced its influence. The main judge of Joan of Arc, Pierre CauchonPierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon , bishop of Beauvais. A strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War, his role in arranging Joan of Arc's downfall led most subsequent observers to condemn his extension of secular politics into an ecclesiastical trial...
, became a bishop of Lisieux after her death and is buried in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.
Events
- 4th century: Presence of the Germanic lètes, auxiliaries of the Roman Army, who settled in Lisieux with their families. Their graves have been discovered in the “Michelet” necropolis, some of which contain artefacts typical of northern Germania.
- 1432: Pierre Cauchon, the supreme judge during the trial of Joan of Arc at Rouen became the bishop of Lisieux. He commissioned the building of the side chapel of the cathedral, in which he is now buried.
- 1590: During the Eighth War of Religion, Henri IV had to fight to win back his kingdom. When he arrived at Lisieux he took the town without force, after the garrison had fled the town.
- 1907: The first helicopter flight, piloted by Paul CornuPaul CornuPaul Cornu was a French engineer who manufactured bicycles by trade.French engineer Paul Cornu designed the world's first manned rotary wing aircraft and made the first piloted free flight with it at Lisieux, Calvados, France on November 13, 1907. This first flight lifted Cornu about 30 cm ...
. - 1897: Sister Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, later to become "St. Therese of Lisieux," died in the Carmelite monastery at Lisieux.
- 1925: Sister Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face was canonized.
- 1937: Monseigneur Eugenio Pacelli, papal legate and future Pope Pius XII, visited Lisieux.
- 6/ 7 June 1944: The allied bombardment killed 800 victims and destroyed two thirds of the town.
- 23 August 1944: Liberation by the allied troops.
- 1960: Lisieux merged with the Saint-Jacques commune.
- 2 June 1980: Pope Jean-Paul II visited Lisieux.
Religion
Since the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Lisieux has been the seat of one of the seven Roman Catholic dioceses of Normandy under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical province of Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
. The bishopric was abolished in 1801 before being recreated and merged with that of Bayeux in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux".
The most well known of the Bishops of Lisieux is probably Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon , bishop of Beauvais. A strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War, his role in arranging Joan of Arc's downfall led most subsequent observers to condemn his extension of secular politics into an ecclesiastical trial...
who had a decisive influence during the trial
Trial of Joan of Arc
The Trial of Joan of Arc, which took place before an English-backed church court in Rouen, France in the first half of the year 1431 was, in the minds of many people, one of the most significant and moving trials ever conducted in human history. It culminated in the execution of the person known to...
of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
.
Devotion to Sainte-Thérèse who lived in the nearby Carmelite
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
convent has made Lisieux France's second most important site of pilgrimage, after the Pyrenean
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
town of Lourdes
Lourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
.
Les maires de Lisieux
List of everyone who has held the position of Mayor of Lisieux :| March 2001 | incumbent | Bernard Aubril | UMP | Teacher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 2001 | Yvette Roudy | PS | |
| 1977 | 1989 | André-Eugène Baugé | ||
| 1953 | 1977 | Robert Bisson | ||
| 1945 | 1953 | André Carles | ||
| 1945 | Casimir Hue | |||
| 1936 | 1945 | Albert Degrenne | ||
| 1932 | 1936 | Henry Chéron | Lawyer | |
| 1909 | 1932 | Arthur Lesigne | ||
| 1908 | 1909 | Joseph Guillonneau | ||
| 1894 | 1908 | Henry Chéron]] | Lawyer | |
| 1881 | 1894 | Théodule Peulevey | Industrialist | |
| 1878 | 1881 | Louis Michel | ||
| 1875 | 1878 | Léopold Frauque | ||
| 1871 | 1875 | Jules Prat | ||
| 1853 | 1871 | François Fauque | ||
| 1848 | 1853 | Victor Godefroy | ||
| 1847 | 1848 | Jean-Lambert Fournet | Industrialist | |
| 1842 | 1847 | Adrien-Benjamin Formeville | ||
| 1832 | 1842 | François-Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu | ||
| 1816 | 1832 | Joseph-François de Bellemare | ||
| 1813 | 1816 | Jean-Jacques Nasse | ||
| 1808 | 1813 | Louis-Jacques-Hippolyte Thillaye du Boullay | ||
| 1798 | 1808 | Jean-Jacques Nasse | ||
| 1797 | Guillaume-François Riquier | |||
| 1796 | Pierre Lerebours | |||
| 1795 | Jean-Baptiste Vergé | |||
| 1795 | Michel Bloche | |||
| 1794 | Jean Coessin | |||
| 1793 | Louis-Jean-René Prieur | |||
| 1792 | Michel Bloche | |||
| 1791 | Thomas Gannel | |||
| 1790 | François-Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu | |||
Twin towns
- TauntonTauntonTaunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
(flag - England) - since 1951; - Saint-Georges, QuebecSaint-Georges, QuebecSaint-Georges is a city in the province of Quebec. It is the seat of Beauce-Sartigan Regional County Municipality, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region. The population was 30,113 as of 2009. Route 173 runs through Saint-Georges Est and heads south to the border with Maine, USA...
(Canada) - since 1996 - Saint-Jérôme (Canada)[ref. necessary] - since Jay 2010
Population
Lisieux is set to once again become Calvados' second largest town in terms of population. Its metropolitan area of 45,065 inhabitants is also the second largest of the department.Lisieux (li.zjø) is a commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Calvados
Calvados
The French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...
department in the Basse-Normandie
Basse-Normandie
Lower Normandy is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in northwestern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge
Pays d'Auge
The Pays d'Auge is an area in Normandy, straddling the départements of Calvados and Orne . The chief town is Lisieux.-Geography:Generally it consists of the basin of the Touques River....
area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland. The inhabitants of Lisieux are known in France as Lexoviens (male) or Lexoviennes (female).
Geography
Lisieux is situated on the confluence of the river Touques and many of its tributaries: the rivers Orbiquet, Cirieux and Graindain.The town is in the heart of the Pays d'Auge
Pays d'Auge
The Pays d'Auge is an area in Normandy, straddling the départements of Calvados and Orne . The chief town is Lisieux.-Geography:Generally it consists of the basin of the Touques River....
, of which it is the capital. Lisieux is therefore surrounded by Normandy's typical hedged farmland, where there is a mix of livestock farming (mostly milk cows) and cider apple cultivation (from which cider and calvados
Calvados (spirit)
Calvados is an apple brandy from the French région of Basse-Normandie or Lower Normandy.-History:Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known Norman distillation was carried out by "Lord" de Gouberville in 1554, and the guild for cider...
are made, not forgetting pommeau
Pommeau
Pommeau is an alcoholic drink made in northern France by mixing apple juice with apple brandy .It is consumed as an apéritif, or as an accompaniment to melon or blue cheese...
).
Climate
Lisieux has a temperate oceanic humid climate.| Town | Sunshine | Rain | Snow | Storms | Fog | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... |
1,797 h/year | 642mm/year | 15 d/year | 19 d/year | 13 d/year | |
| Nice Nice Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of... |
2,694 h/year | 767mm/year | 1 d/year | 31 d/year | 1 d/year | |
| Strasbourg Strasbourg Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,... |
1,637 h/year | 610mm/year | 30 d/year | 29 d/year | 65 d/year | |
| Lisieux | 1,764 h/year | 711mm/year | 14 d/year | 17 d/year | 54 d/year | |
| National average | 1,973 h/year | 770mm/year | 14 d/year | 22 d/year | 40 d/year | |
The table below shows the temperatures and precipitation for the year 2007 (provided by the Caen-Carpiquet weather station:
| Month | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average max. temperature (°C) | 10.1 | 11.1 | 11.8 | 17 | 17.3 | 20.1 | 21.3 | 21 | 19.3 | 15.3 | 11.5 | 7.9 |
| Average min. temperature (°C) | 4.7 | 5.5 | 3.5 | 6.3 | 9.4 | 11.5 | 12.9 | 12.6 | 10.3 | 7.3 | 5.2 | 1.9 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 7.4 | 8.3 | 7.6 | 11.6 | 13.3 | 15.8 | 17.1 | 16.8 | 14.8 | 11.3 | 8.3 | 4.9 |
| Precipitation (average height in mm) | 45 | 83 | 90 | 23 | 91 | 83 | 135 | 49 | 56 | 39 | 44 | 81 |
The table below shows the record minimum and maximum temperatures:
| Month | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max. recorded temp. (°C) | 16.1 | 20.8 | 24.4 | 26.4 | 30.4 | 34.1 | 36.6 | 38.9 | 33.5 | 27.6 | 19.9 | 17.2 |
| Year of max. temp. | 1993 | 1960 | 1946 | 1984 | 1953 | 2001 | 1952 | 2003 | 1961 | 1985 | 1982 | 1989 |
| Min. recorded temp.(°C) | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 4.7 | 4 | 1.8 | |||||||||
| Year of min. temp. | 1985 | 1956 | 1965 | 1978 | 1955 | 1962 | 1962 | 1974 | 1948 | 1997 | 1989 | 1948 |
Transport
Bus Verts du Calvados
Bus Verts du Calvados is a network of interurban buses in the département of Calvados, France. The network is operated on behalf of the Conseil Général du Calvados by Keolis Calvados, a subsidiary of the French Keolis transport group....
.
There is a train station in Lisieux, which is the connecting station between the Paris-Cherbourg and Paris-Trouville/Deauville main lines, served by Corail
Corail (train)
Corail is the name given to a class of passenger rail cars of the SNCF that first entered commercial service in 1975. When introduced, Corail carriages featured air-conditioning, and superior levels of comfort, suspension and sound-proofing than previous InterCity carriages and gave arguably the...
Intercités Normandie trains. The station is also accessible by the Transport express régional (regional express) trains on the Basse-Normandie and Haute-Normandie routes.
The train station appeared in the film Un singe en hiver by Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil
Henri Verneuil was a French-Armenian playwright and filmmaker, who enjoyed a successful career in France.-Biography:...
.
To reach the town by car, the D613 (formerly route nationale 13) from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to Cherbourg crosses the town from east to west. The second main road of Lisieux is the D579, leading to Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...
to the north and the department of Orne
Orne
Orne is a department in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne.- History :Orne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Normandy and Perche.- Geography :Orne is in the region of...
to the south. Lisieux benefits from a bypass, built in the 1990s, running to the south of the town, easing traffic in the town-centre, particularly on boulevard Sainte-Anne.
Toponymy
The name of the town comes from the Gallic tribe which inhabited the region: the LexoviiLexovii
The Lexovii , were a Celtic people, on the coast of Gallia, immediately west of the mouth of the Seine. When the Veneti and their neighbors were preparing for Julius Caesar's attack , they applied for aid to the Osismii, Lexovii, Namnetes, and others. The Lexovii , were a Celtic people, on the...
during Gallo-Roman times. This explains why inhabitants are known as Lexoviens today. The commune was known as Noviomagus (Celtic novio, "new", and magos, "market") or Noviomagus Lexoviorum by the Romans.
Antiquity
Lisieux is the former capital of the Lexovii. In his work, Commentaries on the Gallic War, Caesar mentions a Gallic oppidumOppidum
Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age...
, a term which refers to Celtic towns located on the tops of hills. The oppidum has been pinpointed to a place referred to as le Castellier, located 3 km to the south-west of the town. However the Gallo-Roman city was in fact located where Lisieux is to be found today.
Middle Ages
Lisieux was an important center of power in medieval times. The bishopric of Lisieux controlled most of the Pays d'Auge by the 12th century. King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine are thought to have married at Lisieux in 1152, and the town remained powerful for several centuries afterwards until in the 14th century the triple scourges of the Plague, war and resulting famine devastated Lisieux and reduced its influence. The main judge of Joan of Arc, Pierre CauchonPierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon , bishop of Beauvais. A strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War, his role in arranging Joan of Arc's downfall led most subsequent observers to condemn his extension of secular politics into an ecclesiastical trial...
, became a bishop of Lisieux after her death and is buried in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.
Events
- 4th century: Presence of the Germanic lètes, auxiliaries of the Roman Army, who settled in Lisieux with their families. Their graves have been discovered in the “Michelet” necropolis, some of which contain artefacts typical of northern Germania.
- 1432: Pierre Cauchon, the supreme judge during the trial of Joan of Arc at Rouen became the bishop of Lisieux. He commissioned the building of the side chapel of the cathedral, in which he is now buried.
- 1590: During the Eighth War of Religion, Henri IV had to fight to win back his kingdom. When he arrived at Lisieux he took the town without force, after the garrison had fled the town.
- 1907: The first helicopter flight, piloted by Paul CornuPaul CornuPaul Cornu was a French engineer who manufactured bicycles by trade.French engineer Paul Cornu designed the world's first manned rotary wing aircraft and made the first piloted free flight with it at Lisieux, Calvados, France on November 13, 1907. This first flight lifted Cornu about 30 cm ...
. - 1897: Sister Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, later to become "St. Therese of Lisieux," died in the Carmelite monastery at Lisieux.
- 1925: Sister Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face was canonized.
- 1937: Monseigneur Eugenio Pacelli, papal legate and future Pope Pius XII, visited Lisieux.
- 6/ 7 June 1944: The allied bombardment killed 800 victims and destroyed two thirds of the town.
- 23 August 1944: Liberation by the allied troops.
- 1960: Lisieux merged with the Saint-Jacques commune.
- 2 June 1980: Pope Jean-Paul II visited Lisieux.
Religion
Since the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
Lisieux has been the seat of one of the seven Roman Catholic dioceses of Normandy under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical province of Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
. The bishopric was abolished in 1801 before being recreated and merged with that of Bayeux in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux".
The most well known of the Bishops of Lisieux is probably Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon
Pierre Cauchon , bishop of Beauvais. A strong partisan of English interests in France during the latter years of the Hundred Years' War, his role in arranging Joan of Arc's downfall led most subsequent observers to condemn his extension of secular politics into an ecclesiastical trial...
who had a decisive influence during the trial
Trial of Joan of Arc
The Trial of Joan of Arc, which took place before an English-backed church court in Rouen, France in the first half of the year 1431 was, in the minds of many people, one of the most significant and moving trials ever conducted in human history. It culminated in the execution of the person known to...
of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
.
Devotion to Sainte-Thérèse who lived in the nearby Carmelite
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
convent has made Lisieux France's second most important site of pilgrimage, after the Pyrenean
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
town of Lourdes
Lourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
.
Les maires de Lisieux
List of everyone who has held the position of Mayor of Lisieux :| March 2001 | incumbent | Bernard Aubril | UMP | Teacher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 2001 | Yvette Roudy | PS | |
| 1977 | 1989 | André-Eugène Baugé | ||
| 1953 | 1977 | Robert Bisson | ||
| 1945 | 1953 | André Carles | ||
| 1945 | Casimir Hue | |||
| 1936 | 1945 | Albert Degrenne | ||
| 1932 | 1936 | Henry Chéron | Lawyer | |
| 1909 | 1932 | Arthur Lesigne | ||
| 1908 | 1909 | Joseph Guillonneau | ||
| 1894 | 1908 | Henry Chéron]] | Lawyer | |
| 1881 | 1894 | Théodule Peulevey | Industrialist | |
| 1878 | 1881 | Louis Michel | ||
| 1875 | 1878 | Léopold Frauque | ||
| 1871 | 1875 | Jules Prat | ||
| 1853 | 1871 | François Fauque | ||
| 1848 | 1853 | Victor Godefroy | ||
| 1847 | 1848 | Jean-Lambert Fournet | Industrialist | |
| 1842 | 1847 | Adrien-Benjamin Formeville | ||
| 1832 | 1842 | François-Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu | ||
| 1816 | 1832 | Joseph-François de Bellemare | ||
| 1813 | 1816 | Jean-Jacques Nasse | ||
| 1808 | 1813 | Louis-Jacques-Hippolyte Thillaye du Boullay | ||
| 1798 | 1808 | Jean-Jacques Nasse | ||
| 1797 | Guillaume-François Riquier | |||
| 1796 | Pierre Lerebours | |||
| 1795 | Jean-Baptiste Vergé | |||
| 1795 | Michel Bloche | |||
| 1794 | Jean Coessin | |||
| 1793 | Louis-Jean-René Prieur | |||
| 1792 | Michel Bloche | |||
| 1791 | Thomas Gannel | |||
| 1790 | François-Pierre Leroy-Beaulieu | |||
Twin towns
- TauntonTauntonTaunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
(flag - England) - since 1951; - Saint-Georges, QuebecSaint-Georges, QuebecSaint-Georges is a city in the province of Quebec. It is the seat of Beauce-Sartigan Regional County Municipality, part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region. The population was 30,113 as of 2009. Route 173 runs through Saint-Georges Est and heads south to the border with Maine, USA...
(Canada) - since 1996 - Saint-Jérôme (Canada)[ref. necessary] - since Jay 2010
Population
Lisieux is set to once again become Calvados' second largest town in terms of population. Its metropolitan area of 45,065 inhabitants is also the second largest of the department.Sights
About 60 percent of the town was destroyed in 1944, so few of the monuments have been preserved.Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux
The Basilica of Sainte-Thérèse de LisieuxBasilica of St. Thérèse (Lisieux)
The Basilica of St. Thérèse of Lisieux is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica dedicated to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Located in Lisieux, France, the large basilica can accommodate 4,000 people, and, with more than two million visitors a year, is the second largest pilgrimage site in...
was constructed in honour of Sainte-Thérèse de Lisieux, who was beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
in 1923 and canonized
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
in 1925. It was built for pilgrims who came in increasing numbers to venerate the new saint in the town where she had lived and died.
Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet
As its name indicates, the Château de Saint-Germain-de-Livet is situated in the communeCommunes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Saint-Germain-de-Livet
Saint-Germain-de-Livet
Saint-Germain-de-Livet is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-History:The famous chateau at Saint-Germain-de-Livet, now open to the public, was built by the Tournebu family between 1561 and 1578.-Population:-References:*...
. It is to be found opposite the village church which dates from the 19th century. The château
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
has been owned by the town of Lisieux since 1958 when it was donated by the Riesener family.
From an architectural point of view the château comprises a half-timbered manor dating from the 15th century and a glazed brick and stone building from the Pré-d'Auge
Le Pré-d'Auge
-References:*...
dating from the end of the 16th century.
The chateau combines medieval
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
elements and is surrounded by a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
and a peacock garden.
Saint-Pierre Cathedral
Lisieux’s Saint-Pierre Cathedral is a rare monument which survived the 1944 allied bombardment. Even though the cathedral has been around since the 6th century, the church we see today must have been constructed between 1160 and 1230 by Bishop Arnoul.From the outset, the architect designed quadripartite rib vaults and flying buttresses, making it one of Normandy’s first gothic buildings. The nave is fairly austere and is inspired by the Gothic style of the Île de France whereas the most recent parts of the building were constructed in the 18th century (the chevet, the lantern tower
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
and the western façade) in Norman style.
It is wrongly claimed that Henry
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, the Count of Anjou
Anjou
Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
, the Duke of Normandy and the future king of England married Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
at the cathedral in 1152. Having been involved in the trial of Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
, Pierre Cauchon was in fact named as Bishop of Lisieux in 1432 and is buried there.
Personalities
Births- Jean-Baptiste Laumonier (1749–1818), surgeon ;
- Thomas de Frondeville (1750–1816), politician ;
- Paul-Louis Target (1821–1908), politician;
- Henry Chéron (1867–1936), mayor of Lisieux (1894–1908 and 1932–1936) and several times a minister under the French Third RepublicFrench Third RepublicThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
; - Jean DerodeJean DerodeCapitaine Jean Marie Emile Derode was a World War I flying ace credited with seven aerial victories.Derode began the war as a dragoon, but switched to aviation in 1915. He was posted to Escadrille 67 to pilot a Nieuport. He staked an unconfirmed claim on 16 October 1916, and followed it up with...
(1887-1918), World War I flying aceFlying aceA flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
and military hero; - Jean Charles Contel (1895–1928), painter;
- Michel MagneMichel MagneMichel Magne born 20 March 1930, Lisieux, Calvados, France died 19 December 1984, Cergy-Pontoise, Val-d'Oise of suicide was a French film and experimental music composer. He was nominated in 1962 for an Academy Award and Golden Globe award for scoring the Jackie Gleason film Gigot...
(1930–1984), composer (film music) ; - Matthieu Lagrive (1979-), endurance motorbike rider;
- Nicolas BatumNicolas BatumNicolas Batum is a French basketball player with SLUC Nancy of the Ligue Nationale de Basketball. He is also under contract with the Portland Trail Blazers, and is expected to return to that team once the 2011 NBA lockout ends. The Blazers acquired his rights during the 2008 NBA Draft for the...
(1988-), a promising young French basketball player, currently playing with the Portland Trail BlazersPortland Trail BlazersThe Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the...
; - Chloé MortaudChloé MortaudChloé Mortaud is a French beauty pageant contestant who won Miss France 2009. She represented the Albigeois-Midi-Pyrénées, a southwest region of France, and became the first winner of the Miss France beauty pageant to have dual citizenship, French and American...
(1989-), elected Miss France in 2009, lived in Lisieux until she was ten.
Deaths
- César RuminskiCésar RuminskiCésar-Jean Ruminski was a French football goalkeeper. He was of Polish descent.-References:*...
(1924–2009), international footballer.