The Vexin is a historical county of 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...

. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank of the Seine

Seine

The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...

 comprising an area east-to-west between Pontoise

Pontoise

Pontoise is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise.-Administration:...

 and Romilly-sur-Andelle

Romilly-sur-Andelle

Romilly-sur-Andelle is a commune in the Eure department in northern France.-Population:-References:*...

 (about 20 km before Rouen), and north-to-south between Auneuil

Auneuil

Auneuil is a small town in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-References:*...

 and the Seine near Vernon

Vernon, Eure

Vernon is a commune in the department of Eure in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.It lies on the banks of the Seine River, about midway between Paris and Rouen...

. The plateau is crossed by the Epte

Epte

The Epte is a river in Seine-Maritime and Eure, in Normandy, France. It is a right tributary of the Seine.The river rises in Seine-Maritime in the Pays de Bray, near Forges-les-Eaux...

 and the Andelle

Andelle

The Andelle is a river of Normandy, France, in length, flowing through the departments of Seine-Maritime and Eure.- Geography :The Andelle has its source in the Pays de Bray in the territory of the commune of Serqueux...

 river valleys.

History

The name of the Vexin is derived from a name for a Gaulish tribe now known as the Veliocasses

Veliocasses

In pre-Roman Gaul the Gaulish tribe of Veliocasses or Velocasses controlled a large area in the lower Seine valley, which retains a trace of their name, as the Vexin. According to Julius Caesar' Commentary on the Gallic Wars the Veliocasses participated in the tribal coalition of Belgae that...

 that inhabited the area and made 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...

 their most important city.

The Norse

Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...

 nobleman Rollo of Normandy

Rollo of Normandy

Rollo , baptised Robert and so sometimes numbered Robert I to distinguish him from his descendants, was a Norse nobleman of Norwegian or Danish descent and founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Normandy...

 (ca. 846–ca. 931), the first ruler of the Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

 principality that became Normandy, made several incursions into the western half of the county. He halted his actions when the Carolingian

Carolingian

The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...

 king Charles III of France

Charles the Simple

Charles III , called the Simple or the Straightforward , was the undisputed King of France from 898 until 922 and the King of Lotharingia from 911 until 919/23...

, called "Charles the Simple," abandoned the part of the territory that Rollo occupied under the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911. The terms of the treaty established the Duchy of Normandy

Duchy of Normandy

The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...

 and fixed its boundary with the Kingdom of France along the river Epte. This divided the county of Vexin into two parts:

• Norman Vexin (Vexin normand), which became part of the Duchy of Normandy
  Duchy of Normandy
  The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...
  
   bounded by the rivers Epte, Andelle
  Andelle
  The Andelle is a river of Normandy, France, in length, flowing through the departments of Seine-Maritime and Eure.- Geography :The Andelle has its source in the Pays de Bray in the territory of the commune of Serqueux...
  
   and Seine
  Seine
  The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
  
  .
• French Vexin (Vexin français), which remained part of the Île-de-France province
  Île-de-France (province)
  The province of Île-de-France or Isle de France is an historical province of France, and the one at the centre of power during most of French history...
  
   bounded by the rivers Epte, Oise
  Oise River
  The River Oise is a right tributary of the River Seine, flowing for 302 km in Belgium and France. Its source is in the Belgian province Hainaut, south of the town Chimay. It crosses the border with France after about 20 km. It flows into the Seine in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris...
  
   and Seine.

Geography

Today, the Vexin is shared by parts of five departments of France: Val-d'Oise

Val-d'Oise

Val-d'Oise is a French department, created in 1968 after the split of the Seine-et-Oise department and located in the Île-de-France region. In local slang, it is known as "quatre-vingt quinze" or "neuf cinq"...

 and Yvelines

Yvelines

Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...

 in the Île-de-France

Île-de-France (région)

Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....

 region; Oise

Oise

Oise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

 in the Picardie

Picardie

Picardy is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northern part of France.-History:The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais, via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department...

 region ; and Eure

Eure

Eure is a department in the north of France named after the river Eure.- History :Eure is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...

 and Seine-Maritime

Seine-Maritime

Seine-Maritime is a French department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre...

 in the Haute-Normandie

Haute-Normandie

Upper Normandy is one of the 27 regions of France. It was created in 1984 from two départements: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Normandy was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. This division continues to provoke controversy, and some continue to call for reuniting the two regions...

 region. The major towns are Pontoise

Pontoise

Pontoise is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise.-Administration:...

, Vernon

Vernon, Eure

Vernon is a commune in the department of Eure in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.It lies on the banks of the Seine River, about midway between Paris and Rouen...

, Meulan-en-Yvelines, Gisors

Gisors

Gisors is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located northwest from the center of Paris.Gisors, together with the neighbouring communes of Trie-Château and Trie-la-Ville, form an urban area of 12,669 inhabitants...

, and Les Andelys

Les Andelys

Les Andelys is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Geography:It lies on the Seine, about 35 km northeast of Évreux.The commune is divided into two parts, Grand-Andely and Petit-Andely.-Population:-Sights:...

. The plateau is primarily an agricultural region with some manufacturing located in the valleys.

The French Impressionist

Impressionism

Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...

 artists Monet and Van Gogh painted the wheat fields of Vexin.

A regional nature park was established in the French Vexin in 1995.