Alençon
Encyclopedia
Alençon is a commune
in Normandy
, France, capital of the Orne
department. It is situated 105 miles (169 km) west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people).
between Normandy
and the Maine regions. In 1047, William Duke of Normandy, later known as William the Conqueror and king of England, laid siege
to the town. The citizens insulted William by hanging animal skins from the walls, in reference to his ancestry as the illegitimate son of Duke Robert and a tanner's daughter. On capturing the town, William had a number of the citizens' hands cut off in revenge. Alençon was occupied by the English during the Anglo-Norman wars of 1113 to 1203.
The city became the seat of a dukedom
in 1415, belonging to the sons of the King of France until the French Revolution
, and some of them played important roles in French history: see Duke of Alençon. The French Revolution
caused relatively little disorder in this area although there were some royalist uprisings nearby.
The fabric industry gave birth to the famous point d'Alençon
lace. The economic development of the nineteenth century and the industrial boom was generated by several factories (mills), and transport networks (roads and railways) developed. In the first half of the twentieth century the city developed a flourishing printing
industry.
Alençon was home to Marie-Azélie Guérin Martin
and Louis Martin
, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. They were the first spouses in the history of the Catholic Church to be proposed for sainthood as a couple, in 2008. Zélie and Louis were married at the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Alençon on 12 and spent their whole married life in Alençon, where Thérèse was born and spent her early childhood years until the death of her mother. http://www.thereseoflisieux.org/cause/
On 17 June 1940 the German Army
took occupation of Alençon. On 12 August 1944 Alençon was the first French city to be liberated by the French Army
under General Leclerc, after minor bomb damage.
After the war the population sharply increased and new industries settled. Many of these were related to plastics and the town is now a major plastics educational centre.
called point d'Alençon
.
Today, Alençon is home to a prosperous plastics industry, and, since 1993, to a plastics engineering school.
MPO Fenêtres is a local PVC windows company established in Alençon since 1970, is one of the first company in Alençon with around 170 employees (2009) and a turnover of 28 million euros in 2008. It is also the oldest French PVC windows company still in activity.
(motorway/freeway) with the nearby cities of Le Mans
to the south (Sarthe
) and Rouen
(Haute-Normandie
) to the north.
The A88 autoroute is due for completion by the end of 2010 and will link the A28 just north of Alençon to the coastal port of Caen
.
A comprehensive town bus system operates from 7:00 to 19:00.
There is a comprehensive network of cycle paths.
with:
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 Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, France, capital of the 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...
department. It is situated 105 miles (169 km) west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people).
History
It was probably during the fourth century, while the area was being Christianised, that the city of Alençon was founded. The name is first seen in a document dated in the seventh century. During the tenth century, Alençon was a buffer stateBuffer state
A buffer state is a country lying between two rival or potentially hostile greater powers, which by its sheer existence is thought to prevent conflict between them. Buffer states, when authentically independent, typically pursue a neutralist foreign policy, which distinguishes them from satellite...
between Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
and the Maine regions. In 1047, William Duke of Normandy, later known as William the Conqueror and king of England, laid siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
to the town. The citizens insulted William by hanging animal skins from the walls, in reference to his ancestry as the illegitimate son of Duke Robert and a tanner's daughter. On capturing the town, William had a number of the citizens' hands cut off in revenge. Alençon was occupied by the English during the Anglo-Norman wars of 1113 to 1203.
The city became the seat of a dukedom
Duchy
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
in 1415, belonging to the sons of the King of France until the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, and some of them played important roles in French history: see Duke of Alençon. The French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
caused relatively little disorder in this area although there were some royalist uprisings nearby.
The fabric industry gave birth to the famous point d'Alençon
Alençon lace
Alençon lace or point d'Alençon is a needle lace that originated in Alençon, France. It is sometimes called the "Queen of lace." Lace making began in Alençon during the 16th century and the local industry was rapidly expanded during the reign of Louis XIV by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who established a...
lace. The economic development of the nineteenth century and the industrial boom was generated by several factories (mills), and transport networks (roads and railways) developed. In the first half of the twentieth century the city developed a flourishing printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
industry.
Alençon was home to Marie-Azélie Guérin Martin
Marie-Azélie Guérin Martin
Blessed Marie-Azélie "Zélie" Martin née Guérin was a French laywoman and the mother of Saint Thérèse de Lisieux. Her husband was Blessed Louis Martin.-Early life:...
and Louis Martin
Louis Martin (blessed)
Blessed Louis Martin was a French layman and the father of Saint Thérèse de Lisieux. His wife was Blessed Marie-Azélie Guérin.-Early life:...
, the parents of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. They were the first spouses in the history of the Catholic Church to be proposed for sainthood as a couple, in 2008. Zélie and Louis were married at the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Alençon on 12 and spent their whole married life in Alençon, where Thérèse was born and spent her early childhood years until the death of her mother. http://www.thereseoflisieux.org/cause/
On 17 June 1940 the German Army
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
took occupation of Alençon. On 12 August 1944 Alençon was the first French city to be liberated by the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
under General Leclerc, after minor bomb damage.
After the war the population sharply increased and new industries settled. Many of these were related to plastics and the town is now a major plastics educational centre.
Heraldry
Economy
In the seventeenth century Alençon was chiefly noted for its laceLace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
called point d'Alençon
Alençon lace
Alençon lace or point d'Alençon is a needle lace that originated in Alençon, France. It is sometimes called the "Queen of lace." Lace making began in Alençon during the 16th century and the local industry was rapidly expanded during the reign of Louis XIV by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who established a...
.
Today, Alençon is home to a prosperous plastics industry, and, since 1993, to a plastics engineering school.
MPO Fenêtres is a local PVC windows company established in Alençon since 1970, is one of the first company in Alençon with around 170 employees (2009) and a turnover of 28 million euros in 2008. It is also the oldest French PVC windows company still in activity.
Transport
Alençon is linked by the A28 autorouteAutoroutes of France
The Autoroute system in France consists largely of toll roads, except around large cities and in parts of the north. It is a network of worth of motorways. Autoroute destinations are shown in blue, while destinations reached through a combination of autoroutes are shown with an added autoroute logo...
(motorway/freeway) with the nearby cities of Le Mans
Le Mans
Le Mans is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans. Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region.Its inhabitants are called Manceaux...
to the south (Sarthe
Sarthe
Sarthe is a French department, named after the Sarthe River.- History :The department was created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790, pursuant to the law of December 22, 1789, starting from a part of the province of Maine which was divided into two departments, Sarthe to the east and...
) and 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...
(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...
) to the north.
The A88 autoroute is due for completion by the end of 2010 and will link the A28 just north of Alençon to the coastal port of Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
.
A comprehensive town bus system operates from 7:00 to 19:00.
There is a comprehensive network of cycle paths.
People
Alençon was the birthplace of:- Marie-Catherine de VilledieuMarie-Catherine de VilledieuMarie-Catherine de Villedieu, born Marie-Catherine Desjardins and generally referred to as Madame de Villedieu was a French writer of plays, novels and short fiction...
, (1640–1683), novelist - Pierre AllixPierre AllixPierre Allix was a French Protestant pastor and author.-Life:Born in 1641 in Alençon, France, he became a pastor first at Saint-Agobile Champagne, and then at Charenton, near Paris. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 compelled him to take refuge in London where, under the sanction of...
(1641–1717), Protestant pastor and author - Daniel BalavoineDaniel BalavoineDaniel Balavoine was a French singer and songwriter. He was hugely popular in the French-speaking world, and inspired many singers in the 1980s, such as Jean-Jacques Goldman, and Michel Berger, his closest friend...
(1952–1986), singer and songwriter - Edme CastaingEdme CastaingEdme Castaing was a French physician and is thought to have been the first person to use morphine to commit murder.-Early life:Castaing was born in Alençon, France, the youngest of...
(1796–1824), doctor and murderer - Jacques HébertJacques HébertJacques René Hébert was a French journalist, and the founder and editor of the extreme radical newspaper Le Père Duchesne during the French Revolution...
(1757–1794), editor of the extreme radical newspaper Le Père DuchesneLe Père DuchesneLe Père Duchesne was an extreme radical newspaper during the French Revolution, edited by Jacques Hébert, who published 385 issues from September 1790 until eleven days before his death by guillotine, which took place on March 24, 1794...
during the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years... - Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (1755–1834), botanist
- Juste LischJuste LischJean Juste Gustave Lisch was a French architect.A native of Alençon, Lisch studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and was pupil of Léon Vaudoyer and Henri Labrouste. His architectural career was geared towards civic work: stations, public buildings, churches, and restoration of monuments.Juste...
(1828–1910), architect - Thérèse de LisieuxThérèse de LisieuxSaint Thérèse of Lisieux , or Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, born Marie-Françoise-Thérèse Martin, was a French Carmelite nun...
(1873–1897), Roman Catholic nun who was canonisedCanonizationCanonization 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...
as a saintSaintA saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
, and is one of only 33 Doctors of the ChurchDoctor of the ChurchDoctor of the Church is a title given by a variety of Christian churches to individuals whom they recognize as having been of particular importance, particularly regarding their contribution to theology or doctrine.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, this name is given to a saint from whose... - Auguste Poulet-MalassisAuguste Poulet-MalassisPaul Emmanuel Auguste Poulet-Malassis was a French printer and publisher who lived and worked in Paris. He was also a long standing friend and the printer/publisher of Charles Baudelaire.-Biography:...
(1825–1878), publisher and friend of Baudelaire - Laurence LeboucherLaurence LeboucherLaurence Leboucher is a French professional cross-country mountain bike and cyclo-cross racer. She is a three-time Olympian and two-time world cyclo-cross champion.- Major achievements :...
(22 February 1972), French female cyclist - Anthony GeslinAnthony GeslinAnthony Geslin is a French professional road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team .He was born in Alençon and became a professional in 2002, when he signed with the Bonjour team...
(9 June 1980), French cyclist - Arnold MvuembaArnold MvuembaArnold Makengo Mvuemba is a French footballer who plays for FC Lorient as a midfielder.-Career:Born in Alençon, Orne, Mvuemba was signed by Premier League team Portsmouth on loan from Stade Rennais in January 2007 until May 2007, with an option to complete a permanent deal...
footballer - Marie-Azélie Guérin MartinMarie-Azélie Guérin MartinBlessed Marie-Azélie "Zélie" Martin née Guérin was a French laywoman and the mother of Saint Thérèse de Lisieux. Her husband was Blessed Louis Martin.-Early life:...
(1831–1877), the mother of St. Thérèse of Lisieux who, along with her husband Louis MartinLouis Martin (blessed)Blessed Louis Martin was a French layman and the father of Saint Thérèse de Lisieux. His wife was Blessed Marie-Azélie Guérin.-Early life:...
, is one of the few married couples ever to be beatified by the Catholic Church.
Twin towns – sister cities
Alençon is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with:
- BasingstokeBasingstokeBasingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...
in the United Kingdom - KoutialaKoutialaKoutiala is a city in Mali in the administrative region of Sikasso. Koutiala serves as the capital of its administrative Cercle, home to 355,289 people. As of 2005, Koutiala has an estimated 96,600 residents and an area of 18 000 km²...
in Mali - Braine-l'AlleudBraine-l'AlleudBraine-l'Alleud is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant, about 20 kilometers south of Brussels. The Braine-l'Alleud municipality includes the former municipalities of Braine-l'Alleud proper, Ophain-Bois-Seigneur-Isaac, and Lillois-Witterzée. It also includes...
in Belgium - QuakenbrückQuakenbrückQuakenbrück is a town in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hase. It is part of the Samtgemeinde of Artland....
in Germany
See also
- Alençon laceAlençon laceAlençon lace or point d'Alençon is a needle lace that originated in Alençon, France. It is sometimes called the "Queen of lace." Lace making began in Alençon during the 16th century and the local industry was rapidly expanded during the reign of Louis XIV by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who established a...
- Communes of the Orne department
- Gare d'AlençonGare d'AlençonAlençon is a railway station in Alençon, Basse-Normandie, France. The station opened on 15 March 1856 and is located on the Le Mans–Mézidon railway line...
External links
- Official town website
- Alençon Tourist Office
- Web site about the life, writings, spirituality, and mission of St. Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, who was born in Alencon on 2 January 1873; information about the life of her family in Alencon and about pilgrimages to Alencon
- Alencon's citizen portal