Orne
Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.department in north-western
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune
Gouffern en Auge
Gouffern en Auge (, literally ''Gouffern in Pays d'Auge, Auge'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former com ...
.Arrêté préfectoral 6 October 2016 It was the seat of the county of Hiémois (French: '' Comté d'Hiémois''), granted before his death in 1027 by
Richard II, Duke of Normandy
Richard II (died 28 August 1026), called the Good (French: ''Le Bon''), was the duke of Normandy from 996 until 1026.
Life
Richard was the eldest surviving son and heir of Richard the Fearless and Gunnor. He succeeded his father as the ruler o ...
, to his younger son, Robert, who eventually succeeded as
Duke of Normandy
In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles the Simple in 911. In 924 and again in 933, N ...
. In 1136, Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, led an expedition against Exmes and burned parts of the town, including the church of Notre Dame.
Herbert de Losinga
Herbert de Losinga (died 22 July 1119) was the first Bishop of Norwich. He founded Norwich Cathedral in 1096 when he was Bishop of Thetford.
Life
Losinga was born in Exmes, near Argentan, Normandy, the son of Robert de LosingaDoubleday and Pa ...
,
Bishop of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary (Catholic Church), ordinary of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Norwich, Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. Th ...
(c. 1095–1119), was born in Exmes as well was
François Le Prévost d'Exmes
François Le Prévost d'Exmes (29 September 1729 in ExmesIn Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department ...
(1729–1793), an 18th-century playwright.
Toponymy
Attested apparently first from
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...
times, the name is of
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
origin, with many parallels in other placenames and words.
Heraldry
See also
*
Communes of the Orne department
The following is a list of the 381 communes of the Orne department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):