Avranches (; nrf, Avraunches) is a commune in the Manche department, and the region of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''.

History

By the end of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

period, the settlement of ''Ingena'', capital of the Abrincatui tribe, had taken the name of the tribe itself. This was the origin of the name ''Avranches''. In 511 the town became the seat of a bishopric (suppressed in 1790) and subsequently of a major Romanesque cathedral dedicated to Saint Andrew, Avranches Cathedral, which was dismantled during the French revolutionary period. As the region of Brittany emerged from the Roman region of Armorica, Avranchin was briefly held by

Alan I, King of Brittany Alan I (french: Alain; died 907), called the Great,F. McNair (2015), "Vikings and Bretons? The Language of Factional Politics in Late Carolingian Brittany", ''Viking and Medieval Scandinavia'' 11: 183–202. was the Count of Vannes and Duke of Br ...

as part of the Kingdom of Brittany at the turn of the 10th century. The regions that later became the Duchies of

and Brittany each experienced devastating Viking raids, with Brittany occupied by Vikings from 907 to 937. In 933 Avranches and its territory, the Avranchin, were ceded to the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

. Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, a magnate under

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

, was the son of Richard le Goz, Vicomte d'Avranches. In 1172 (September 27–28) a council was held at Avranches in response to the murder of

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 *Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature *Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 1066 ...

Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and the ...

. Henry II, King of England, after due

penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of repentance for sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. It also plays a part ...

done at Avranches on 21 May 1172, was absolved from the censures incurred by the assassination of the holy prelate and reached the Compromise of Avranches with the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

, swearing fidelity to Pope Alexander III in the person of the

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

. The same council was forbidden to confer on children

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

, carrying with it the cure of souls, or on the children of priests for the churches of their fathers. Each parish was required to have an assistant (vicarius), and the Advent fast was commended to all who could observe it, especially to ecclesiastics. The town was damaged in both the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...

and the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

. Álvaro Vaz de Almada was made 1st

Count of Avranches This is a list of the counts of Avranches, a French fief in the Middle Ages. House of Almada *1445–1449 Álvaro Vaz de Almada, 1st Count of Avranches, KG (created by Henry VI of England); Avranches was lost to France soon after *1476&nda ...

by King

Henry VI of England Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne ...

on August 8, 1444.

Modern era

The town lost some influence after the

French revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, period during which the Bishophood was abolished, the bailif was removed, primary and secondary schools were closed. The town was also occupied and raided by troops both pro-republican and anti-revolutionary (Chouans). However, in 1802 the Avranches diocese was restored as part of the Diocese of Coutances. Many English families settled here after the

Treaty of Paris (1814) The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, following an armistice signed on 23 April between Charles, Count of Artois, and the allies. The treaty set the bord ...

. A literary description of the town in the 19th century is recorded in

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

's novel ''Notre Cœur'', when the main character Mariolle meets his lover and sets out for

Mont Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and ...

:
''The houses crowning the heights gave to the place from a distance the appearance of a fortification. Seen close at hand, it was an ancient and pretty Norman city, with small dwellings of regular and almost similar appearance built closely adjoining one another, giving an aspect of ancient pride and modern comfort, a feudal yet peasant-like air.'' Normandie Manche Avranches1 tango7174

The liberation of Avranches during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

was led by General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

and began on 31 July 1944. On 1 January 2019, the former commune Saint-Martin-des-Champs was merged into Avranches.

Geography

Avranches is situated at the southern end of the Cotentin Peninsula on the E40 road connecting Saint-Lô with

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

and on the rail line between

Lison Lison () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Population Notable people * Fernande Albany (1889 – 1966), actress, born in Lison. Today There is a train station, Lison station, which ...

(linking to Caen) and Dol (linking to Rennes). The town was founded on high ground overlooking the dunes and coastal marshes along the bay forming the corner between the peninsulas of the Cotentin and Brittany. From Avranches, it is possible to see the

, which was founded by Saint Aubert, Bishop of Avranches in the 8th century.

Population

Sights

A museum
Le Scriptorial
houses the collection of manuscripts of Mont Saint-Michel, deposited in the municipal archives during the French Revolution. It is one of the largest collections of medieval illuminated manuscripts in France, outside national and university libraries. Formerly dominated by the cathedral, where Henry II did penance, an open grassed area ''La Plate-Forme'' overlooking the bay towards Mont Saint-Michel displays only a few remnants of the destroyed building. The major church Notre Dame des Champs (Avranches) was constructed in Gothic Revival style in the 19th century to restore the religious life of the town after the destruction of the cathedral. A smaller church Saint Gervais houses a treasury, best known for the purported skull of Saint Aubert complete with hole where the archangel Michael's finger pierced it (probably a prehistoric trepanned skull). The botanical gardens were founded in the grounds of the former Franciscan convent in the late 18th century. The expansion and introduction of exotic species in the 19th century and the location of the gardens overlooking the bay made the gardens an important sight in the town. The Manoir de Brion, an ancient Benedictine priory of Mont Saint-Michel, is located in Dragey. Avranches is twinned with St. Helier in Jersey. On 2 March 2010 a Jersey-registered boat "Archangel" succeeded in reaching Avranches at Marcey-les-Grèves. It is believed this was the first instance of a foreign vessel reaching Avranches in modern times.
Image:Avranchescathedrale1.jpg, Notre Dame des Champs File:Normandie Manche Avranches3 tango7174.jpg, Notre-Dame-des-Champs,
Stations of the Cross File:Normandie Manche Avranches4 tango7174.jpg, Saint-Gervais Basilica File:Normandie Manche Avranches5 tango7174.jpg, Saint-Gervais Basilica,
Skull of Saint Aubert

Sport

US Avranches L’Union Sportive Avranches Mont Saint Michel is a French football club based in Avranches, in the department of Manche, and founded in 1897. Since 2014 it plays in the Championnat National, the third tier of French football. The club has been ...

is based in the commune.

Twin towns

* Saint-Gaudens, France, since the autumn of 1944, when the town of Saint-Gaudens,

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...

fraternally assisted Avranches by giving clothing and food to it * Korbach, Germany, since 1963 * Saint Helier, Jersey, since 1982 *

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorwa ...

, United Kingdom, since 1993

Births

Avranches was the birthplace of: * General Jean-Marie Valhubert (1764–1805) * Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour (1827–1896), statesman * Jean-Luc Ponty (born 1942),

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

* Samuel Le Bihan (born 1965), a movie actor. * Hamon de Massey, Norman lord in the barony of Chester.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Communes of Manche Subprefectures in France Gallia Lugdunensis