Jonquerets-de-Livet (), also ''Les Jonquerets-de-Livet'' (), is a former commune in the

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.department in

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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of

Mesnil-en-Ouche Mesnil-en-Ouche (, literally '' Mesnil in Ouche'') is a commune in the department of Eure, northern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the 16 former communes of Ajou, La Barre-en-Ouche, Beaumesnil (the sea ...

. It incorporates the village of ''Livet-en-Ouche'', once known simply as ''Livet''.

Etymology

Mentioned as ''Lived'' in the 11th century. For "L'ivet" with article

agglutination In linguistics, agglutination is a morphological process in which words are formed by stringing together morphemes, each of which corresponds to a single syntactic feature. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglutinative la ...

. (Northern) French ''if'' ( Yew-tree) and suffixe ''-etu(m)'' > ''-ey / -oy /-ay'' > ''-aie'', used to mean "collection of trees", so that Livet means "yew grove" (''l'ivaie'' in modern French). The qualificative of the former name ''-en-Ouche'', means "in the

Pays d'Ouche The Pays d'Ouche (, literally ''Land of Ouche'') is an historical and geographical region in Normandy. It extends from the southwest of Évreux up to Bernay and Beaumont-le-Roger as a northern limit, and down to L'Aigle and to Gacé in the south. ...

", a traditional region of Normandy, to make the difference with other Livets, like Livet-sur-Authou. In 1845, the commune was incorporated in a new one, together with ''Les Jonquerets'' (''Les Junchereiz'' 1209 "The brooms place"), called ''Les Jonquerets de Livet''.

History

The de Livet family, feudal under-tenants of the barony of the de Ferrières family (centered on that family's seat at Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire, located a scant four miles from Jonquerets-de-Livet), originated in Livet-en-Ouche. Descendants of one branch of this family became the

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman ...

es of Barville in France (de Livet de Barville). Louis-François de Livet portrait

The Norman French branch of the de Livet family counts among its members early knights ( chevaliers), church officials (including Guillaume de Livet, a judge at the trial of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

), Canon of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

Robert de Livet (who excommunicated King

Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the ...

during his siege of Rouen, after which de Livet was imprisoned for five years in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

) chevalier

banneret A knight banneret, sometimes known simply as banneret, was a medieval knight ("a commoner of rank") who led a company of troops during time of war under his own banner (which was square-shaped, in contrast to the tapering standard or the penn ...

Jean de Livet (standard bearer to King

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...

in 1215) and early

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

. Many de Livet family members were associated with the

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, a medieval chivalric order founded to protect pilgrims to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

. The de Livets were among the ancient noble families (noblesse ancienne, or Noblesse d'épée) of France.Role Normands, Nobiliaire universel de France: ou Recueil général des généalogies historiques des maisons nobles de ce royaume, Volume 6
Nicolas Viton de Saint-Allais, Réimprimé à la Librairie Bachelin-Deflorenne, Paris, 1874 The family's name appears in the earliest records of Normandy. One branch of the family later became the Marquis de Livet de Barville. Another branch was named the hereditary controllers of the rivers and waterways of Normandy in the 13th century, reflected in the use of an anchor on that branch of the family's French

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

. The family traditionally bore as their coat of arms three molettes d'or (gold) on a blue (azure) background. Another branch of the family settled at Arentot in Ourville (now Arantot, hamlet at Ourville-en-Caux). Georges de Livet, a member of this branch of the de Livet family, was killed at the

battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; french: Azincourt ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 ( Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected English victory against the numeric ...

in 1415. The last member of this branch of the family, who died without descendants, was comte Constantin Augustin Robert de Lyvet,

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Ourville, who died in 1924. During the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...

of England, a branch of the de Livet family followed the de Ferrers (later the

Earls of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

) to England, along with the Curzons (

Notre-Dame-de-Courson Notre-Dame-de-Courson () is a former commune in the department of Calvados in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Livarot-Pays-d'Auge. History Notre-Dame-de-Courson fell in mediev ...

) and the Baskervilles (''Basqueville'', now Bacqueville-en-Caux), who were also under-tenants of the old Ferrieres fiefdom in Normandy. The name of this branch of the de Livet family was anglicized into the name

Levett Levett is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories. Origins This surname comes from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, no ...

, Levet, Lyvet, Livett, Leavett and its variants.

Population

Sights

File:Saint-Martin de Livet-en-Ouche.jpg, Statue of Saint-Martin on the former emplacement of the Livet-en-Ouche church File:If funéraire de Livet-en-Ouche.jpg, Old Yew in the former Churchyard of Saint-Martin File:Jonquerets-de-Livret-Eglise-02.JPG, Notre Dame Church of Les Jonquerets *Thousand year old yew-tree in the former Churchyard, near the destroyed Saint-Martin church in the hamlet ''Livet''. Statue of Saint Martin near the old yew. The church was demolished around 1835. *16th-century Gothic Notre-Dame church in Les Jonquerets. Chancel rebuilt in the 19th century *Half-timbered manor, 16th and 18th centuries. *Presshouse 17th century (see above).

References

External links