commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. It is notable as the signing-place in 1539 of the '' Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts'' discontinuing the use of Latin in official French documents, and as the birthplace in 1802 of French novelist Alexandre Dumas '' père''.
Geography
It is located NE of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
Laon
Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
History
Early history
The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. ...
. Its nickname ''Petite villa sur la côte de Retz'' means ''Little villa by the coast of Retz'', as the town is situated next to the Forest of Retz, which covers of land.
Francis I of France
Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin on ...
('François Ier'), which made French the official language in the kingdom instead of regional languages like Occitan or the elite European lingua franca of the time,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
.
In 1914, the British Expeditionary Force fought a rearguard action here during the Retreat from Mons. On 1 September, the British 4th ( Guards) Brigade who were covering the withdrawal of 2nd Division, came into contact with the leading units of the German III Corps on the edge of woodland near Villers-Cotterêts. The brigade lost more than 300 men in the encounter, but were able to break away and continue the withdrawal. Many are buried at Guards' Grave, a military cemetery maintained by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...
. An ancillary hospital to that of
Royaumont
Royaumont Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey, located near Asnières-sur-Oise in Val-d'Oise, approximately 30 km north of Paris, France.
History
It was built between 1228 and 1235 with the support of Louis IX. Several members of the Fren ...
was set up in the town and a silent documentary about it was made.
La Plaine Saint-Rémy, Pisseleux, was an ancient commune that was merged with Villers-Cotterêts in 1971.
Population
The inhabitants are called ''Cottevreziens'' in French.
Notable residents
*
Charles Baur
Charles Baur (20 December 1929, Paris – 2 January 2015) was a French politician. He served as the longtime President of the Regional Council of Picardy from 1976 until 1978 and again from 1985 to 2004. He was a member of the Union for French De ...
(1929–2015), Mayor of Villers-Cotterêts (1953–1989), President of the Regional Council of Picardy (1976–1978, 1985–2004)
Sports
The town was the start of Stage 4 in the
2007 Tour de France
The 2007 Tour de France the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 to 29 July. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain. It was ...
.
Sights
The original château was built around 950 AD and was burnt to the ground twice before being rebuilt out of stone in the early 12th century. The front entrance is the only original remaining structure, which is listed with the Historic Monument Registry at the École des Beaux Arts. Francis I purchased the château from the de Noüe family to house his mistress
Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly
Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly (), Duchess of Étampes, (15081580) was chief mistress of Francis I of France. She became Francis' mistress following his return from captivity in 1526. Anne enriched her family and friends through her courtly influen ...
. The was updated with 18th-century
régence
The ''Régence'' (, ''Regency'') was the period in French history between 1715 and 1723 when King Louis XV was considered a minor and the country was instead governed by Philippe d'Orléans (a nephew of Louis XIV of France) as prince regen ...
decoration by
Gilles-Marie Oppenordt
Gilles-Marie Oppenordt (27 July 1672 – 13 March 1742) was a celebrated French designer at the '' Bâtiments du Roi'', the French royal works, and one of the initiators of the Rocaille and Rococo styles, nicknamed "the French Borromini".Gie ...
. The current owner is the Pépinières du Valois, an agricultural venture.
In 1902 the city opened a Museum Alexandre Dumas to gather souvenirs about the family. In 1952 the museum moved to a local 19th century mansion that served as General Maunoury's headquarters during the First World War. It has three rooms, each of them dedicated to one of the family members,Page du musée sur le site internet de la mairie /ref> being Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, his son novelist Alexandre Dumas ''père'' and grandson novelist/playwright Alexandre Dumas ''fils''.
See also
*
Communes of the Aisne department
The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):King Francis I signed the '' Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts''.
File:2012--DSC 0208-Hôtel-de-Ville-de-Villers-Cotterêts.jpg, Villers-Cotterêts town hall
Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
