Falaise () is a commune in the Calvados

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in the

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 ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in northwestern France.

Geography

Falaise lies on the river Ante, a tributary of the river Dives, about southeast of

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000, Falaise, as it is sited today, probably came into being around the castle. The town was the birthplace of

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 House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

, first of the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

Kings of England. He was frequently referred to as William the Bastard, on account of his being born out of wedlock to

Herleva Herleva ( 1003 – c. 1050) was an 11th-century Norman woman known for having been mother of William the Conqueror, born to an extramarital relationship with Robert I, Duke of Normandy, and also of William's prominent half-brothers Odo of Bayeux ...

from Falaise, reputedly a tanner's daughter. The

Château de Falaise The Château de Falaise is a castle from the 12th-13th century, located in the south of the commune of Falaise ("cliff" in French) in the ''département'' of Calvados, in the region of Normandy, France. William the Conqueror, the son of Duke Rob ...

(12th–13th century), which overlooks the town from a high crag (french: falaise), was formerly the seat of the

Dukes 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 III in 911. In 924 and again in 933, Normandy ...

. Also, the Treaty of Falaise was signed at the castle in December 1174 between the captive

William I 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 1087 ...

King of Scots The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, the first King of Scots was Kenneth I MacAlpin (), who founded the sovereign state, state in 843. Historically, the Kingdom of Scotland is thoug ...

, and the Plantagenet King of England, Henry II. The town was also the place that Rabbi Yom Tov of Falaise, grandchild of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

, held his rabbinical court. On 26 October 1851, a

statue of William the Conqueror The statue of William the Conqueror is located in his birthplace, Falaise, Calvados, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) southeast of Caen, France. It depicts William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and King of England, on a horse, and is surrounded by ...

was inaugurated here (at his place of birth).

World War II

In modern times, it is known for the battle of the Falaise Pocket during the Allied reconquest of France (called

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

) in August 1944 in which two German armies were encircled and destroyed by the Allied armies. Some 10,000 German troops were killed and 50,000 taken prisoner. Two-thirds of Falaise was destroyed by Allied bombing before the town was taken by a combined force of Canadian and Polish troops. Falaise was largely restored after the war.

Population

International relations

Falaise has been twinned with

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

in Oxfordshire, England, since 1974; Bad Neustadt an der Saale in Germany since 1969;

Cassino Cassino () is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Southern Italy, at the southern end of the region of Lazio, the last city of the Latin Valley. Cassino is located at the foot of Monte Cairo near the confluence of the Gari and Liri rive ...

in Italy since 1975; and Alma, Quebec in Canada since 1969.

Geography

World War II

Population

International relations

See also