La Ferté Macé () is a commune in the

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, region of

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, northwestern

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 ...

History

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the village housed a military detention camp called the ''Dépôt de Triage''. Among others, the American poet

E. E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), commonly known as e e cummings or E. E. Cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. During World War I, he worked as an ambulance driver and was ...

and his friend William Slater Brown, then volunteers in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps in France, were held there between 21 September 1917, and 19 December of the same year, on charges of "espionage". This was based on their having expressed

anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

opinions. Cummings' experiences in the camp at La Ferté-Macé were the basis for his novel, '' The Enormous Room''. The three-building complex, with a church and two classroom buildings, had previously served as a seminary and

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

. The prisoners were kept on the top floor of the largest building, which was open and spanned most of the floor. On 12 January 2016, the former commune Antoigny was merged into La Ferté-Macé, and the spelling of the new municipality was changed to La Ferté Macé.

In the Middle Ages

The Château de la Ferté-Macé was built in the first half of the 11th century on a feudal clod. Geoffrey was the first lord and built this fortress on the order of the

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 ...

. Mathieu (or ''Macé),'' who is said to have given his name to the city, was a companion of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

in Hastings in 1066; he was one of the first lords of Ferté-Macé. The fortress gradually became populated by the inhabitants' search for stately protection. It served as a link to the fortified belt protecting the Duchy of Normandy from the potential conquest of its powerful neighbours, the

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...

and the Duke of Anjou. With the integration of the Anglo-Norman domain with Anjou, the

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet ( /plænˈtædʒənət/ ''plan-TAJ-ə-nət'') was a royal house which originated from the French county of Anjou. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses: the Angev ...

empire was further strengthened against the King of France. In 1205, with the conquest of Normandy by King Philippe-Augustus and his attachment to the Kingdom of France, Ferté-Macé became a royal barony. Guillaume de la Ferté, son of Mathieu (another Mathieu) and Gondrède, who had opposed Philippe-Augusteat the time, abandoned his barony and left to join Jean sans Terre in England. The lord of ferté thus becomes the King of France, who entrusts the barony sometimes to a supporter of the Crown, sometimes to a lord administrator of another domain in the name of the King. In 1386, a criminal trial in Falaise sentenced to death a pig who had eaten the infant of the mason Souvet in the village. Such excommunications of murderous pigs was common in the Middle Ages. Several instances were reported by the city of Rouen alone and their hanging for similar reasons. In the 15th century the castle was destroyed. There is only a large square, located in height on the feudal clod; originally called the "Castle Square", it was recently renamed ''Neustadt-am-Rübenberge'' square in honour of the German town of

Neustadt am Rübenberge Neustadt am Rübenberge (; ) is a town in the Hanover (district), district of Hannover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. At , it is the 9th largest settlement in Germany by area (following Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne), though only about 45,000 inhabita ...

, which was twinned with La Ferté-Macé. Only the bell tower of the Romanesque church, adjoining the great Church of Our Lady, is preserved from medieval times. Ferté-Macé survived until the 18th century as a small town of around one thousand inhabitants, living in handicrafts and local trade. This craft, already in the form of home weaving, was a precursor to the following century when the city became a major textile centre.

Population

The population data given in the table below refer to the commune in its geography as of January 2020.

Notable buildings and places

*Bleuenn garden is a 1000m² garden that was opened to the public in 1997, featuring over 500 species of plants. The name 'Bleuenn' means little flower in

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 ...

. *Ridrel garden is a 1500ha garden that is open to the public, featuring a mix of several styles of garden, English, French,

Cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

and contemporary.

National heritage sites

*Church of Our Lady of the Assumption is a nineteenth century church that was classed as a

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

in 1978.

Transport

La Ferté Macé station has rail connections to

Argentan Argentan () is a commune and the seat of two cantons and of an arrondissement in the Orne department in northwestern France. As of 2019, Argentan is the third largest municipality by population in the Orne department.

and Bagnoles-de-l'Orne.

Notable People

* Jean-Pierre Brisset - (1837 – 1919) a French outsider writer died and was buried here. *

- (1894 – 1962), an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright, was held here during World War one for three and a half months in a military detention camp, the Dépôt de Triage. *

Jean-Marie Louvel Jean-Marie Louvel (; 1 July 1900 – 13 June 1970) was a French engineer and politician. He was born in La Ferté-Macé and died in Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the ...

- (1900 – 1970) a French engineer and politician, was born here. * Franck Goldnadel - (born 1969) is a French

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and former director of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, was born here.

Twin towns

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, EnglandLudlow Town Council
Ludlow's Twin Towns * Savoigne,

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

* Saint-Maurice,

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada

Heraldry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Ferte-Mace Fertemace Gardens in Orne Monuments historiques of Orne Orne communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia