Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne (; , ; Upper Vienne) is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve départements that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The prefecture an ...
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
of
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...
, west central France. It is a
subprefecture
A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province.
Albania
There are twelve Counties of Albania, Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several Districts of Albania, district ...
of the department.
The name of the town comes from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''roca cavardi'', which roughly translates as the rock of Cavardus, the lord who had the fortified place built at the beginning of the 11th century. More often than not, natives pronounce it , not as is its pronunciation in
Standard French
Standard French (in French: , , or ) is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language. It is a set of spoken and written formal varieties used by the educated francophones of several nations around the world.
As French is ...
.
History
Aymeric I, who lived around 990, was the first viscount and established the Rochechouartais dynasty. Aymeric IV took part in the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...
at the end of the 11th century at the side of
Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon (; ; ; ; 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a preeminent leader of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100. Although initially reluctant to take the title of king, he agreed to rule as pri ...
, and it was Aymeric VI (1170–1230) who built the present castle, the Château de Rochechouart, the keep and gatehouse of which remain standing.
At the end of the 13th century, Aimeric XI renounced a large part of his privileges and promulgated a
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
of enfranchisement which transformed Rochechouart into a democratic city, and turned its inhabitants from slaves to the state into citizens. The city was from then on governed by four consuls who chose their own successors, without their lord's intervention. At the same time the viscount suppressed all direct taxes such as the "
taille
The ''taille'' () was a direct land tax on the French peasantry and non-nobles in ''Ancien Régime'' France. The tax was imposed on each household and was based on how much land it held, and was paid directly to the state.
History
Originally ...
" and the "quête" and abolished duties of service to the feudal lord. He also accorded the inhabitants of Rochechouart the essential conditions for total liberty – they could dispose of their goods, buy or sell, import and export whatever they wanted, build, move about freely within the viscountcy, all without intervention from their lord. This Charter was very advanced for its times, and despite pressure from the other lords in the region, it remained in force until 1789. François de Rochechouart in the late 15th century is known for his study on the ''Dialogues'' of
Pierre Salmon
Pierre Salmon (–1424) was a French clergyman, courtier and diplomat under Charles VI of France, Charles VI.
Salmon was educated at a university. He was in the royal service by 1395. In 1396, he accompanied Charles VI's daughter Isabella of Valo ...
, the secretary of
Charles VI of France
Charles VI (3 December 136821 October 1422), nicknamed the Beloved () and in the 19th century, the Mad ( or ''le Fou''), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychosis, psychotic episodes t ...
. Before the French Revolution, Rochechouart administratively depended on the Province of Poitou, the viscounts of Rochechouart being vassals of the
Count of Poitiers
Among the people who have borne the title of Count of Poitiers (, ; or ''Poitou'', in what is now France but in the Middle Ages became part of Aquitaine) are:
*Bodilon
*Saint Warinus, Warinus (638–677), son of Bodilon
*Hatton (735-778)
Car ...
, and religiously, it was under the control of the diocese of
Limoges
Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...
.
Geography
Rochechouart is situated at the confluence of the rivers Grêne and Vayres on the Plateau of Limousin, about above sea level. It is about south of
Saint-Junien
Saint-Junien (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. Its sister city is Jumet, Belgium.
History
The history of Saint-Junien began in AD 500, when an ascetic of Hungarian orig ...
, the second largest town in the department of
Haute-Vienne
Haute-Vienne (; , ; Upper Vienne) is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve départements that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The prefecture an ...
, and west of Limoges, the largest town and capital of the department. To the west lie the communes of Pressignac and Chassenon in the department of
Charente
Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, and also the r ...
, to the north lie the communes of Saillat-sur-Vienne and Chaillac-sur-Vienne, to the east lies Saint-Auvent and to the south Vayres.
The walled town of Rochechouart is overlooked by the château and houses a museum, the "Espace Meteorite Paul Pellas" which commemorates the meteorite crater. The château was taken over by the community in 1832 and now houses the town hall as well as a modern art collection, the "Musée Départmental d'Art Contemporain".
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
that crashed into the Earth's surface about 205 million years ago, in the
Rhaetian
The Rhaetian is the latest age (geology), age of the Triassic period (geology), Period (in geochronology) or the uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Triassic system (stratigraphy), System (in chronostratigraphy). It was preceded by the N ...
period, shortly before the
Triassic
The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...
boundary characterized by a massive
extinction event
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp fall in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It occ ...
in which 80% of the world's species were obliterated.
House of Rochechouart
The House of Rochechouart (; ) is the oldest noble family in France. This powerful dynasty of the Carolingian era dates back to Foucher, supporter of Charles the Bald, who became viscount (''vicomte'') of Limoges in 876. His descendants—Limo ...