Montchauvet (Yvelines)
| Montchauvet | ||
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| region | Île-de-France | |
| Department | Yvelines | |
| Arrondissement | Mantes-la-Jolie | |
| Canton | Bonnières-sur-Seine | |
| Community association | Pays Houdanais | |
| Coordinates | 48 ° 52 ' N , 1 ° 35' E | |
| height | 62-131 m | |
| surface | 7.98 km 2 | |
| Residents | 285 (January 1, 2017) | |
| Population density | 36 inhabitants / km 2 | |
| Post Code | 78790 | |
| INSEE code | 78417 | |
| Website | communes.com/montchauvet | |
 Church Sainte-Madeleine |
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Montchauvet is a French commune in the department of Yvelines in the region Ile-de-France . Administratively, the municipality is assigned to the canton of Bonnières-sur-Seine and the arrondissement of Mantes-la-Jolie .
The village is located around 15 kilometers southwest of Mantes-la-Jolie and has 285 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017).
geography
Montchauvet is located in the natural Mantois landscape on the western edge of the Yvelines department. The municipal area is strongly characterized by agriculture, with mainly grain and rapeseed being grown. The forested area along the watercourses takes up around 20% of the community area. At the foot of the village, the ru d'Ouville stream flows into the Vaucouleurs . In the estuary there is a risk of flooding above the valley after heavy rainfall. The center of the village stands on a former underground quarry and Montchauvet is therefore one of the 101 submerged communities in the Yvelines department that is under close observation by the Versailles prefecture .
The village is set back on the départementale D11 route , which connects Bréval with Saint-Cyr-l'École . The settlement area is concentrated in the center of the village and there are no large buildings in the municipality.
history
The place name Montchauvet is interpreted as mont chauve . The Latin word Mons means "mountain" and calvetus is the diminutive form of calvus (dt. "Bald"). The municipal coat of arms, which shows, among other things, two bats (French: chauves-souris ) suggests something different here. During the Gallo-Roman period , Montchauvet was crossed by a road that crossed the plain of Versailles and Septeuil from Lutetia to Évreux .
In the 12th century, the place was fortified at the behest of the French King Louis the Fat . The castle was in the years 1133–1136 by Amalrich III. built by Montfort . The inner city wall was also built at the same time. In 1318, the French king Philip V transferred the rights of the city to the county of Evreux . In 1340, Count Karl von Évreux, who later became King Charles the Evil of Navarre , inherited Montchauvet. The Hundred Years War was raging in France at that time and Charlemagne had allied himself with England against France. In the battle of Cocherel in 1364 he was selected by Bertrand du Guesclin , a commander in the service of the French king Charles V , defeated. Du Guesclin pursued the fleeing to Montchauvet, where there was another slaughter. In 1378 Charles V let the city, which had lost its strategic value after the front line had been relocated, razed. At the behest of the successor Charles VI. the city was fortified again and the church and the village center were restored.
King Louis XI. awarded the city to Louis de Brézé in 1483 . Louis de Brézé's marriage to Diane de Poitiers (known as the mistress and confidante of King Henry II of France ) gave birth to their daughter Louise, who was married to Claude de Lorraine , Duke of Aumale . Their son and new owner of the castle, Charles I. de Lorraine, was a leader of the Holy League and was defeated in 1590 in the battle of Ivry Henry IV of France . But the duke refused to submit and continued to resist. Finally, in 1595, Henry IV also had the castle of Montchauvet razed.
On the night of December 1st to 2nd, 1909, a hurricane damaged the church tower. The unsuccessful demolition of the remains of the tower on May 25, 1910 caused further damage to the church and even to the neighboring houses. In 1912, Jean Richepin , the mayor of the Château des Trois Fontaines , who was a poet and member of the Académie française , had the tower reconstructed.
During the invasion of Normandy on June 8, 1944, a British military plane crashed over Montchauvet. All six inmates, including Royal Australian Air Force pilot JE Todd , were killed. The victims were buried in the local cemetery.
Population development
| year | 1936 | 1946 | 1954 | 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2008 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents | 221 | 219 | 207 | 193 | 193 | 185 | 202 | 236 | 254 | 294 | 273 |
Attractions
- The Sainte-Marie-Madeleine church whose nave and choir date from the 12th and 13th centuries. The tower with a square floor plan was reconstructed in 1912.
- The Romanesque stone bridge Pont de l'Arche in the west of the village spans the ru d'Ouville stream and was built under Philippe Auguste (around 1200).
- The remains of the Porte de Bretagne from the 12th century bear witness to one of the original three city gates of the outer belt of fortifications.
- The Rue du Massacre is a street recalls the names of the 1,364 committed in Montchauvet carnage during the Hundred Years War. It is said to have claimed several hundred deaths.
- The 16th century Château des Trois Fontaines borders the neighboring municipality of Dammartin-en-Serve . Today it is used privately, is extensively fenced and cannot be visited.
- A restored lavoir .
- The ruins of the donjon from the 12th century. A modern restoration was deliberately avoided. The hill under the keep was stabilized to prevent a landslide. Behind the donjon, a fortification wall stretches towards the forest. However, this cannot be seen from the outside and access to the site is prohibited. There are two tales surrounding the place: On the one hand, former monks from Montchauvet are said to have buried a treasure under the donjon and, on the other, Huguenots are said to have hoarded coins and other valuables in a hiding place in the village.
literature
- Le Patrimoine des Communes des Yvelines. Volume 1, Flohic Editions, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-84234-070-1 , pp. 324-327.
