Mortain

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Mortain

Mortain is a commune in the Manche

Manche

Manche is a France Departments of France in Normandy named after La Manche , which is the French language name for the English Channel....
department in Normandy

Normandy

France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
.

ain is situated on a rocky hill rising above the gorge of the Cance, a tributary of the Sélune

Selûne

Sel?ne is a fictional goddess in the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons. Also known as Our Lady of Silver and the Moonmaiden, she is the Faer?nian goddess of light, the moon, stars, navigation, navigators, wanderers, questers, and goodly Lycanthrope ....
.

ain is the seat of a canton

Cantons of France

The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 342 Arrondissements of France and 100 Departments of France.Apart from their role as organizational units in certain aspects of the administration of public services and justice, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as Constituency for the election of...
. It is a former subprefecture of the Manche department and the seat of the former arrondissement of Mortain, which existed from 1790 to 1926.

ain was, in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
, the head of an important county (comté), reserved for the reigning house of Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the coast of France south of the English Channel between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands....
(see List of Counts of Mortain
List of Counts of Mortain

The County of Mortain was a medieval county in France centered on the town of Mortain. A choice landholding, usually either kept within the family of the Duke , or more often it was granted to a Lord in return for royal service and favor....
).

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Geography

Mortain is situated on a rocky hill rising above the gorge of the Cance, a tributary of the Sélune

Selûne

Administration

Mortain is the seat of a canton

Cantons of France

History

Mortain was, in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

Normandy

Richard I of Normandy

Richard I of Normandy was the Duke of Normandy from 942 to 996; he is considered the first to actually have held that title. He was called Richard the Fearless ....
. He was succeeded by William Warlenc ("the waning") who was probably his son. In or about 1049 Duke William took it from William Warlenc and bestowed it on his half-brother, Robert

Robert, Count of Mortain

Robert, Count of Mortain was the half-brother of William I of England.Robert was the son of Herluin de Conteville and Herleva and was full brother to the infamous Odo of Bayeux....
, thenceforth known as "count of Mortain," whose vast possessions in England

England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
after the Conquest (1066) gave name to "the small fees of Mortain," which owed less feudal service than others. Robert was succeeded as count by his son William, Count of Mortain

William, Count of Mortain

William de Mortaigne, Count of Mortain was the son of Robert, Count of Mortain, the half-brother of William I of England.From childhood, he harbored a dislike for his cousin Henry I of England, and proudly demanded from him not only his father's earldoms of Count of Mortain and Earl of Cornwall, but his uncle's Earl of Kent....
, who rebelled against Henry I

Henry I of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror. He succeeded his elder brother William II of England as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106....
, was captured at the battle of Tinchebrai (1106) and forfeited his possessions. Some years later, Henry bestowed the comtéship on his nephew Stephen

Stephen of England

Stephen often known as Stephen of Blois was a grandson of William I of England. He was the last Norman dynasty King of England, from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne jure uxoris....
, who became king in 1135. On Stephen's death (1154) his surviving son William became count of Mortain, but when William died childless in 1159 the title was resumed by Henry II. On the accession of Richard I

Richard I of England

Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Ireland, Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Nantes and Brittany at various times during the same period....
(1189) he granted it to his brother John

John of England

John reigned as List of English monarchs from 6 April 1199, until his death. He succeeded to the throne as the younger brother of King Richard I of England, who died without issue....
, who was thenceforth known as count of Mortain until he ascended the throne (1199). With his loss of Normandy the comté was lost, but after the recapture of the province by the House of Lancaster, Edmund Beaufort, a grandson of John of Gaunt, was created count of Mortain and so styled till 1441, when he was made earl of Dorset

Earl of Dorset

The title Earl of Dorset has been created at least four times in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1411 for Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter, who was later created Duke of Exeter....
.

In August 1944, Mortain was the site of an important battle between the German and American forces. Over a period of six nights the 30th Infantry Division fought valiantly (with one radio with dying batteries) against the German Panzer counter-attack of Operation Lüttich

Operation Lüttich

Operation L?ttich was a codename given to a Nazi Germany counterattack during the Battle of Normandy, which took place around the American positions near Mortain from 7 August to 13 August, 1944....
, to preserve the breakout established in Operation Cobra

Operation Cobra

Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the First United States Army eight weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy Campaign of World War II....
. Famed author J.D. Salinger fought alongside the American forces - an experience in which his daughter claims led to post-traumatic syndrome.

Sights

The parish church of St Evroult is a magnificent example of the transitional style of the early 13th century. Close to the town is the Abbaye Blanche

Abbaye Blanche

Abbaye Blanche, or the White Abbey, was founded in 1112 in Mortain, France. It is part of the C?teaux Abbey.Shortly after establishing an abbey for men called Holy Trinity of Savigny, Vitalis of Savigny, founder of the monastic order of Savigny, set up Abbaye Blanche for women....
, founded as a Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy....
convent in 1105 and soon afterwards affiliated to Citeaux. The church is a perfect example of a Cistercian monastic church of the late 12th century, and portions of the 12th-century cloister

Cloister

A cloister is a covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that face a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church usually indicates that it is part of a monastic foundation....
s also survive. The ruins of a castle was once the home of the cruel Sir Guillaume de Mortain and the site of the Gap of Goeblin.

Personalities

Mortain was the birthplace of Ferdinand André Fouqué

Ferdinand André Fouqué

Ferdinand Andr? Fouqu? was a France geologist and petrology.He was born at Mortain, in the Manche d?partement in France.At the age of twenty-one he entered the ?cole Normale in Paris, and from 1853 to 1858 he held the appointment of keeper of the scientific collections....
(1828-1904), geologist

Geologist

For other uses, see Geologist .A geologist is a contributor to the science of geology, studying the physical structure and processes of the Earth and planets of the solar system ....
and petrologist

Petrology

In geology, petrology is the study of Rock s, and the conditions in which they form. Lithology once was approximately synonymous with petrography, but in current usage, lithology is a subdivision of petrology focusing on macroscopic hand-sample or outcrop-scale description of rocks, while petrography is the speciality that deals with m...
.

Twin towns

Mortain is twinned with:

Thannhausen
Thannhausen

Thannhausen is a town in the G?nzburg , in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Mindel, 24 km southeast of G?nzburg, and 33 km west of Augsburg....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
Blandford Forum
Blandford Forum

Blandford Forum is a small historic market town on the River Stour, Dorset in the North Dorset district of Dorset, England noted for its Georgian architecture....
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....