La Ferté Macé
La Ferté Macé (French pronunciation: [la fɛʁte mase] ⓘ) is a commune in the Orne department, region of Normandy, northwestern France.
La Ferté Macé | |
|---|---|
 L'Avenue Thiers; l'église Notre-Dame (church of Our Lady) | |
.svg.png.webp) Coat of arms | |
Location of La Ferté Macé | |
  La Ferté Macé  La Ferté Macé | |
| Coordinates: 48°35′36″N 0°21′22″W | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Normandy |
| Department | Orne |
| Arrondissement | Argentan |
| Canton | La Ferté-Macé |
| Intercommunality | CA Flers Agglo |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Michel Leroyer[1] |
| Area 1 | 31.86 km2 (12.30 sq mi) |
| Population | 5,138 |
| • Density | 160/km2 (420/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Fertois, Fertoises |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 61168 /61600 |
| Elevation | 165–203 m (541–666 ft) |
| Website | www |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
History
During the First World War, the village housed a military detention camp, the Dépôt de Triage. Among others, the American poet E. E. Cummings and his friend William Slater Brown, then volunteers in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps in France, were held there between September 21, 1917 and December 19 of the same year, on charges of "espionage". This was based on their having expressed anti war opinions. Cummings' experiences in the camp at La Ferté-Mace were the basis for his novel, The Enormous Room.[3] The three-building complex, with a church and two classroom buildings, had previously served as a seminary and lycée. 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.[4]
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 is the first lord. He certainly built this fortress on the order of the Duke of Normandy.
Mathieu (or Macé),who is said to have given his name to the city, was a companion of William the Conqueror in Hastings in 1066; he was one of the first lords of Ferté-Macé.
The fortress, gradually becoming populated by the inhabitants' search for stately protection, serves as a link to the fortified belt protecting the Duchy of Normandy from the thirsts for conquest of its powerful neighbours, the King of France and the Duke of Anjou. With the integration of the Anglo-Norman domain with Anjou, the Plantagenet 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 special assassin: a pig who had eaten the infant of the mason Souvet in the village. This was common in the Middle Ages, where several excommunications of murderous pigs were reported for 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, 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 a good 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.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 6,368 | — |
| 1975 | 7,041 | +1.45% |
| 1982 | 6,852 | −0.39% |
| 1990 | 7,038 | +0.34% |
| 1999 | 6,797 | −0.39% |
| 2007 | 6,215 | −1.11% |
| 2012 | 5,850 | −1.20% |
| 2017 | 5,237 | −2.19% |
| Source: INSEE[5] | ||
Notable buildings and places
- Bleuenn garden is a 1000m² garden that was opened to the public in 1997, featuring over 500 species of plants.[6][7] The name 'Bleuenn' means little flower in Celtic.[8]
- Ridrel garden is a 1500ha garden that is open to the public, featuring a mix of several styles of garden, English, French, Cottage and contemporary.[9]
National heritage sites
- Church of Our Lady of the Assumption a nineteenth Centuary church that was classed as a Monument historique in 1978.[10]
Twin towns
Ludlow, Shropshire, England[11]
Savoigne, Senegal[12]
Neustadt am Rübenberge, Germany[12].svg.png.webp)
Saint-Maurice, Quebec, Canada
Heraldry
Arms of La Ferté-Macé |
The arms of La Ferté-Macé are blazoned : Gules, a beehive and a shuttle bendwise sinister Or.
|
References
- "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
- "Populations légales 2020". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 29 December 2022.
- The Enormous Room, Gutenberg Project
- Arrêté préfectoral, 12 January 2016 (in French)
- Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
- "A La Ferté-Macé, le jardin Bleuenn sera ouvert au profit de Baclesse début juin". actu.fr. 27 May 2023.
- "Jardin Bleuenn LA FERTÉ MACÉ : Normandy Tourism". Normandy Tourism, France.
- "Jardin Bleuenn - Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France". www.parcsetjardins.fr.
- "Jardin du Ridrel - Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France". www.parcsetjardins.fr.
- "Eglise Notre-Dame de l'Assomption à La Ferté-Macé - PA00110806". monumentum.fr.
- Ludlow Town Council Archived 2018-02-21 at the Wayback Machine Ludlow's Twin Towns
- "Mairie de la Ferté Macé et sa commune (61600)". Annuaire-Mairie. 26 April 2023.
