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samedi 30 juin 2012

L' "ETNA"... C'EST NOUS !

Comme le disait ma fille Hervine ( qui passe actuellement d'agréables vacances en SICILE) : " On comprend mieux pourquoi certains seigneurs normands, notamment ceux du Cotentin, se sont installés dans ces îles et au sud de l'Italie et y ont fait souche plutôt que de choisir le brouillard de l'Angleterre..."

En ce qui nous concerne ( je veux parler de ma femme et de moi...) nous allons nous ré-envoler le 5 juillet pour la région de CAPRI où nous espérons - comme d'habitude - la douceur du climat et de magnifiques paysages sans parler de l'amabilité des habitants !  

Nous y resterons une quinzaine de jours. 

Si les banques italiennes n'ont pas toujours les disponibilités qui leur sont nécessaires la population possède par contre de gros avantages... que je vous laisse deviner !

lundi 25 juin 2012

A VOT'E BON COEUR M'SIEUR, DAMES !

A l'occasion de cette lecture épisodique de mon "blog", je vous engage à consulter mes livres publiés et à éventuellement les commander en tapant mon site "ecrivain normand"  (*) ou faire de même pour mes cartes en "3 D" sur la Bataille de Normandie sur le site "bataille de normandie"...
(*) à l'exception de mon dernier roman historique écrit à " quatre mains" avec Daniel Ballon. Je veux parler du premier tome du "REVEIL DE L'AIGLE" publié en 2012. Le second tome paraîtra au début de 2013...

jeudi 21 juin 2012

LE GENERAL... ET LES VICTIMES FRANCAISES...

J'ai soumis cet article de "Marianne" au général ESQUIVIE (***) pour lui demander son avis. Voici ce qu'il me répond ...



« Merci pour cette info... Rien à dire sur le fond de cet article....et je pense comme Merchet qu'une instruction conforme aux normes républicaines doit intégrer une audition par le juge pour connaitre la version de l'embuscade côté Taliban et j'ajouterai que le juge n'a probablement pas fait de service militaire, donc va porter des jugements sur ce qu'il ignore....et en bonne logique politiquement recevable le Tribunal devrait conclure que les militaires n'auraient pas dû sortir ce jour là voire qu'ils n'auraient jamais dû être en Afghanistan et … in fine, qu'un militaire , par mesure de précaution ne devrait pas être engagé dans des zones de combat.....

La judiciarisation de la société atteint des sommets de non sens grave.. !

En revanche je m'incline devant la peine des parents de ces soldats auxquels on a conseillé ce mauvais procès comme si cela était de nature à faire revenir ces jeunes ...ou les venger...et je puis parler car notre fils Guillaume est parti il y a un mois en Afghanistan avec son régiment le 40 RA qui dans les premiers jours de présence a perdu trois hommes...

C'est dur à vivre pour des parents...mais je dois dire que le premier à nous rassurer est notre fils lui-même qui nous envoie des messages très toniques avec la conviction de participer avec ses camarades à une mission importante..
Que Dieu les garde !

Jean-Louis ESQUIVIE »

EXCELLENT CAMEMBERT !!

J'ai dégusté cette semaine un excellent CAMEMBERT ( où ce qui ressemblait le plus à la recette ancestrale de feue Madame HAREL !). Il avait toutes les qualités d'un savoureux et gouleyant fromage au lait cru.

 Suivant les conseils de mon grand-père ( lui-aussi Augeron !) je l'avais mis à affiner dans du papier journal puis dans un récipient en terre, à l'air libre ...

Après environ quinze à vingt jours de ce traitement d'exception, j'ai mangé un excellent produit. 

Il provenait des Fromageries GRAINDORGE et plus spécialement de la petite unité située à quelques encablures de CREVECOEUR en Pays d'Auge.  Le "Domaine de Saint-Loup"... où règne la famille MESLON.

Je me suis alors souvenu de ce que m'avait confié en substance mon ami Philippe LEPETIT, descendant direct d'Auguste et dernier directeur général de l'usine de Sainte-Marie-Aux-Anglais avant son rachat par un "horsain" : " Pour bien comprendre un fromage normand... il faut être Augeron !"

Cette marque et REO ( dans le département de La Manche) - qui appartenaient toutes deux à Maurice LANQUETOT - font objectivement le MEILLEUR CAMEMBERT ! ..avec une mention spéciale pour l'un des fabricants...

Comme quoi et comme disait un homme politique contemporain on peut se faire plaisir et procurer de l'emploi à ses semblables en se régalant avec des produits typiquement "made in Normandy"...


Gérard Charles ROGER-GERVAIS
ancien Chroniqueur gastronomique.


PS - Les autres fromages "A.O.C." ne sont également délectables, ne me faites pas dire ce que je n'ai pas dis... mais en ce qui me concerne j'aime mieux "le Graindorge" et éventuellement "le  Réo"...

mercredi 20 juin 2012

LA FETE AUX MAUVAIS COMMERCANTS ...

Dans la série : " JE SUIS UN VIEUX CON ET JE L'ASSUME", j'ai décidé aujourd'hui de faire la fête à certains commerçants qui ne méritent pas ce titre ...

Commerçant moi-même, fils et petit-fils de commerçant, je sais de quoi je parle et fais partie de ceux qui considèrent que les "marchands" étaient autrefois de véritables esclaves au service exclusif de leurs chalands...

J'ai connu l'époque où ma mère proclamait "orbi et urbi"que "les clients avaient toujours raison" ... quoi qu'ils disent et elle leur consacrait son existence entière comme un véritable sacerdoce. Si encore elle avait fait cela pour gagner de l'argent j'aurais compris mais cela n'était même pas son objectif...

Elle faisait passer ses "consommateurs chéris" avant ses propres enfants !

Je me souviens avec consternation du temps de ma communion solennelle où mes parents avaient opté pour le service de leur fonds et l'ouverture de leur boutique au préjudice de leur progéniture... Je me rappelle également de ces dimanches passés aux bottes des plus exigeants, parfois des plus grincheux et  des nombreux cadeaux que dispensait ma mère...

En ce temps là, on n'existait pas. On ne se permettait pas d'avoir la moindre opinion, seule comptait celle des clients !

RESULTAT : Quand elle fut en Maison de Retraite et qu'elle fut portée en terre ses clients les plus "fidèles" se montrèrent "ingrats" et ne se déplacèrent même pas pour lui rendre un dernier hommage.

Depuis, en quelques années, les choses ont bien changées et chaque jour je m'en rends compte. Il aurait été impensable qu'une commerçante fasse autrefois ses courses au même moment que ses clients. Aujourd'hui, c'est chose courante !
Désormais, cet ce par manque de formation et de savoir-vivre, n'importe que l'opinion du vendeur au détriment de celle du client.
Ce n'est qu'un juste retour des choses me direz-vous !
On peut voir cette "évolution" comme cela mais une chose est certaine : CELA NE DURERA PAS ! La fin sera triste et incomprise.

Comme disaient en substance nos anciens : "
FAITES DU BIEN A UN CHIEN ET IL VOUS MORDRA LA MAIN QUI AVAIT DONNE...!"

QUAND CELA CESSERA-T-IL ?

Quand je lis, dans les colonnes de mon quotidien préféré, les compte-rendus des commémorations de cet appel qui eut lieu depuis les ondes de la B.B.C. à Londres le 18 juin 1940, - C'est à dire il y 72 ans !- je ne peux m'empêcher de penser que certaines de  ces manifestations dites "patriotiques" ne sont désormais que des des mascarades , du folklore sans aucun fondement qui ne seraient même pas reconnues par le général de Gaulle.

 Il m'arrive même de me remémorer cette évocation clownesque de l'épopée Napoléonienne orchestrée par BOKASSA 1er !

67 ans après la fin de ce terrible affrontement mondial, alors que la plupart des principaux témoins de ce massacre sont morts on parle d'inaugurer de nouvelles plaques !! De qui se moque-t-on ? On ferait mieux d'entretenir les rares témoins de cette époque comme les drapeaux des libérateurs qui ont versé leur sang pour la reconquête du sol de leurs frères !

Quand j'étais gamin, les anciens combattants de 14-18, dite "la Grande Guerre", bardés de décorations obtenues au front, telles que la légion d'honneur, la croix de guerre ou la médaille militaire, avaient seuls le droit d'approcher du monument aux Morts. 
Ils tenaient "éloignés", à "bonne distance", les "autre combattants" qu'il jugeaient sévèrement, à tort ou à raison...

Mais, tout le monde connait la célèbre fable " quand les chats sont partis... " alors certains se découvrent un passé glorieux et leurs leaders décident à la place de ceux...qui sont morts et se taisent à jamais ! Il arrive même à d'autres de réécrire l'histoire !
Je sais que le devoir de mémoire est important mais quand même....

LA DEUDEUCHE...

Ce matin, rentrant de chez mon boulanger habituel j'ai remarquée, stationnée devant mon bureau de tabac-journaux, une rutilante 2 CV pilotée par une non moins étincelante personne ... et décapotée ( pas la conductrice mais la Citroën !)


Devant la commerçante qui se pâmait à la découverte de cet attelage d'exception,"vieux con", comme à mon habitude, je me suis permis cette réflexion ! " Moi aussi j'avais une 2 CV comme première voiture mais elle datait de la fin des années 1950 et était grise comme les blouses que nous portions alors à l'école... La conduire n'était pas toujours une sinécure, surtout l'hiver ! Il fallait éviter de faire des bons comme un "Marsupilami"et sa conduite nécessitait quelques trucs :

-  d'abord il fallait savoir "pomper" pour tenter de s'arrêter au bon moment!
-  deuxièmement, quand il faisait froid, il fallait aimer respirer les vapeurs d'huile que les passagers partageaient abondement avec un minimum de chauffage !
-  Il fallait sortir de sa voiture pour évaluer le niveau de carburant ! 
- Quand il pleuvait on ne voyait pas grand chose sur le pare-brise ! Il fallait souvent agiter les essuie-glaces à la main !
-  Je préfère m'abstenir de tout commentaire quand il y avait du brouillard ! Les phares étant si peu puissants qu'il fallait qu'un passager se tienne la plupart du temps sur la chaussée pour guider le véhicule !
- Je pourrais dire encore que la rouille permettait souvent une aération du plancher et que par temps de neige des "cordes à vache" suffisaient souvent à équiper les pneus de chaines "maison"

A part tout cela c'était le temps de l'insouciance et celui de l'essence peu chère ! Nous étions heureux malgré tout... mais ce n'était pas aussi beau qu'on le raconte... autrefois!

lundi 18 juin 2012

ENCORE UN "SOUPCON" DE POLITIQUE ...

Je ne sais pas si vous êtes comme moi mais je commence à en avoir "ras le s'iau" de la politique ! Il est grand temps que tout cela se termine et que nous passions à d'autres sujets !
Je laisse donc la parole à mon ami Jean-Louis REMANDE pour une analyse des résultats de ce second tour de scrutin. Après, c'est promis, nous n'en parlerons plus !

 
" Les résultats de l'élection législative du 10 juin 2012 sont très en dessous de ce que laissaient présager les résultats de la présidentielle et les 11 % de Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Le Parti communiste français perd 8 circonscriptions, la totalité au profit du Parti socialiste.

Les résultats du 17 juin sont tombés : il y a 10 députés communistes et Front de gauche à l'Assemblée nationale, dans une chambre dominée par le seul Parti socialiste. Ce résultat ne reflète pas la réalité de l'implantation du Pcf dans le pays, mais il traduit l'accentuation de la bipolarisation de la vie politique française. Le résultat du Front de gauche à l'élection présidentielle n'a pas permis un arrêt de cette tendance lourde de la vie politique française. 

Il est difficile de tirer un enseignement global des résultats tant les situations sont diverses. 

 Dans la 14e circonscription du Rhône redécoupée, intégrant une ville socialiste supplémentaire,  André Gérin, député sortant, a fait campagne pour Michèle Picard, la maire de Vénissieux, sur un axe politique résolument communiste. Or, elle est largement devancée par le candidat socialiste et la circonscription est perdue. A contrario, Jean-Jacques Candelier, lui aussi sur une ligne résolument communiste, avec plus de 35 % des suffrages au 1er tour, est réélu.
 
En Seine-Saint-Denis, où se présentaient quatre sortants communistes et apparentés, deux ont été devancés par le Parti socialiste, Jean-Pierre Brard et Patrick Braouezec, et ont perdu leurs sièges. Deux sont réélus, François Asensi et Marie-George Buffet.

Les résultats obtenus ne sont donc pas a priori liés à des positionnements idéologiques, mais bien à une volonté des électeurs de donner une majorité absolue au Parti socialiste à l'Assemblée nationale. Ils montrent qu'il ne suffit pas d'un bon relais médiatique, comme l'a été l'élection présidentielle pour Jean-Luc Mélenchon, pour ancrer une démarche politique et fidéliser un électorat. 

Une des idées centrales de la campagne du Front de gauche, selon laquelle il devait être un aiguillon pour une politique vraiment à gauche, n'a pas été entendue. L'affichage de la grande majorité des candidats, qui ont opté pour l'étiquette « Front de gauche » sans revendiquer l'appartenance au Parti communiste, n'est certainement pas étrangère au résultat. L'effacement du Parti communiste, porté depuis 1994 par les directions successives du Pcf au nom d'une nécessaire modernité, est un échec. 

 La campagne présidentielle de Jean-Luc Mélenchon montre qu'un discours clair, parfois même provocateur, porte ses fruits. Le Parti communiste doit poursuivre son action. Il doit redonner une identité communiste au Parti, à ses militants, à ses actions et ne pas avoir peur de porter haut et fort une idéologie communiste résolument opposée au capitalisme. 

 Quant au rapport de forces entre le Parti communiste et le Parti socialiste, il est plus que jamais à questionner. Si nous ne tenons pas la dragée haute au PS, le Parti communiste risque de disparaître définitivement du paysage politique. Or, dans la période qui s'ouvre, marquée par une crise sans précédent du capitalisme, la question fondamentale reste capitalisme ou socialisme. 

> Le PS et les Verts ayant une majorité absolue à l'Assemblée nationale, ils porteront seuls devant la population l'échec de leur politique réformiste : le MES et les différents traités européens ne laissent pas de marge de manœuvre et le gouvernement Ayrault mènera une politique d'austérité qui va peser sur les classes populaires. Le risque bien entendu, si les communistes et leurs partenaires désertent le terrain politique, est de voir se renforcer le Front national et tout ce que cela implique : populisme, repli sur soi, individualisme, violence et rejet à l'égard des immigrés, etc.
> il est inutile de se prononcer sur la oui ou nom participation au gouvernement: le nombre de députés pcf élus apporte la réponse !

 
 Nous avons donc, en tant que communistes, un travail politique à mener. Nous devons être prêts à initier des luttes et à nous inscrire dans les mouvements sociaux qui ne manqueront pas de se développer dans l'avenir, et plus que jamais à diffuser les idées communistes dans le monde du travail.

Reste pour les communistes français, organisés ou non dans le Pcf, une question d'actualité : comment poursuivre le combat révolutionnaire et sous quelle forme d'organisation.
Pour la gauche communiste: Jean -Louis Remande 

dimanche 17 juin 2012

L'A.V.C. A ENCORE FRAPPE !


Il existe depuis la nuit des temps mais autrefois on lui donnait d’autres noms… Ce mal était très répandu en France et notamment en Normandie.

Parfois, les Français du XVIIIe siècle en plaisantaient même: il est arrivé au célèbre MAUPASSANT de lui consacrer l’un de ses contes les plus savoureux.

L’A.V.C., comme le cancer, est égalitariste ! Il touche nos contemporains les plus humbles et même inconnus comme il frappe aussi nos semblables les plus médiatiques à commencer par Thierry ROLAND, commentateur sportif de renom, touché pendant son sommeil… et décédé cette semaine à l’âge de 74 ans !

 Lors de l’automne prochain, l’une de ces stars du petit écran : Pierre BELLEMARE, qui fut lui aussi la proie d’un A.V.C. sans grande conséquence en changeant de train,viendra bénévolement à ARGENTAN où il animera une conférence sur les hommes « extraordinaires » qu’il a rencontrés au cours de sa longue et passionnante existence.

Ce célèbre Normand contribuera ainsi, tout à fait gratuitement ( certains artistes en sont encore capables !), à mettre quelque argent dans la poche de l’association fondée ce printemps à Argentan : l’A.V.A.V.C.-Normandie. Je vous rappelle que son objectif prioritaire est de créer des permanences dans les centres de rééducation normands pour apporter aux malades un peu de chaleur humaine !
Qu’il en soit au préalable remercié !

Gérard ROGER
Président-Fondateur de l’A.V.A.V.C.-Normandie ( Association des Victimes de l’A.V.C.)

lundi 11 juin 2012

MERCI A JEAN-LUC MELENCHON !


Au terme d’une campagne indigne de cette population que je connais fort bien et que j’apprécie pour ses qualités réelles et humaines, ce plat pays, qui a légué à la France cette version populaire et solidaire du Socialisme, a préféré donner ses voix à la Présidente du FRONT NATIONAL plutôt qu’à Jean-Luc MELENCHON, le courageux Président du FRONT DE GAUCHE.

Les résultats sont là, indiscutables !

Ce territoire,dont les pavés sont encore imprégnés du sang rouge versé par les démocrates européens qui s’y sont affrontés, pendant des siècles, s’est donc ( PROVISOIREMENT JE L’ESPERE !) écarté de la gauche ?

Comme quoi, il faut toujours être sur ses gardes !

A l’instar de Marie-Georges BUFFET, au micro de France 2, dimanche soir, je voudrais lui témoigner ma reconnaissance et lui dire un grand : MERCI ! pour tout ce qu’il a fait !

A cet homme abattu par la défaite, je voudrais saluer le cran politique  (C’est de moins en moins partagé !), l’abnégation mais aussi l’intelligence.
Grâce à lui nous nous sommes un temps ressourcés aux vraies valeurs qui ont formées le ciment de notre nation et de notre république !

Au départ, c’est vrai que je ne le goûtais guère. Je lui reprochais d’abord d’avoir été Trotskyste . Au fil des mois, j’ai appris à respecter et à aimer cet homme, ce véritable tribun, cet « homme de gauche »…

Apparemment le Peuple l’a oublié ! Comme disait en substance le général de Gaulle : « Les Français sont parfois des veaux ! »

dimanche 10 juin 2012

WELCOME TO NORMANDY 5



From « WELCOME TO NORMANDY » :

3 – WILLIAM, called “The Bastard”, Duke of Normandy and King of England.


C - William « the bastard » become « Conqueror » !

At easter 1066, the “bastard” become “Conqueror” was received in ROUEN, capital of Normandy, with extraordiniry pomp.
Rouen - Bords de Seine
Gouache de Gérard Roger.

He later had his wife MATHIDE crowned in Westimster as Queen of England, true homage to she to whom he had entrusted the Regency of Normandy  with Roger de Montgomery during his stay in England.
1st July 1067, saw the consecration of the Abbey of NOTRE-DAME-DE-JUMIEGES.
In 1068, the people of YORSHIRE rose up against the autorithy of William and a year later it was on the continent that brings deteriorated with the freeing of Maine from thr Norman tutelage.
In 1072, William led an expedition to SCOTLAND and in 1073 the Normans reconquered Maine.
In 1075, the counties of Hereford and Norfolk revolted.
1077, saw the consecration of the “ABBAYE AUX HOMMES” in CAEN and the CATHEDRAL OF BAYEUX.
The same year a disagreement put the Duke-King against his son ROBERT COURTEHEUSE who left Normandy.
In 1079, William was wounded at the siege of GERBEROY.
In 1082 he imprisoned Odon, Bishop of Bayeux and Duke of Kent.
On the first of November 1083 his faithful wife died.
In 1086, in SALISBURY, William receveid the oaths of allegiance from the assembled English Counts and Barons. His Kingdom was thus a model modern state, far in advance for his neighbours, the Kingdom of France in particular and the German states.
Injured in a fall from his horse in MANTES as he directed his troops towards PARIS, William died in ROUEN on 10 September 1087.

If the french unrestimate him, or almost, the English consider him as the FOUNDER OF THEIR COUNTRY. “For the Normans” has written one of the great historians of the region “ William lived without doubt a a great enigma. It is he who left them succeeding, however, without doubt in implanting the Norman spirit overseas...For the English, William is, in fact, a sort of “Father of the Country” whose reality continues to today in the single presence of their sovereign, his distant heiress..”

William has been criticised for having helped England at the coast of Normandy, having taken too important a contribution from the human capital of Normandy at the risk of weakening its power towards the king of France, as his successors have been criticised for being more English than Norman such that it would assist the annexing of Normandy to France some years later. It is true that William lived more in his new kingdom than in Normandy where he would rarely return after 1066, leaving the Regency of the Duchy. But one must underline that from the 11th century Normandy had known an exceptional economic development tied to an important increase in the population. It is notably in the aera of agriculture that the expansion is visible with clearance of immense forests, which covered the basic Norman soil, and the development for cultivation. We should note that since the Middle Ages the horse has been used in Normandy to work the fields. But the economy of Normandy was also at this time one of exchange with England but also with the countries of Northern Europe. Cloth, stone and wine were sold... At the same time an impulse without precedent was given to the intellectual and artistic.
A visionary, William was convinced that, in spite of their differences, the people of England and Normandy were linked and that it was in the interests of the two nations, both “daughters to the sea”,to become closer when faced with the continental bloc.
Without the Anglo-Norman episode the Norman history would not be so glorious. We should recall that at that time LONDON was the nearest capital to ROUEN after PARIS, that maritime and commercial relations between England and Normandy had always existed ( The ships from ROUEN delivering the wines of France to LONDON were excused taxes), that already in the time of Edward the Norman, literary leaders, maintained close contacts with those in England ( They spoke of the “Norman” at the Court of Edward who had been educated in Normandy) that the English and Norman clergy worked closey the “christianise”to two people and that in 1051 as a Norman cleric in the person of Robert CHAMPART, Abbot of Jumieges, became Archbishop of Canterbury, Business people, ship owners..., the Normans were solidly established in England since the 1O th century and would offer William their support.
When in January 1087, William arrived in his palace in ROUEN to march on PARIS to obtain through the King of France, Philippe 1st,  the return of the french VEXIN to the bosom of the Norman family, the Anglo-Norman sovereign, who was 60 years old, was tired. He has stout and his character had become gloomy since the death of Mathilde.

Nonetheless courageous, he mounted and headed for PARIS. At MANTES, as he raised the town to the ground, the Duke-King took a bad fall from his horse and the pommel of the saddle perforated his abdomen. He was taken to ROUEN, to the PRIORY OF SAINT GERVAIS and, after, a long period in agony, the sovereign died on 10 September 1087 in complete solitude.
What would be happened if, at the head of his troops, he had entered PARIS ?
William, on his death bed, had time to share out his kingdom : to the eldest ROBERT, called “COURT-HEUZE” he gave Normandy, ton the second son, WILLIAM LE ROUX or “RUFUS” England and the third : HENRY called “BEAU CLERC” an important sum of money.
But where was soon discord between the three brothers. The eldest, Robert, intrepid and extragant, left on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1096 where he covered himself in glory. He left Normandy, partially secured, drifting, to William Le Roux, who had a difficult and disagreeble character. The latter was killed in 1100 during a hunt in the NEW FOREST.
Finally, it was the last son, HENRY, surnamed “BEAUCLERC”, who chroniclers present as a barbaric and egocentric person with a touch of cupidity, who collected all the benefits and restored the Anglo-Norman Kingdom. He had a slightly magesterial manner not tolerating any drifting.
On his return from Jerusalem, “Courte-Heuse” tried in 1101 to invade England where Henry had to déclared himself king. The affair ended with an agreement between the two brothers. Henry returned to Robert his authority over the Duchy of Normandy with the exception of DOMFRONT over which he swore to remain lord.
In 1105, faced with disastrous reports sent to him on the running of the Duchy Henry decided, with the blessing of the Pope, to invade Normandy to liberate it from the power of the incapable Robert. On 28 September 1106, a battle took place at TINCHEBRAY between the two sons of the “bastard”. Robert was taken prisoner and transported to England. He remained locked in CARDIF for 28 years. He learnt the Welsh language and whrote poetry...

The Battle of TINCHEBRAY.

In the month of September 1106, Henry BEAUCLERC lay siege to the castle of Tinchebray, held by the supporters of his brother Robert. As they cannot agree on the military strategy used, nor on the numbers of troops or even on the number of dead in the battle, historians cannot today identify for certain where the battle took place but they believe that it was to the west and north of the forteress. This battle is interesting for several reasons :
  • Il is a model of military tactics from the Middle Ages, notably for the large proportion of foot soldiers used,
  • It is of  great importance historically as it allowed Henry to reform the Anglo-Norman kingdom which his father had created.

The battles have left traces on the local plan in the place armes : le “champ Henriet”(currently a market field), the crosses ( built on the graves of three knights killed in the combat) la “prise” (The place where Robert was taken prisoner). “Le ruisseau du traite” ( The emplacment bu which Robert de Belleme escaped).

samedi 9 juin 2012

WELCOME TO NORMANDY - 4



From « WELCOME TO NORMANDY » :

3 – WILLIAM, called “The Bastard”, Duke of Normandy and King of England

B - THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS

... AND WILLIAM BECOMES KING

William, Duke of Normandy,
King of England


On the 5th January 1066, Edward The Confessor died in London, without descendants ...
Forgetting his promises and his oasth, Harold had himself crowned as King of England by the Bishop STIGAN on the 6 th in Westminster. Informed to this perjury ( And after we shall say with a recent affair that we do not like perjury !) and sensing treason William prosteted and tried to negociate but in vain ..!

Assuring himself of the agreement of his supporters, not without some reticence on their part, the Duke gathered together in the Roads of DIVES an immense flotilla of more than 900 drakes and an army of 40.000 men and also 14.000 horses to help him recover “HIS” kingdom.

The Pope, who reproached the Court of England for not paying him regularly the “denier”of Saint Peter’, sent to protect him the Standard of Saint Peter, a white flag with a red cross on it.

On the 25 th August 1066, William, aboard his admiral’s ship : the “MORA” ( Built in BARFLEUR), on the mast of which flew the banner of the sovereign pontiff, gave the order to weigh anchor and assemble at SAINT-VALERY-SUR-SOMME. There to await favourable winds.

In fact, William, whose intelligence services functioned perfectly, knew that another pretender to the throne of England had just landed of the shores of Eastern England. It was the King of Norway, HARALD HARDRADA.

The latter successfully entered the mouth of the HUMBER. Harold Godwinson immobilised his troops and, profiting from the imprudence of King Harald, beat his men  at the Battle of Stamford. The Norvegian king was killed during the fighting.

However, as he prepared to take his place on the throne, Harold learned in amazement the news of the embarkation of William on the morning of 26 September and that he was half way across the Channel.

Fifty miles from the english coasts William stopped his ships in order to regroup. On the morning of 29 September they landed at PEVENSEY on the SUSSEX coast. No one was there to rebuff them ! He has able to disembark knights, then matérials, in complete calm, install themslves and create fortifications.

The last to disembark, William slipped and fell his head in the sand. The soldiers considered this fall as a bad omen but the Duke recovered the situation by shouting : “ By the splendour of God ! I hold earth in my hands and as my companions, it is yours !”

William, as a good Norman, did not “burn his boats” which returned to Normandy to transport new troops.
Exhausted after an 11 day forced march, Harold, who had sent back a part of his troops and ships, headed south.
Towards 10 0ctober, he arrived in HASTINGS and “dug in” on SENLAC hill.
William left for the confrontation and in the morning of 14 October 1O66 after a long nigh where the two armies were a few hundred meters apart, a fearsome battle was ready.

Three corps made up William’s army, on each side of the Norman knights were the soldiers of the Count of Boulogne and Ponthieu and the conscrips from MAINE, BRITTANY and POITOU.

The Duke, mounted on a powerful charger, was at the head of his troops. To the cry of “DIEX AIE !” standing in his stirrups, he launched the battle, the troops avanced singing the “CHANSON DE ROLAND “...

It took thee assaults by William to beat the troops of Harold supported at the foot of the hill.
William was everywhere,sword in hand . Suddenly an arrow hit Harold, mortally wounding him,William has won the battle.

His first gesture was to pay homage to the 15.000 warriors from his army that had been killed. At the top of the hill he had an abbeybuilt in their memory, “Battle Abbey”. Then resolute, the Duke went to London via the coast, fortifying DOVER on the way. The Norman troops crossed the THAMS at WALLINGFORD.

On 25 December 1066, the coronation took place in Westimnster. While William was in the foot of the alter the Archbishop of York asked the English and the Bischop of Coutances the Normans, if they agreed to recognise William as their legitimate sovereign. The ovation of the English was so loud that the Normans remained outside fearing a last minute treason.
By his reign on the “Grande Ile”, William founded a new overseas dynasty wtih the wish to unite the two people under the same law.

The Norman barons were recompensed with numerous fiefdoms confiscated from the nobles who had supported Harold. They became the stock of the new English aristocraty : Montgomery, Chawford, Rokely,...Hugues called “THE WOLF”, Viscount of Avranches, became Count of Chester.
But no combat the abuses, William imposed twenty years after his accession to the throne the “DOMESDAY”, in which were listed all the possessions and benefits in England since 1066.

Up to his death, he had castles built to spread his net across England but he also introduced a number of important social, administrative and religious reforms : numerous abbeys and monasteries being restored or built with white stones wich were brought from Normandy (stone of Caen).

Two beautiful examples can be cited : the use of the “white stone” brought by the ship from the Norman quarries to London to rebuid WESTMINSTER ABBEY on the plan of the ABBEY OF JUMIEGES on the bank of the SEINE in eastern Normandy and the TOWER OF LONDON, the “WHITE TOWER”, typical tower of feudal Normandy which shows strange similarities to the castle of  IVRY-LA-BATAILLE in Normandy.

In 1070, he named LANFRANC, Abbot of SAINT-ETIENNE de CAEN as Archbishop of CANTERBURY and Primate of England, and little by little Norman priests remplaced Saxon priests.
Born in PAVIE around 1010, Lanfranc taught in Avranches before becoming a monk and then Abbot of BEC where he would manage to give to his community an intellectual level never attained before. He became in time the friend and close adviser of William. After Lanfranc was nominated, in Saint-Etienne Abbey another italian succeeded him as Abbot of BEC-HELLOUIN, he was SAINT-ANSELM who would also become Primate of England in 1093.

This great theologian left celebrated works and also helped to reinforce the cultural influence of Normandy.
Henceforth given the titles of Duke of Normandy and King of England, William would live partly in Normandy and partly in England.

He introduced Norman customs to the island.

Historians have reproached the Normans for having lacked modesty in their success such that the English forged on their side a tenacious resentment. They also say that the battle of Hastings raised between the two people a “bronze wall”.

Il is true that the relations between the Saxons and the Normans became so difficult that the later imposed their own “institutions” beginning with the law against hunting ( Only the King has the right to hunt and no one could kill an animal even if on his own land without the permission of the souvereign. Death was the penalty for those who disobeyed).
The Normans also imposed their language to the detriment of the Saxon language. We see, however, the development of this language, full of Norman vocabulary would become the English tongue.
From many years, the “Norman French” ( which will spoken in Jersey and Guernsey) would be the official language of the Court of the “Great” of England.           

vendredi 8 juin 2012

WELCOME TO NORMANDY - 3



From « WELCOME TO NORMANDY » :

3 – WILLIAM, called “The Bastard”, Duke of Normandy and King of England.


A - “The father” of England...
William "The Bastard" in front of Falaise Castle
gouache from Gerard ROGER


On a part of the ancient territory of NEUSTRIE, Rollon, renamed ROBERT 1er , first DUKE OF NORMANDY, succeeded in a rare « tour de force » in establishing himself with the King of France, the latter undestanding, that with him in place, his possessions in the north would be protected from other invasions.

The Duke also knew how to retain the respect of his followers by entrusting them with important military posts. Equally he excelled in reaching a compromise with the Church which retained his organisation and even accepted him for baptism ! Better, still he suceeded in having his son accepted as his successor !

It is to him that the Normans owe the declaration of “HARO”, which allows to each person the right to appeal directly the rule of the Duke !

When he died in 932, his territory, which he had divided into counties, extended from the BRESLE and the EPTE in the east up to the VIRE in the west and to the south as far as ALENCON.

His son, WILLIAM called “ LONGUE EPEE ”, who had succeeded him in 927 enlarged Normandy roughly to today’s limits with the acquisition of COTENTIN, in fighting the BRETONS and the “Normands of the west” stayed true to the viking traditions. A fervent Christian, he reconstructed the ABBEY OF JUMIEGES, built on the SEINE side three centuries earlier.

But the new Duke was assassinated in 942 at the instigation of the Count of Flanders... backed by the King of France. He was succeeded by his son RICHARD 1er “Without Fear” who consolidated the ducal heritage building or restoring the CATHEDRAL OF ROUEN and the ABBEYS OF MONT-SAINT-MICHEL and FECAMP.
He died in 996. His son RICHARD 2nd “the Good or the Intrepid”continued his work. To help confirm his power against his dangerous neighbourgs he called on the Nordik fleet commanded by “OLAF THE LARGE” who should be baptised in the cathedral of Rouen and become in this country SAINT OLAF.
At this time, KNUT THE DANE married Emma sister of Duke Richard and widow of the anglo-saxon King ETHELRED, King of Denmark, Norway and England he thus laid the foundations of a Norman Empire which would take TANCRED DE HAUTEVILLE to SICILY, CALABRIA, APULIA and BOHEMOND to Antioch, Richard accorded great privileges to the church and backed the bulding of monasteries.

RICHARD 3nd succeeded him in 1027 but died some months later on his return to FALAISE... poisoned by his younger brother, the Count of Hiemes, who thus becam Duke under the name of ROBERT THE MAGINFICENT !

Here the romantic episode of his meeting with young Arlette of Falaise intervenes...

THE MEETING OF ROBERT AND ARLETTE !
As he returned to his castle in Falaise after a  hunting party, the young Duke noticed at the spring of the ANTE, the river which runs past the castle, in the middle of a group of young women “wringing” the landry, a “magnificent creature”. He fell in love with her there and then and led “in full array” to the castle and married her “ in the style of the Danes”...

A chronical reported : “ The first night of their acquaintance, Arlette who was asleep, trembling, gave a loud cry. The Duke asked the reason, she replied that she had dreamt that there was a large tree coming from his stomach which extended branches so long and so hight that they put all the Normandy in the shade... Being huge, she throught his entrails would extend throughout the whole of Normandy and England.

This young woman which legend calls ARLETTE FULBERT was in fact named Herlève Fulbert. Her father was a citizen of Falaise, a furrier of Flemish origin.

At the end of December 1027, a happy event was celebrated in the castle of Falaise :the woman brought into the world a strong child who was called WILLIAM.

Seeing the baby pull towards him the straw of the mattres on which she had placed him, the wise woman, cried out : “by my faith ! This child starts acquiring and amassing young!”

The child was raised alongside his father up to the day when the latter, wanting to atone for the crime that he had previously committed, decided,against the advice of his barons to leave a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Before his departure he had his young bastard son accepted as his successor. He also made one of his faithful supporters EUDES  DE CONTEVILLE, promise to marry Arlette if anything happened to him on the journey...

In Constantinople as in Jerusalem, ROBERT THE MAGNIFICENT did not go unnoticed with his impressive Norman knights and his expensive entourage. He showered off the power of the Duchy of Normandy.

Alas, on his return journey, in Asia Minor, he contracted the plague.

Before dying, he charged a Norman pilgrim to announce his demise to his people. His last words being : “Tell them I go to heaven carried by four black devils !”

Once the new became knowm in Normandy, there was a period of depression and then shortly afterwards, forgetting their promises, and their oaths, a group of Norman knights ( at the head of which – as alwaysn the “Normans of Cotentin” who wanted to return to the scandinavian traditions) began a rebellion refusing to accept that the young WILLIAM succeed his father under the pretext that he is a “bastard”. 
The child would never forget this terrible insult. Keeping his promise EUDES DE CONTEVILLE married Arlette and who gave him two sons : ODON, future bishop of BAYEUX and ROBERT DE MORTAIN.

William took refuge with his father in law to forget for a moment... Without ever forgetting.
In 1042, EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, uncle of Williamn became KING OF ENGLAND.
In 1047, after having already to years earlier escaped a plot led by Guy of Brionne, who wanted to get rid of him and put in his place Guy Of Burgundy(*), the young William, powerful with the support of a large part of Norman Nobility, regained his title. Thus he confronted the rebel barons.
William, already a strong strategist; souhgt the help of his overlord, the King of France, Henry 1st (1031-1060).

The meeting took place to the south-east of Caen at VAL-ES-DUNES, on the 5th of August 1047.

Before the battle, William, who had established his camp on the banks of the MUANCE, attended Mass in the church of Valmeray.

The rebels charged to the cry of the Viking ancestors : “THOR AIE !” (THOR HELP US!) whereas William troops, to the cry of “DEI AIE!” (GOLD HELP US !) won a brilliant victory. 


Shortly afterwards, the young Duke put down the remaining active rebels.

Henceforth, he was indisputably DUKE OF NORMANDY and he set about reinforcing and organising his domain. He made CAEN the second capital of his Duchy to keep a closer eye on his barons.

He gave important posts to his closest acquaintances and cultivated useful relations with the clergy. In 1049, he gave his half brother ODON the diocèse of Bayeux and a year later he gave the County of Mortain to his other half brother Robert.

In 1050, in spite of a ban on the marriage to his cousin by Pope Léon IX at the Council of Reims, he married PRINCESS MATHILDE23 years old - daughter of Beaudoin V, Count of Flanders, and grand-daughter of the King of France, Robert II “the Pious”. The ceremony took place at EU in strict privacy.

Being aware of his appetite for power and conquest, the neighbours of the young Duke, the BRETONS, the ANGEVINS, kept a close watch on the borders of Normandy.

The King of France, who had helped William to seize power, was concerned to see such a strong and attractive Duchy close to Paris.

In 1053, the siege of ARQUES took place and in 1054 William defaited at MORTEMER a Franco/Angevine coalition.

Three years later, at VARAVILLE, near DIVES, he gained a second victory against the same Franco/Angevines. 
The royal troops and the Angevines, coming from ANGERS, entered Normandy by the HIESMOIS
The King of France, who was commading the armies stopped at the Abbey of SAINT-PIERRE-SUR-DIVES, before reaching the CAEN plain.

Therefor, as they crossed the river “ORNE”, William left FALAISE and set out the head of his cavalry for the bridge at VARAVILLE where the Franco/Angevins had to cross the DIVES.

With clever strategy and the help to the peasants who joined him along the way, William, coming from BAVENT, attacked the army of HENRY 1st from behind pushing the majority of the troops towards the bridge which collapsed. Almost all the soldiers died in the river with a level incraesed by the high tide. But William had a larger view of his destiny, more global that the norm in the years around 1060 !

He was kept regularly informed of everything that happened at the Court in LONDON, where “his relative” the King, EDWARD THE CONFESSOR reigned. 
The latter was the son of EMMA, the widow of the King of England, ETHEREL. William was, therefor, the cousin of EDWARD who in his youth had seen elevated to the Court of Normandy. 


Having returned to reign in England in 1044, he had around him numerous Norman advisers duch that the Anglo-Saxons said that Edward had a “ Norman Section” in the Court of London. 
Edward was married to a saxon princess, Edith GODWINSON, but no successor was born to the marriage. In 1051, he had offered the succession to WILLIAM 2th of NORMANDY.

At the beginningof the year 1060, William had his eyes firmly fixed on the “Grand Ile”. He knew that Edward the Confessor would die...



In 1063, he conquered MAINE...
In 1064, the son of the head of the Anglo-Saxon part of the Court of London, Harold GODWINSON, was charged with a mission to the Duke of Normandt. 


He made a hazardous crossing and landed on the beaches of PONTHIEU. Taken prisonner, he was “bought back”by William who brought him to Normandy. Harold was given a warm welcome and joined with the Duke in several “rides” notably in Brittany. 


Harold carried a message from Edward The Confessor, confirming to William the promise that he had made. A William’s request, Harold before his return to England, swore on the ancient relics of the CHATEAU DE BONNEVILLE SUR TOUQUES that he would accept to be his servant....

jeudi 7 juin 2012

WELCOME TO NORMANDY - 2


From « WELCOME TO NORMANDY » :
I - Normandy of our ancestors

2 – The Norman invasions



Photo Gérard ROGER

Montesquieu wrote : “ We know only four great changes in Europe since the etablishment of the Greek and Phoenician colonies : the firts caused by the Romans conquests, the second by the barbarian invasions which destroyed the same Romans, the third the victories of Charlemagne and the last by the Norman invasions...”
In the north of England a fleet of Scandinavian ships landed on Lindisfarne. A horde of seasoned warriors pillaged the monastery and killed the monks.
The new spread quickly in the Empire to AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, the capital of the Francs, where the dignitaries received it with incomprehension, even incredulity.

THEY WERE GOING TO UNDERSTAND !

This attack was a prelude to more than a century of raids, "hand to hand" fighting, battles,             and skirmishes between the Scandinavian warriors and the Francs, whose heavely equipped army was at times handicapped when faced with the tactic of lightning srikes from the Vikings.
In the northern countries the name “VIKINGS” came to  mean the men whose warrior operations always came from the sea.

These “sons of the sea” on board their “drakes", known as such because of the dragon’s head which decorated the prow, had been redoubtable sailors and fantastic explorers. Il was indeed they who, four centuries before Colombus, has crossed the nord Atlantic ocean in the year 1000 A.D. under the leadership of "LEIF L’HEUREUX" before establishing themselves on the north-east coast of America and creating a colony called “VINLAND”.

It was also they who to the east had established a vast domain with Novgorod as the capital.From there, their expeditions continued towards Kiev, then the Black Sea, establishing trading relations with  Byzanthium while overs via the Volga and the Caspian Sea reached Baghdad.

They struck as much in England, Ireland and Scotland in the Franc Empire. No western region was soon spared.
The estuaries were often chosen by the VIKINGS who could penetrate far up the rivers with their “esneques” thanks to the incomparable nautical quality of these flat bottomed boats. But these ships were equally capable of confronting the high seas being driven either by sail or by oars.

After a first place of pillaging, fighting and other skirmishes, the VIKINGS would profit from their superiority by “exploiting” the invaded territories with frequent ranson demands notably in the east of England, in the region of  YORK where “Danelaw” a form of colonisation was applied.

When there was noting left to plunder they established themselves and developed settlements in more hospitable areas than the harsh landscape and climate of Scandinavian. It suited many of the rough warriors to settle permanently at the mouth of the SEINE, the LOIRE, the GARONNE, around the HUMBER in Great-Britain and also in IRELAND and SCOTLAND.

The routes of penetration are obvious especially for the Carolingian empire : passing from the North Sea or the direct route via " le Pas de Calais” and the Channel.

At this start of the 10th century, the Carolingians kings, like the Saxons kings in England, weakenad bu divisions, not even counting on their “faithful supporters” made more or less lasting treaties.

We know of one wonderful example. Suffice it to say that in 911 at SAINT-CLAIR-SUR-EPTE, in eastern region, King Charles III, called “The Simple” and the VIKING chief ROLLON, called “The Walker”, concluded an angreement which conceded a vast territory and the estuary of the Seine ( corresponding roughly to today’s departments of Seine-Maritime, Eure and part of Calvados).

This shy norwegian warrior was a Prince, son of ROGUALD THE RICH. One must note,however, that if at this moment the confrontation continued between Francs, Angles, Scots and Irish and the Scandinavians and the momentary agreements came and went... 


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