Place:Lisieux, Calvados, France

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Lisieux is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France. It is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Toponymy

The name of the town comes from the Gallic tribe which inhabited the region: the Lexovii during Gallo-Roman times. This explains why inhabitants are known as Lexoviens today. The commune was known as Noviomagus (Celtic novio, "new", and magos, "market") or Noviomagus Lexoviorum by the Romans.

Antiquity

Lisieux is the former capital of the Lexovii. In his work, Commentaries on the Gallic War, Caesar mentions a Gallic oppidum, a term which refers to Celtic towns located on the tops of hills. The oppidum has been pinpointed to a place referred to as le Castellier, located 3 km to the south-west of the town. However the Gallo-Roman city was in fact located where Lisieux is to be found today.

Middle Ages

Lisieux was an important center of power in medieval times. The bishopric of Lisieux controlled most of the Pays d'Auge by the 12th century. King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine are thought to have married at Lisieux in 1152, and the town remained powerful for several centuries afterwards until in the 14th century the triple scourges of the Plague, war and resulting famine devastated Lisieux and reduced its influence. The main judge of Joan of Arc, Pierre Cauchon, became a bishop of Lisieux after her death and is buried in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral.

Events

• 4th century: Presence of the Germanic laeti, auxiliaries of the Roman Army, who settled in Lisieux with their families. Their graves have been discovered in the “Michelet” necropolis, some of which contain artefacts typical of northern Germania.
• 1432: Pierre Cauchon, the supreme judge during the trial of Joan of Arc at Rouen became the bishop of Lisieux. He commissioned the building of the side chapel of the cathedral, in which he is now buried.
• 1590: During the Eighth War of Religion, Henri IV had to fight to win back his kingdom. When he arrived at Lisieux he took the town without force, after the garrison had fled the town.
• 1907: The first helicopter flight, piloted by Paul Cornu.
• 1897: Sister Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, later to become "St. Therese of Lisieux," died in the Carmelite monastery at Lisieux.
• 1925: Sister Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face was canonized.
• 1937: Monseigneur Eugenio Pacelli, papal legate and future Pope Pius XII, visited Lisieux.
• 6/ 7 June 1944: The allied bombardment killed 800 victims and destroyed two thirds of the town.
• 23 August 1944: Liberation by the allied troops.
• 1960: Lisieux merged with the Saint-Jacques commune.
• 2 June 1980: Pope Jean-Paul II visited Lisieux.

Religion

Since the Middle Ages Lisieux has been the seat of one of the seven Roman Catholic dioceses of Normandy under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical province of Rouen. The bishopric was abolished in 1801 before being recreated and merged with that of Bayeux in 1855, under the new name of "Bayeux and Lisieux".

The most well known of the Bishops of Lisieux is probably Pierre Cauchon who had a decisive influence during the trial of Joan of Arc.

Devotion to Sainte-Thérèse who lived in the nearby Carmelite convent has made Lisieux France's second most important site of pilgrimage, after the Pyrenean town of Lourdes.

External links

• For more information, see the FR Wikipedia article Lisieux.

Research Tips