Place:Seine-Maritime, France

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Seine-Maritime is a French department in Normandy. Before 1955 it was known as Seine-Inférieure.

History

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

- 12,000 B.C. – First inhabitants

The engravings of the Gouy cave attest human presence in Seine-Maritime in the upper Paleolithic

- 450 – Celtic invasions

Celtic tribes and then Belgian settle in the region, the Seine (river) being their main communication facility

56 AD – Roman occupation

The Veliocassi of Rotomagus (Rouen) region and the Caletes of Juliobona (Lillebonne) is conquered by Julius Caesar. Rouen becomes the capital of the Seconde Lyonnaise, one of two provinces of Gaul.

450 - Franks and Neustria

After the Frankish invasion, the region becomes part of Neustria. Rouen and its bishop Praetextatus get closely involved in some tragic battle with Clovis’ successor.

619 - Foundation of Abbey of Saint-Wandrille

In the VIIth century, Church growth has an effect on the creation of abbeys in the Seine valley. Former King Dagobert I’ counsellor, Wandrille helped the building of one of the biggest monastic centers of Northern Gaul during the Carolingian era. The abbey of Jumièges is also founded in 654.

841 - The Vikings

Blazes, pillages... The town of Rouen is ravaged. Foulques, abbot of Saint-Wandrille, saves temporarily its abbey for a ransom. The Normans (Northmen) settle.

911 – Founding of Normandy

Due to the Treaty of Saint Clair-sur-Epte, the Frankish king Charles the Simple gives up the region to Rollo, Norwegian war chief settled in Rouen’s location. The duchy of Normandy is born.

1066 - William, Anglo-Norman conqueror

The Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, invades England. He wins the Battle of Hastings, beginning the Norman Conquest.

1144 - A Plantagenet crowned

After years of fights between William's successors, Normandy is handed over to the Plantagenets. Geoffroy is crowned by force in Rouen.

1204 – Linked to France

Stake of the rivalry with Capetians, the region is annexed to France by Philip II.

1315 - La Charte aux Normands

Because of riots, French Kings are obliged to acknowledge the specificity of the Norman case. As a symbol of local rights, the Charte aux Normands will be effective until the XVIIth century.

1415 - 1449 – Hundred Years' War

Harfleur is invaded in 1415 and shows the start of a new conquest led by Henry V of England. On 19 February of 1419 Rouen pass into English hands, after a tragic one-month long assault. In 1431, Joan of Arc is sentenced in Rouen as an heretic and witch by an ecclesiastic tribunal (including the bishop Cauchon). On 30 May, she is burnt alive. Given back to France in 1449, Normandy watches the last English troops driven from Dieppe in 1453.

1517 – Le Havre founded

For military and commercial purposes, Francis I of France founds Le-Havre-de-Grâce (now Le Havre).

1639 - The “va-nu-pieds” revolt

The region is richer but its inhabitants are weighed down by high taxes. The “va-nu-pieds” riot starts in Rouen, followed by a terrible repression conducted by Richelieu.

1667 – Royal drapery in Elbeuf

Colbert creates the royal manufacture of drapery in Elbeuf.

1790 - La Seine-Inférieure

Normandy is divided into five departments. Seine-Inférieure is established with its administrative center at Rouen.

1800 – Five, then three, arrondissements

The arrondissements of Rouen, Dieppe, Le Havre, Neufchâtel and Yvetot are created and would be suppressed only in 1926.

1843 – Railways and industry

In Rouen, Elbeuf, and Bolbec, the number of textile factories is increasing. Metallurgy and naval construction as well. At the end of the XVIIIth century, the region sees an important industrial revolution and in the spring of 1843, spring, the railway of Rouen allows the town to be the first linked with Paris.

1942 – World War II - Early Allied landings

Occupied by the Wehrmacht, Seine-Maritime is the witness of two Allied military raids in 1942. During the night of 27th to 28 February, in the Bruneval raid, British parachutists destroy a German radar station and leave almost unscathed. However, 19 August, in Dieppe, the Jubilee operation consisting of 6000 Canadian soldiers is a bloody failure except in the value of the lessons it taught. These were valuable in planning later landings such as that in Normandy, 1944.

1944 - Liberation and pain

Seine-Maritime pays a high price for its freedom. In Rouen, 2,000 people are killed and 60,000 wounded during the Red Week. In Le Havre, the French town having recorded the highest number of losses during the war, bombings kill 5,000 people.

1955 - Seine-Maritime

The department’s name is changed to Seine-Maritime on January 18, 1955. Since then, all department names starting with "Bas-" (Low-) or including "Inférieur" have been gradually switched to a more "positive" denomination, with the exception of the department Bas-Rhin.

1959 – Tancarville Bridge

The Tancarville Bridge is opened, followed in 77 by the Brotonne bridge.

1995 – Pont de Normandie

The longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, the Pont de Normandie, is built.

2005 - Le Havre

Le Havre has been classified as a World Heritage Site since July 2005.

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