Place:Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine, France

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Vitré (; ; gallo Vitræ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.

Vitré, a sub-prefecture until 1926, is the seat of a canton of 17,798 inhabitants (2015). It lies on the edge of Brittany, near Normandy, Maine, and Anjou. The town has been designated a ville d'art et d'histoire, a town of artistic and historic significance, by the Ministry of Culture in recognition of its rich cultural inheritance. Vitré is the 37th French city with the most historic buildings and has 14% of the historical monuments of the department.

"If I was not King of France, I want to be bourgeois from Vitré!" Henry IV, King of France, surprised by the richness of the city in 1598.

"The good fortune to see a Gothic city entire, complete, homogeneous, a few of which still remain, Nuremberg in Bavaria and Vittoria in Spain, can readily form an idea; or even smaller specimens, provided that they are well preserved, Vitré in Brittany, Nordhausen in Prussia." Victor Hugo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Book third, Chapter 2, A bird's eye view of Paris, 1831

History

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Early settlement

The site of Vitré was occupied in Gallo-Roman times. The name Vitré comes from the Gallo-Roman name "Victor" or "Victrix", after the owner of a farm in the region. The year 1000 marked the formal birth of Vitré, when the duke of Brittany Geoffrey I bestowed feudal powers upon Riwallon Le Vicaire, who was charged with keeping this strategic area as a buffer zone known as the "Marches of Brittany". A parallel can be drawn with the "Welsh Marches".

A small wooden motte-and-bailey castle, on a feudal mound, was built on the Sainte-Croix hill. The castle was burned down on several occasions, and eventually was bequeathed to the Benedictine monks of Marmoutiers. A stone castle was built in 1070 by Robert Ier on the current site, on a rocky outcrop dominating the Vilaine's river valley. Certain parts of the original stone castle are still visible today.

In the 13th century, the castle was enlarged and equipped with robust towers and curtain walls. The castle integrated into the triangular outcrop of rock on which it was built a structure in the style of the castles of Philip II August. Late in the century, in 1295, the town passed to Guy IX de Laval, on his marriage with the heiress, and afterwards successively belonged to the families of Rieux, Coligny and La Trémoille. During this period, the "Vieil Bourg" including the church of Nôtre-Dame, developed on the eastern side of Vitré. The city was encircled by fortified ramparts and ditches. It was at this time that the "walled city" took its current form. The Baron directed the construction of the "privileged boroughs" around the walled city. These boroughs defined the linear layout of the streets of Vitré's present neighborhoods. Since the 13th century, Vitré has joined together all of the elements of the traditional medieval city: a fortified castle, religious buildings, churches, colleges, and suburbs.

Middle Ages

In the 15th century, the castle was modified to keep up with developments in artillery design. It was decommissioned from a military post to become a comfortable residence for Jeanne of Laval-Châtillon and her son Anne de Montmorency. At the same time, many half-timbered houses and private mansions were built inside the city. These medieval districts are characterized by their sturdy frame construction and their sinuous and dark streets, as well as by a network of lanes. From a defense perspective, these narrow streets were a confusing obstacle to taking the city. The frontages of the houses are made either of half-timbering or stone. The corbellings (projection of the higher floors over the street) helped save space. They shielded pedestrians from bad weather, and they channeled rainwater into the central gutters, helping preserve the wooden facades.

In 1488, during the French invasion of Brittany, Vitré was seized by Charles VIII.^[1]

The names of Vitré's streets often originated from the trade guilds in the area: for example, "Baudrairie Street" was a gathering-place for "baudroyors" (leatherworkers), and there is also a "Street of Pottery".

The historical center of the city is the Place du Marchix or Market Square near the Convent of the Benedictines. The current Place of the Castle was the forecourt of the castle. The Place de Notre-Dame formerly hosted a "Market of Fabrics." Vitré, a prosperous city since the 15th century, had a brotherhood for promoting the international trade of textiles, founded in 1472.

Renaissance

Vitré's economy flourished during the Renaissance as much as any city in the Duchy of Brittany. Its peak came in the 16th century when the "Confrérie des Marchands d'Outre-Mer" - merchant venturers - sold the hemp produced locally throughout Europe. The merchants built large private mansions with ornate Renaissance decorations that are still visible today with the city walls. Henry IV passed through Vitré in 1598. He was struck by the opulence of the town and exclaimed: "If I were not King of France, I would be a burgher of Vitré! ".

During the French Wars of Religion, at the end of the 16th century, the Protestant city was besieged for five months by the troops of the League under the command of the duke of Mercœur, governor of Brittany. The siege was unsuccessful and the city remained one of the few bastions to resist the Leaguers in western France.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the family of Laval, who were barons of Vitré, petered out with the death of Guy XX in Hungary. The new lords from the family of La Trémoïlle soon deserted the town for the Court of Versailles. Over this period, the city lost much of its vitality, becoming a town of secondary importance.

With 14,000 inhabitants in 1762, one of the largest cities of Brittany, Vitré begins are slow demographic decline until the interwar period with a population of 8,212 people in 1931. This situation lasted through 18th century and until the arrival of the railroad in the middle of the 19th century. In addition, the end of the 18th century was marked by the Chouannerie, the French Revolution and the beginning of a new and important period for the city, its role as a sub-prefecture.

The 19th and 20th centuries

To prepare for the arrival of the railroads, the city decided to destroy the southern fortifications of the city to open up the closed city and to improve visibility. The Door "d'En-Haut" (1835), "Gâtesel" (1839) and "d'En-Bas" were destroyed to make way for developments in the south of the closed city.

Vitré has been a railway hub since the first lines were opened on 15 April 1857 on the Paris-Brest line. The construction of the station was carried out in 1855 in the form of a small neo-gothic manor house in the downtown area, just south of the closed city. The arrival of the barracks in 1874 with the military and their families accounted for up to 2,000 people, which has grown the population of Vitré as much.

The city was literally cut in two by this important railway influence. However, in spite of these industrial developments, the city developed little and remained a small market town within an agricultural area. Moreover, it lost its statute of sub-prefecture in 1926.

Vitré did not suffer massive destruction during the two World Wars, and preserved its historical inheritance, with the exception of Fougères, which underwent a terrible bombardment in June 1944, destroying a good part of it. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Vitré experienced an economic boom along with the rest of France.

From 1950 on, Vitré grew extensively. During "the thirty glorious years", Vitré experienced massive rural migration, like many other towns of France.

This migration triggered new building developments, including modern six-story buildings in the "Maison Rouge" district. The city has considerably developed and extended with industrial areas and suburbs. The population of Vitré expanded from 8,212 inhabitants in 1931 to around 19,000 in 2018, a population multiplied by two. Inner-city areas are protected to conserve the town's rich heritage of art and architecture. In 1999, Vitré obtained the label "Town of Art and History" because of its rich cultural inheritance. The town's monuments attract many tourists each year.

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