Pont-l'Évêque, Calvados
Template:For Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox French commune
Pont-l'Évêque ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It is known for Pont-l'Évêque cheese, a type of soft cheese, the oldest Normandy cheese in production.
History
In the summer of 1793, in the wake of the Montagnard seizure of power, the town called on neighboring villages to rise up against those who had imprisoned "the most ardent defenders of true liberty". The also blamed the Montagnard for the September massacres of the previous year.<ref>Jonathan Israel, Revolutionary Ideas: An Intellectual History of the French Revolution from the Rights of Man to Robespierre, p. 458.</ref>
During World War II, the town was severely damaged by a two-day battle in August 1944. On 1 January 2019, the former commune of Coudray-Rabut was merged into Pont-l'Évêque.<ref>Arrêté préfectoral 17 December 2018, p. 81 Template:In lang</ref>
The town serves as the setting for Gustave Flaubert's story Un cœur simple and features heavily in the book 13 - Lucky For Some which is about the history of the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion. There are many then and now photographs as well as maps and diagrams of battles that took place in the region.
Geography and toponymy
The river Touques flows through Pont-l'Évêque, which takes its name from a bridge (pont) built over the river. Starting in the 10th century, the local bishop (évêque) took responsibility for building and repairing the bridges and roads in France. Pont-l'Évêque thus means "Bishop Bridge".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was Latinised as Pons-Episcopi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Pont-l'Évêque station has rail connections to Paris, Deauville, Évreux and Lisieux.
Population
Template:Historical populations
Transport
Twin Towns
- Template:Flagicon Ottery St Mary, United Kingdom (since 1977)<ref name=jumelage>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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- Template:Flagicon Veitshöchheim, Germany (since 1994)<ref name=jumelage/>
Personalities
Pont-l'Évêque was the birthplace of:
- Roger de Pont L'Evêque (Template:Circa–1181) – Archdeacon of Canterbury, and later Archbishop of York
- Dière de Dièreville (Template:Circa–?) – surgeon, botanist and writer who wrote about his 1699–1700 voyage to Acadia
- Jacques Guillaume Thouret (1746–1794) – revolutionary, lawyer, president of the National Constituent Assembly
- Ferdinand Alphonse Hamelin (1796–1864) – Navy officer, Admiral and Minister of Marine
See also
References
Template:Sister project Template:Reflist Template:Calvados communes