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'Rouen' (pronounced in French, sometimes also ) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) ''région''. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties, which ruled both England and large parts of modern France from the 11th century to the 15th century. It is in Rouen where Joan of Arc was burnt in 1431. People from Rouen are called Rouennais.
The population of the metropolitan area (in French: ''aire urbaine'') at the 1999 census was 518,316 inhabitants and 541,410 inhabitants at the 2007 estimate. The city proper has an estimated population of 109,000 in 2007.

Contents

Administration

History

Ecclesiastical history

Sights

Transport

Education

Births

Twin towns

In fiction and popular culture

Literature

Music

Film

Computer games

See also

External links

Administration

Rouen is the capital of the Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) ''région'', as well as a commune and the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Seine-Maritime ''département''.
Rouen and 36 suburban communes of the metropolitan area form the Community of Agglomeration of ''Rouen Haute-Normandie'', with 393,621 inhabitants in it at the 1999 census. In descending order of population, the largest of these suburbs are Sotteville-lès-Rouen, Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, Le Grand-Quevilly, Le Petit-Quevilly, and Mont-Saint-Aignan, each with a population exceeding 20,000 inhabitants.

History

Rouen was founded by the Gauls who called it Ratumacos; the ''Romans'' later renamed it to ''Rotomagus''. Rouen was the chief city of the Secunda Provincia Lugdunensis under Constantine. In the 5th century it became the seat of the bishopric and later a capital of Neustria. In the 9th century, it was overrun by Normans and since 912 has been the capital of Normandy and residence of the dukes.
In the 1100s, Rouen was the site of a yeshiva; at that time, about 6.000 Jews lived in the town, comprising about 20% of the population, in addition to a large number of Jews scattered about another 100 communities in Normandy. The well-preserved remains of the yeshiva were discovered in the 1970s under the Rouen Law Courts, and the community has begun a project to restore them.
On June 24, 1204 Philippe Auguste entered Rouen and definitively annexed Normandy to the French Kingdom.
During the ''Hundred Years' War'', on January 19, 1419, Rouen surrendered to Henry V of England who made Normandy a part of England. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen on May 30, 1431. The French recaptured the town in 1449.
The city was heavily damaged during World War II on D-day and its famed cathedral was almost destroyed by Allied bombs. During the Nazi occupation, the German Navy had its headquarters located in a chateau on the École Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen campus.

Ecclesiastical history

The chapter of Rouen, (which consists of the archbishop, a dean, fifty canons, and ten prebendaries), have, ever since the year 1156, enjoyed the annual privilege of pardoning, on Ascension day, some individual confined within the jurisdiction of the city for murder. On the morning of Ascension day, the chapter, having heard many examinations and confessions read, proceed to the election of the criminal who is to be pardoned; and, the choice being made, his name is transmitted in writing to the parliament, which assemble on that day at the palace. The parliament then walk in procession to the great chamber, where the prisoner is brought before them in irons, and placed on a stool; he is informed that the choice has fallen upon him, and that he is entitled to the privilege of St. Romain.
After this form, he is delivered into the hands of the chaplain, who, accompanied by fifty armed men, conveys him to a chamber, where the chains are taken from his legs and bound about his arms; and in this condition he is conducted to a place named the Old Tower, where he awaits the coming of the procession. After some little time has elapsed, the procession sets out from the cathedral; two of the canons bear the shrine in which the relics of St. Romain are presumed to be preserved. When they have arrived at the Old Tower, the shrine is placed in the chapel, opposite to the criminal, who appears kneeling, with the chains on his arms. Then one of the canons, having made him repeat the confession, says the prayers usual at the time of giving absolution; after which service, the prisoner kneeling still, lifts up the shrine three times, amid the acclamations of the people assembled to behold the ceremony. The procession then returns to the cathedral, followed by the criminal, wearing a chaplet of flowers on his head, and carrying the shrine of the saint. After mass has been performed, he has a very serious exhortation addressed to him by a monk; and, lastly, he is conducted to an apartment near the cathedral, and is supplied with refreshments and a bed for that night. In the morning he is dismissed. This privilege was justified by the legend of the Gargouille, a fearsome dragon, and how St. Romain defeated him with the help of a prisoner...

Sights

Rouen is known for its Notre Dame cathedral, with its ''Tour de Beurre'' (''butter tower''). The cathedral was the subject of a series of paintings by Claude Monet, some of which are exhibited in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
The ''Gros Horloge'' is an astronomical clock (16th century), located in the ''Gros Horloge'' street.
Other famous structures include the Gothic ''Church of Saint Maclou'' (15th century); the ''Tour Jeanne d'Arc'', where Joan of Arc was brought in 1431 to be threatened with torture (contrary to popular belief, she was not imprisoned there); the ''Church of Saint Ouen'' (12th–15th century); the ''Palais de Justice'', which was once the seat of the ''Parlement'' (French court of law) of Normandy and the Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics which contains a splendid collection of faïence and porcelain for which Rouen was renowned during the 16th to 18th centuries.
Rouen is noted for its surviving half-timbered buildings.
There are many museums in Rouen : Musée des beaux-arts de Rouen, an art museum with pictures of well-known painters such as Monet, Musée maritime fluvial et portuaire, a museum on the history of the port of Rouen and navigation, Musée des antiquités, an art and history museum with antic or gothic works, Musée de la céramique, Musée Le Secq des Tournelles...
In the centre of the Place du Vieux Marché is the modern church of Saint Joan of Arc. This is a large, modern structure which dominates the square. The form of the building represents the pyre on which Joan of Arc was burnt.
Rouen was also home to the French Grand Prix, hosting the race at the nearby Rouen-Les-Essarts track sporadically between 1952 and 1968.

Transport

Rouen is served by a light rail system opened in 1994, the Métro. It branches into two lines out of a metro tunnel running through the city center. Rouen is also served by buses run in conjunction with the tramway by the local transport authority, Metrobus.

Education

Higher education in Rouen is provided by University of Rouen, École Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen, located at nearby Mont-Saint-Aignan, INSA ROUEN and ESIGELEC.

Births

Rouen was the birthplace of:

★ Edward IV (1442-1483), king of England

★ Isaac Oliver (c.1560-1617), French-born English portrait miniature painter

★ Samuel Bochart (1599-1667), theologian and Orientalist

★ Pierre Corneille (1606-1684), tragedian

★ Adrien Auzout (1622-1691), astronomer

★ Thomas Corneille (1625-1709), dramatist, brother of Pierre Corneille

★ Noel Alexandre (1630-1724), theologian and ecclesiastical historian

★ Marie Champmeslé (1642-1698), actress

★ René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643-1687), cleric and explorer

★ Gabriel Daniel (1649-1728), Jesuit historian

★ Nicolas Lemery (1645-1715), chemist

★ Jean Jouvenet (1647-1717), painter

★ Jacques Basnages (1653-1723), Protestant divine

★ Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657-1757), author

★ Pierre Antoine Motteux (1663-1718), English translator and dramatist

★ Pierre François le Courayer (1681-1776), Catholic theological writer

★ François d'Agincourt (1684-1758), composer, harpsichordist and organist

★ Jean Restout (1692 - 1768), painter

★ Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (1711-1780), novelist

★ Jacques-François Blondel (1705 - 1774), architect, urbanist

★ Jacques Duphly (1715-1789), harpsichordist and composer

★ François-Adrien Boïeldieu (1775-1834), composer, mainly of operas

★ Pierre Louis Dulong (1785-1838), physicist and chemist

★ Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), painter, painted ''The Raft of the Medusa''

★ Armand Carrel (1800-1836), writer

★ Pierre Adolphe Chéruel (1809-1891), historian

★ Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880), novelist, who wrote ''Madame Bovary''

★ Eugène Ketterer (1831-1870), composer and pianist

★ Maurice Leblanc (1864-1941), novelist, creator of the character Arsène Lupin

★ Charles Nicolle (1866-1936), bacteriologist who earned the 1928 Nobel Prize in Medicine

★ Georges Guillain (1876-1961), neurologist

★ Marcel Dupré (1886-1971), organist and composer

★ Philippe Étancelin (1896-1981), Grand Prix motor racing

★ Roger Apéry (1916–1994), mathematician

★ Jacques Rivette(born 1928) film director

★ Stéphan Caron (born 1966), freestyle swimmer

★ Vincent Delerm (born 1976), singer-songwriter, pianist

★ David Trezeguet (born 1977), French-Argentine football striker

★ Guillaume Couture (1617-April 4, 1701), Lay Missonary and diplomat who moved to Quebec around 1640

Twin towns

Rouen is twinned with:

★ Hanover, Germany

★ Norwich, United Kingdom

★ Ningbo, China

★ Salerno, Italy

★ Wejherowo, Poland

In fiction and popular culture

Literature

★ The character Erik, or The Opera Ghost of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera was supposedly born in Rouen.

Music

★ The British band Supergrass named their fifth studio album ''Road to Rouen'', punning on an Anglicised version of the city's pronunciation.

Film

★ In the 2001 movie A Knight's Tale, the protagonist William Thatcher played by Heath Ledger poses as a noble and competes in his first jousting tournament at Rouen.

Computer games

★ The game Call of Duty 3 features a map set in Rouen. The map, entitled Rouen, is mainly city and offers fierce city fighting, much like that seen in World War II.

★ In the Soul Calibur series of fighting games, Raphael, a playable character, is explained as being born in Rouen. Interestingly, his fighting style involves an English rapier.

See also

★ Saint Ouen (catholic saint)

External links

★ Site of the Tourist Board

★ http://www.agglo-rouennaise.fr/index1.html

★ City council website

★ Télévision de l'agglomération rouennaise

★ Aerial pictures of Rouen

★ Objectif Rouen : Pictures and descriptions of the most famous monuments

★ ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 1908 detailed ecclesiastical history

★ Photo galleries (free of rights): [http://ric.jalix.org/Galleries/?dir=Rouen [1]] [http://romanito.free.fr/photos/?dir=Rouen [2]]

★ Photos of Eglise Saint Maclou

★ Photo gallery of Rouen

★ Rouen, Its History and Monuments, by Théodore Licquet, 1840, from Project Gutenberg