Last modified: 2004-07-31 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Nogent-le-Rotrou]](../images/f/fr-28-nr.gif)
by Olivier Touzeau
See also:
Nogent-le-Rotrou (11,500 inhabitants), located on the river Huisne, is a sous-préfecture of the department of Eure-et-Loir.
Nogent is the former
capital city of the county of Perche. The Perche was named in the Middle
Ages sylva pertica, sylva refering to forests and pertica to pole,
stick, probably the long trunks of the trees. The Perche is
traditionally divided into the Grand Perche, in the north, with the
small cities of Nogent-le-Rotrou, Mortagne-au-Perche, Bellême and
Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais, and the Bas-Perche or Perche Gouët in the
south, with the villages of Authon-du-Perche and la Bazoche-Gouët. The
Parc Naturel Régional du Perche was created in 1998, involving 118
municipalities and an area of 182,000 hectares. The original sylva
pertica was progressively cleared to establish agricltural settlements
but sizeable remains of it, such as the forest of Bellême, are still
there. The Perche is the birth place of the Percheron draft horse, which
took a notable part in the Conquest of the West of the USA in the XIXth century.
The fortified place of Nogent (Nogent probably means new settlement) was
founded in the Xth century by a knight named Rotroldus. This name was
simplified to Rotrou and added to the name of the place in order to
distinguish it from the 25 other Nogent known in France. Rotrou was sent
to Nogent by the count of Chartres around 960 in order to fortify the
border of his domain. Progressively, Rotrou's successors became
independent lords and took the title of Count of Perche.
In the XIth century, Geoffroy II, Rotrou's grand-son, founded the St.
Denis' abbey, which specialized in the production of muslin. Until the
middle of the XXth century, Nogent-le-Rotrou was famous for the
production of delicat cloth, and especially hat industry. Geoffroy II
was murdered at the entrance of the cathedral of Chartres in 1040.
In the XIIth century, Nogent had c. 1,200 inhabitants. Count Rotrou III
the Great went to Spain to help the king of Navarra. He seized the city
of Tudela and was made lord of it, and took part to the seizure of
Pampelona, Toledo and Zaragoza. He came back to France and died during
the siege of Rouen in 1144. Count Rotrou IV took part to the Crusades
and was killed during the siege of Akkro in 1191. The last count of
Perche from the Rotrou house, Guillaume, left the city in 1225 and
disappeared without trace, possibly during the Crusades.
In 1233, Thibaud IV, Palatine count of Brie and Champagne, became count of Perche. During the Hundred Years' War, the fortified castle St. John's built by