commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. The town was the seat of the former canton of Bavay.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Bavaisiens'' or ''Bavaisiennes''
Geography
Bavay is located some 20 km east by south-east of
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...
and 10 km west of Maubeuge. Main access is on the D649 highway between these two towns which passes through the commune just north of the town. Many roads radiate from the town: the D305 north-west, the D84 north-east, the D932 east by north-east, the D961 south-east, the D932 south-west, the D942 west by south-west, and the D2649 west. A disused railway line runs to the commune from Maubeuge and there is an abandoned railway station south-west of the town. Apart from the town the commune is entirely farmland.Google Maps /ref>
The ''Hogneau'' or ''Bavay'' river runs through the commune to the west joined by several streams in the commune. The ''Riez Raoult'' rises in the north of the commune and flows north while the ''Ruisseau du Louvion'' rises nearby and flows north-east. The ''Ruisseau d'Aviette'' rises in the east and flows east from the commune. The ''Ruisseau des Pres'' comes from the south-east and forms part of the south-eastern border before joining the Bavay river. The ''Ruisseau de Mecquignies'' comes from the south and also flows to the Bavay river.
History
The legendary founder and apocryphal history
From the ''cordelier'' Jacques de Guise, Jean Wauquelin wrote in his ''Chronicles of Hainault'', a manuscript of the 15th century, that ''Bavo'', a cousin of Priam while fleeing the city of
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...
, after many adventures found a hospitable land where he built a city that was called ''Belges''—the current Bavay. According to Wauquelin, seven roads, dedicated to the planets Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Saturn, Mercury, the Sun, and the Moon, left from seven temples in the city. The introduction of an elective monarchy signaled the decline of the ''city of Belges'' and the people of the city lost their unity and could not resist the Roman invasions. This episode has been considered a fable by most historians since the 19th century and even more so the bloody infighting which opposed the reign of ''Belges'' Queen Ursa by the former King Ursus.
Yet more than 1000 years after the beginning conquests of Rome, Aubert Miraeus and some chroniclers of Hainaut still evoke Bavay as the "Belgian Rome", or ''Roma Belgica'' in an apocryphal historiography compiled from other older sources. The columnist and historian of Hainaut, Jacques de Guise was simply called ''Belgis'' (''Belge''), a name derived by him from Belis (the god Bel).
Various authors and more modern "antiquarians" (people studying antiquity), including Joseph Adolphe Aubenas, while recognizing a lack of evidence in archeology, recalled that other texts, the oldest dating back to at least the 1st century AD also said that the Trojans came to Gaul and founded a great city. Thus, Aubenas, a member of the Society of Antiquaries of France, who in 1804 set up a goal to study the civilization of Gaul, history and French archeology, estimated in 1839 that Jacques de Guise did not invent anything, but only reported what the ancient writers had written before him. Aubenas cites in support of the thesis reported by J de Guise:
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from antiquity (preceding Procopius). His work, known as the ''Res Gestae ...
and better
Timagenes
Timagenes ( grc, Τιμαγένης) was a Greek writer, historian and teacher of rhetoric. He came from Alexandria, was captured by Romans in 55 BC and taken to Rome, where he was purchased by Faustus Cornelius Sulla, son of Sulla. It is said th ...
according to which:
"a part of the population of Gaul (according to the
Druids
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
) came from islands far away from beyond the Rhineland, where they had been driven either by frequent wars or by sea inundations".
Rucleri, Hunibaud, and other medieval chroniclers did not invent this story says J Aubenas because Timagene said the same thing after more than 2000 years, and after him, the Trojan origin of the
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
was also affirmed in France:
"in the
Chronicle of Fredegar
The ''Chronicle of Fredegar'' is the conventional title used for a 7th-century Frankish chronicle that was probably written in Burgundy. The author is unknown and the attribution to Fredegar dates only from the 16th century.
The chronicle begin ...
and its fragments and the chronicles of Hunibaud and Freculphus, which in the first half of the 9th century was expressed in formal terms".
Gallo-Roman history
The birth of Bavay after the conquest was the result of the reorganization of the territory by
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
(probably between 16BC and 13BC). The parts of Gaul conquered by Caesar were then divided into three provinces. The region between the Seine and the
Gallia Belgica
Gallia Belgica ("Belgic Gaul") was a province of the Roman Empire located in the north-eastern part of Roman Gaul, in what is today primarily northern France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, along with parts of the Netherlands and Germany.
In 50 BC, a ...
and its capital was at Reims. It was divided into "cities" (''civitates'')—administrative districts which were headed by a chief town. Living in this district were some of the fiercest people of Northern Gaul and they occupied a vast area between the
Scheldt
The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...
: the
Nervii
The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes of northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the central part of modern Belgium, including Brussels, and stretched southwards into French Hainault. ...
.
The town became the capital for the Nervii under the name of ''Bagacum'' or ''Bavacum'' and, under the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
, it was an important junction of seven roads, the meeting-place of which was marked by a
milestone
A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...
, destroyed in the 17th century and replaced in the 19th century by a column.
As the centre of the road junction, Bavay was an obligatory passage between Germania and the naval port of
Boulogne-sur-Mer
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...
, a bridgehead to
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. Other routes, seven in total, connected the capital city of the
Nervii
The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes of northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the central part of modern Belgium, including Brussels, and stretched southwards into French Hainault. ...
to the capital cities of neighbouring peoples (
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
Tongeren
Tongeren (; french: Tongres ; german: Tongern ; li, Tóngere ) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg, in the southeastern corner of the Flemish region of Belgium. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, as the onl ...
,
Cassel Cassel may refer to:
People
* Cassel (surname)
Places
;France
* Cassel, Nord, a town and commune in northern France
** Battle of Cassel (1071)
** Battle of Cassel (1328)
** Battle of Cassel (1677)
;Germany
* Cassel, Germany, a city in Hesse re ...
,
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
in the east and Reims in the south). Its position was evidently strategic, but soon these military routes (the future emperor
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
transited at Bavay with his armies around 4 AD) were used for commercial purposes.
From the Claudian period and especially under the
Flavian Flavian may refer to:
* A member of the Flavian dynasty of Roman emperors, during the late 1st century AD, or their works
* Flavian Zeija, a Ugandan lawyer, academic and judge. Principal Judge of Uganda, since December 2019.
* A person named Flavian ...
s in the late 1st century the city grew. Large monuments were built: a
forum
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
* Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
,
thermal baths
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...
fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...
near
Floursies
Floursies () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
Heraldry
See also
*Communes of the Nord department
The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic.
The communes cooperate i ...
located twenty kilometres away, and other buildings with a seemingly official nature adorned the city.
Medieval
Excavations in the
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...
resulted in the discovery of ceramics from the 9th and 10th centuries. The history of the town during this period is unclear and reference is necessary to the larger lines of history of the
County of Hainaut
The County of Hainaut (french: Comté de Hainaut; nl, Graafschap Henegouwen; la, comitatus hanoniensis), sometimes spelled Hainault, was a territorial lordship within the medieval Holy Roman Empire that straddled what is now the border of Belg ...
. It is likely that the Roman Forum was built as part of a defensive system as some later documents referred to ''viel castel''.
In the 12th century the region of Bavay became part of the County of Hainaut and the city was the capital of a ''Prévôt''.
In the 13th and 14th centuries the city was fortified with a medieval design for the enclosure and its major levee is still visible today.
Modern era
In 1433 the county of Hainaut of which Bavay was part became part of the prosperous
Burgundian Netherlands
In the history of the Low Countries, the Burgundian Netherlands (french: Pays-Bas bourguignons, nl, Bourgondische Nederlanden, lb, Burgundeschen Nidderlanden, wa, Bas Payis borguignons) or the Burgundian Age is the period between 1384 and ...
. In 1519, the Burgundian Netherlands became part of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
of
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infan ...
also in a very prosperous period. In 1555 Charles V divided his empire and gave the Netherlands to which Bavay belonged to his son
Philip II Philip II may refer to:
* Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC)
* Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor
* Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374)
* Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404)
* Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497)
* Philip ...
, King of Spain. Bavay then remained part of the
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...
until 1678 when, after numerous battles of conquest by
Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Vers ...
, a large part of the southern Spanish Netherlands was united with the kingdom of France. The confirmation of the unification of Bavay with the kingdom of France came in 1678 with the (
Treaty of Nijmegen
The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen ('; german: Friede von Nimwegen) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republi ...
). Louvignies-Bavay merged with Bavay in 1946.
French Revolution
The city was taken by the Austrians who entered the city on 21 July 1792
Heraldry
Administration
List of Successive Mayors of Bavay
The municipal majority in Bavay is the Independents. The Mayor stood for election to the General Council as a UPN (''Union Pour le Nord'' or Union for Nord region) candidate.
In 2010, the median fiscal revenue per household was €23,634.
Culture and heritage
The commune has a large number of sites that are registered as historical monuments. Below is an abridged summary of the most important sites.
Civil heritage
*The War Memorial (1923)
*A Chateau at Louvignies (17th century)
*A Flour Mill at Louvignies (1823)
*The Theillier Brewery at 11 Rue de Chaussée (18th century)
*The Alphonse Derome Oil Mill at 4 Rue Eugène-Wascart (1860)
*A
Lavoir
A lavoir (wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by laund ...
(Public Laundry) at Chemin des Foulons (1896)
*The Moulin de Fréhart Flour Mill at Rue Fréhart (1751)
*The Derome Ferilizer Factory at 45-47 Rue de la Gare (1860)
*A Dovecote at 2 Rue de Glatignies (18th century)
*The Brunehaut Column in the Grand Place (17th century)
*The Town Hall in the Grand Place (17th century)
*A Gallo-Roman Archaeological site at 10 Rue Saint-Maur (1st century). There is a
Forum
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
* Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
from the 1st century whose importance was unveiled by the 1940 bombing that destroyed the buildings covering it. Several
hypocaust
A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...
s have been found under the church and under some houses belonging to a set of at least five hypocausts with signs of important baths, perhaps public.
*The City Fortifications (9th century)
;Other sites of interest
*The Bavay Museum contains some pottery pieces of unknown function which are registered as historical objects.
*The Communal Cemetery of Bavay contains 12 graves managed by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
of British soldiers who died towards the end of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in August and November 1918
*The Circuit des Sources hiking trail gives access to part of the heritage of the town.
Religious heritage
The commune has several religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:
*An Oratory at 22 Rue de Chaussée (18th century)
*The Notre-Dame de Walcourt Oratory at D961 (1817)
*The Church of Saint Nicolas (18th century)
*The Parish Church of Our Lady of the Assumption (16th century). The Church contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
**A Tombstone for Charles Richer (1684)
**A Tombstone for Jacques de Maulde (17th century)
**A Tombstone for Mathieu Ghondry Mayeur de Louvignies (1578), Philipotte du Vivier (1611), and Jean Ghondry (1623)
**2 Statues: Bishops (18th century)
**A Tombstone for Philippe Mercier (1778)
**A Tombstone for Jean de Chasteler and Françoise de Carondelet (1624)
*Old Convents (16th century)
Environmental heritage
*The
Carrière des Nerviens Regional Nature Reserve
The Carrière des Nerviens Regional Nature Reserve (in French ''Réserve naturelle régionale de la carrière des Nerviens'') is a protected area in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of northern France. It was established on 25 May 2009 to protect ...
is mostly located in the communal territory just 1 km west of the town centre.
Picture gallery
Image:Monument_Louvignies_Bavay100407(3).jpg, War Memorial at Louvignies-Bavay
Image:Circuitdessources Bavay020507 (10).JPG, Disused Railway line
Image:ColdulongbuissonBavay020507 (25).JPG, ''Col du long buisson''
Image:LavoirBavay020507_(6).JPG, Public Laundry
Image:MonumentBavayD932_020507_(3).JPG, Monument along the D932 road
Image:PontblancBavay020507_(18).JPG, The White Bridge
Image:Church, Bavay, France.jpg, Church of Louvignies-Bavay
File:Bavay (Nord, Fr) Salle des fêtes.JPG, The Community Hall
File:0 Bavay - Ornières creusées dans la voie romaine (1).JPG, Ruts on the Roman road
File:Bavay (Nord, Fr) monument Maxime Lecomte.JPG, The Maxime Lecomte monument
File:Bagacum.jpg,
Bagacum
Bavay () is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The town was the seat of the former canton of Bavay.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Bavaisiens'' or ''Bavaisiennes''
Geography
Bav ...
Notable people linked to the commune
*Jean de Haynin was a famous chronicler known for using for the first time the term "Walloon" in his writings. Born on 14 October 1427 and died 12 May 1495 in his castle at Hainin (Belgium), he was an author, knight, Lord of Hainin, Louvignies at Bavay (where a street has been named after him), Anfroipret, Oby, and Broeucq (in Seclin). Although from a very ancient family of Lords of Hainin, he was the first to have a fixed abode and he is buried in the church of Hainin with Marie de Roisin, his wife since 1454 (born September 1435, died 21 August 1471). Entered into arms in 1452, he is best known in Belgium for his writings on his many rides with the troops of the
Dukes of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy (french: duc de Bourgogne) was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Spain from the House of Habsburg ...
. He is also noted for documenting in his hand his origins and dates of birth of his thirteen children, leaving a blank for only his own death which was filled in by his son François.Bibliothèque Royale de Bruxelles, ms II 2545 folio 259
*
Jean Lemaire de Belges Jean Lemaire de Belges (c. 1473c. 1525) was a Walloon poet and historian, and pamphleteer who, writing in French, was the last and one of the best of the school of poetic 'rhétoriqueurs' (“rhetoricians”) and the chief forerunner, both in style ...
, born at Belges—today called Bavay—in 1473.
*Jean Goudezki was born and died in Louvignies, Bavay (1866–1934). Author, poet, singer at the famous cabaret
Le Chat noir
Le Chat Noir (; French for "The Black Cat") was a nineteenth-century entertainment establishment, in the bohemian Montmartre district of Paris. It was opened on 18 November 1881 at 84 Boulevard de Rochechouart by the impresario Rodolphe Salis ...
in Paris.
*Maxime Lecomte, a politician, MP, and senator, was born in Bavay in 1846. He was "Parliamentary Reporter" for the 1905 law separating church and state in the senate.
See also
*
Communes of the Nord department
The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Read online (accessed 24 July 2013)
* Lucien Delhaye, ''History of the provostship of Bavay: followed by a dissertation on the ancient capital of Nervie'', Bavay Printing Nestor Jouglet, 1873, 251 pp Read online (accessed 25 July 2013)
* C. Pavot, ''The City of Bavay in the 14th–15th centuries, the privileges of its citizens and its business activities'', 1990