Eure
Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.department,
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
, in northwest
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Lyons-la-Forêt has distinctive historical geography, and architecture, and contemporary culture, as a consequence of the Forest of Lyons, and its bocage, and of the adjacent
Pays de Bray
The Pays de Bray (, literally ''Land of Bray'') is a small (about 750 km2) natural region of France situated to the north-east of Rouen, straddling the French departments of the Seine-Maritime and the Oise (historically divided among the Pr ...
. It is a member of
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France
(, ) is an independent association created in 1982 for the promotion of the tourist appeal of small rural villages with a rich cultural heritage. As of 2024, it numbers 176 member villages (independent Communes of France, ''communes'' or part ...
(The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association.
Geography
Lyons-la-Forêt is located from
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
and from
Gisors
Gisors () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Eure, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, France. It is located northwest from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris.
Gisors, together with the ...
.
Former name: Saint-Denis-en-Lyons.
Lyons was originally the name of the forest ''Licontio-/Ligontio-'', based probably on the Celtic root ''lic''/''lig'', that is also found in the name of the stream: la Lieure ''Licoris /Ligoris''. Same root as the river
Loire
The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône.
It rises in the so ...
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
) from Celtic > Old English beaver, stream.
History
An early mention of a ducal residence in Lyons can be found in 936, when
William I, Duke of Normandy
William Longsword (, , , ; 893 – 17 December 942) was the second ruler of Normandy, from 927 until his assassination in 942.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten'', Neue Folge, ...
Henry I of England
Henry I ( – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henr ...
, also known as "Henri Beauclerc". He died there in 1135, supposedly from "a surfeit of
lampreys
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are a group of Agnatha, jawless fish comprising the order (biology), order Petromyzontiformes , sole order in the Class (biology), class Petromyzontida. The adult lamprey is characterize ...
".
The town and the castle were occupied by King
Philip II Augustus
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks (Latin: ''rex Francorum''), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the firs ...
of France in 1193 but the following year,
Richard I of England
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...
, back from captivity, obtained the restitution of Lyons; the king of England and Duke of Normandy stayed frequently until 1198. In 1202, Philip II Augustus re-conquered the city, and after him, several French kings were attracted by the Lyons forest and the good hunting grounds.
From 1359 to 1398, the castellan domain of Lyons was part of Blanche de Navarre's
dower
Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settlement (law), settled on the bride (being given into trust instrument, trust) by agreement at the time of t ...
after she became the widow of King
Philip VI of France
Philip VI (; 1293 – 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (), the Catholic (''le Catholique'') and of Valois (''de Valois''), was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 1328 until his death in 1350. Philip's reign w ...
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
. In 1419, in the course of the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
communes of France
A () is a level of administrative divisions of France, administrative division in the France, French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipality, municipalities in Canada and the United States; ' in Ger ...
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
* Gallo-Roman theatre (private property)
* Castle of
Henry I of England
Henry I ( – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henr ...
(private property)
* Covered market place (18th century)
* Church Saint-Denis (12th and 18th centuries)
* Town hall (17th century)
* Houses built in typical Normandy style (17th and 18th centuries)
* The
forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
is 10,700
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...
s, the largest state forest in
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
and one of the largest
Beech
Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...
forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
s in Europe. It is renowned for the "cathedral-like" straightness and height of its trees' trunks. One of its characteristics is its numerous open spaces and clearings among which lie small villages and hamlets. This makes a transition between the
Vexin
Vexin () is a historical county of northern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank (north) of the Seine running roughly east to west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle (about 20 km from Rouen), and north to south betw ...
plateau and the
Andelle
The Andelle () is a river of Normandy, France, in length, flowing through the departments of Seine-Maritime and Eure. It is a right tributary of the Seine.
Geography
The Andelle has its source in the Pays de Bray in the territory of the commu ...
valley.Lyons Tourism office .
Personalities
*
Henry I of England
Henry I ( – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henr ...
died on 1 December 1135 of
food poisoning
Foodborne illness (also known as foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites,
as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease), and toxins such ...
from eating "a surfeit of
lamprey
Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are a group of Agnatha, jawless fish comprising the order (biology), order Petromyzontiformes , sole order in the Class (biology), class Petromyzontida. The adult lamprey is characterize ...
s" (of which he was excessively fond) at Lyons-la-Forêt (then Saint-Denis-en-Lyons). The
mucus
Mucus (, ) is a slippery aqueous secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is typically produced from cells found in mucous glands, although it may also originate from mixed glands, which contain both Serous fluid, serous and muc ...
and serum of several lamprey species, including the Caspian lamprey (''Caspiomyzon wagneri''), river lamprey (''Lampetra fluviatilis'' and ''L. planeri''), and sea lamprey (''Petromyzon marinus''), are known to be toxic and require thorough cleaning before cooking and consumption.
*Lyons-la-Forêt was the birthplace of
Enguerrand de Marigny
Enguerrand de Marigny, Baron Le Portier (c. 126030 April 1315) was a French chamberlain and minister of Philip IV.
Early life
He was born at Lyons-la-Forêt in Normandy, of an old Norman family of the lesser baronage called Le Portier, which ...
Isaac de Benserade
Isaac de Benserade (; baptized 5 November 161310 October 1691) was a French poet and playwright.
Born in Lyons-la-Forêt, Normandy, his family appears to have been connected with Richelieu, who bestowed on him a pension of 600 ''livres''. On R ...
, French poet (1612–1691), who was one of the first intellectuals in France to evoke female homosexuality in a theater play.
*
Maurice Ravel
Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
stayed in Lyons many times from 1917 to 1922. He wrote music including ''
Le Tombeau de Couperin
''Le Tombeau de Couperin'' (''The Tomb of Couperin'') is a suite (music), suite for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, composed between 1914 and 1917. The piece is in six movements, based on those of a traditional Baroque music, Baroque suite. Each ...
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
, lived there for a while during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, at la Fontaineresse, on the banks of the Lieure.
* Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann (1879 – 1933) was a renowned French designer of furniture and interiors. His house is described in several publications concerning his life and work.
*The artist Paul-Émile Pissarro (the youngest son of
Camille Pissarro
Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...
) lived here for some years from 1922, when he bought a house and had the garden designed by his godfather,
Claude Monet
Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...
.
See also
*
Communes of the Eure department
The following is a list of the 585 communes of the Eure department of France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French G ...