Rocroi () is a
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 ...
in the
Ardennes
The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
The central area is a notable surviving example of a
bastion fort
A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, literally meaning ''Italian outline'') is a fortification in a style that evolved during the early modern period of gunpowder when the cannon came to domin ...
.
Population
History
Rocroi was fortified by
Francis I of France
Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...
and expanded by
Henry II of France
Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...
. Because of its strategic location in the north of France it changed hands a number of times during wars. It is best known for the
Battle of Rocroi
The Battle of Rocroi, fought on 19 May 1643, was a major engagement of the Thirty Years' War between a French army, led by the 21-year-old Duke of Enghien (later known as the Great Condé) and Spanish forces under General Francisco de Melo on ...
in 1643. In the 1670s the fortifications were re-modelled by the French engineer
Vauban.
Rocroi
Réseau des sites majeurs de Vauban
In 1815, two months after the Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
, the town was taken by Prussian and British forces (on 16 August).
See also
*Communes of the Ardennes department
The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):[List of bastion forts
This is a list of bastion forts.
Angola
* Fortaleza de São Miguel, Luanda
Antigua and Barbuda
* Fort James
Bahrain
* Forte de Barém - also known as the Qal'at al-Bahrain
Brazil
* Fort Orange (Fortaleza de Santa Cruz), Ilha de It ...]
References
External links
Webpage about the fortifications of Rocroi
Communes of Ardennes (department)
Champagne (province)
Ardennes communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia
Vauban fortifications in France
{{Ardennes-geo-stub