Tillières-sur-Avre 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 Eure

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, ...

and Normandy region of northern France. In 1013,

Richard II of Normandy Richard II (died 28 August 1026), called the Good (French: ''Le Bon''), was the duke of Normandy from 996 until 1026. Life Richard was the eldest surviving son and heir of Richard the Fearless and Gunnor. He succeeded his father as the ruler of ...

erected a castle on the benches of the Avre river as this region was being contested by the Norman dukes, the

counts of Blois During the Middle Ages, the counts of Blois were among the most powerful vassals of the King of France. This title of nobility seems to have been created in 832 by Emperor Louis ''the Pious'' for Count William, the youngest son of Adrian, Co ...

and the

French kings France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the fir ...

. The custody of the castle was given to the Raoul from the

house of Tosny The House of Tosny was an important noble family in 10th and 11th century Normandy, though it did not include any comtes or vicomtes. Its founder was Raoul I of Tosny (died after 1024). Origin The earliest account of the origin of the Tosny fam ...

but some time after his rebellion it was given by

Robert I of Normandy Robert the Magnificent (french: le Magnifique;He was also, although erroneously, said to have been called 'Robert the Devil' (french: le Diable). Robert I was never known by the nickname 'the devil' in his lifetime. 'Robert the Devil' was a fic ...

to Gilbert I of the house of Crispin. Around 1041 the castle was captured from him and razed by the French king

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the N ...

but Robert's son, William the Conqueror, rebuild the castle and invested Gilbert's son, Gilbert II, as hereditary custodian of the castle around 1058. In the same time, the 11th century, its church Saint-Hilaire was build in the

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

. The church was later enlarged in the 16th century and the facade significantly altered in the 19th century. The painter

Maurice Boitel Maurice Boitel (July 31, 1919 – August 11, 2007) was a French painter. Artistic life Boitel belonged to the art movement called "La Jeune Peinture" ("Young Picture") of the School of Paris,The School of Paris (1945–1965) by Lydia Harambourg. ...

was born here in 1919. The village is twinned with that of Wendehausen in Thuringia, Germany.

Population

See also