Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributa ...

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dép ...

Auneuil Auneuil () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. On 1 January 2017, the former commune of Troussures was merged into Auneuil.Vernon. The plateau is crossed by the

Epte The Epte () is a river in Seine-Maritime and Eure, in Normandy, France. It is a right tributary of the Seine, long. The river rises in Seine-Maritime in the Pays de Bray, near Forges-les-Eaux. The river empties into the Seine not far from Give ...

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 comm ...

river valleys.

History

The name ''Vexin'' is derived from a name for a

Gaulish tribe The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

now known as the

Veliocasses The Veliocasses or Velocasses (Gaulish: *''Weliocassēs'') were a Belgic or Gallic tribe of the La Tène and Roman periods, dwelling in the south of modern Seine-Maritime and in the north of Eure. Name They are mentioned as ''Veliocasses'' by ...

. They had inhabited the area and made

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

their most important city. The Norse nobleman

Rollo of Normandy Rollo ( nrf, Rou, ''Rolloun''; non, Hrólfr; french: Rollon; died between 928 and 933) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, today a region in northern France. He emerged as the outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had se ...

(c. 846 – c. 931), the first ruler of the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

principality that became Normandy, made several incursions into the western half of the county. He halted his actions when the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...

king

Charles the Simple Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin ''Carolus Simplex''), was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a mem ...

abandoned the part of the territory that Rollo occupied under the

Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte The treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) is the foundational document of the Duchy of Normandy, establishing Rollo, a Norse warlord and Viking leader, as the first Duke of Normandy in exchange for his loyalty to the king of West Francia, followin ...

in 911. The terms of the treaty established the

Duchy of Normandy The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a result of the Norman c ...

and fixed its boundary with the Kingdom of France along the river

Epte The Epte () is a river in Seine-Maritime and Eure, in Normandy, France. It is a right tributary of the Seine, long. The river rises in Seine-Maritime in the Pays de Bray, near Forges-les-Eaux. The river empties into the Seine not far from Give ...

. This divided the county of Vexin into two parts: *Norman Vexin (''Vexin normand''), bounded by the rivers Epte,

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 comm ...

and

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributa ...

, which became part of the

Duchy of Normandy The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a result of the Norman c ...

. *French Vexin (''Vexin français''), bounded by the rivers Epte,

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...

and Seine, which remained part of the Île-de-France province. During the twelfth century, the county of Vexin was a heavily contested border between the

Angevin kings of England The Angevins (; "from Anjou") were a royal house of French origin that ruled England in the 12th and early 13th centuries; its monarchs were Henry II, Richard I and John. In the 10 years from 1144, two successive counts of Anjou in France, G ...

and Capetian France. It was of particular importance due to its close proximity to Paris and the location of the route to the coastal cities of Normandy. As a result, Vexin was the site of defensive castle construction, notably at Château Gaillard.

Geography

Today, the county's territory is shared by parts of five

departments of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

:

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674. ...

and

Yvelines Yvelines () is a Departments of France, department in the western part of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...

region;

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,41 ...

in the

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. The ...

region; and

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

in the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

region. The major towns are

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dép ...

, Vernon,

Meulan-en-Yvelines Meulan-en-Yvelines (; formerly just ''Meulan'') is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It hosted part of the sailing events for the 1900 Summer Olympics held in neighboring Paris, and wou ...

,

Gisors Gisors () is a commune of Normandy, France. It is located northwest from the centre of Paris. Gisors, together with the neighbouring communes of Trie-Château and Trie-la-Ville, form an urban area of 13,915 inhabitants (2018). This urban are ...

, and

Les Andelys Les Andelys (; Norman: ''Les Aundelys'') is a commune in the northern French department of Eure, in Normandy. Geography It lies on the Seine, about northeast of Évreux. The commune is divided into two parts, Grand-Andely (located about fr ...

. The plateau is primarily an agricultural region with some manufacturing located in the valleys. The French

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

artist

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...

made his home at

Giverny Giverny () is a commune in the northern French department of Eure.Commune de Giverny (27285) ...

, and the Dutch

Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

painted the wheat fields of Vexin. A regional nature park was established in the French Vexin in 1995.

In popular culture

Ownership of Vexin, and the court intrigue related to securing it, is a key plot point in James Goldman's play '' The Lion in Winter'' (1966). It also features in the Angevin novels of Sharon Kay Penman, and in the BBC series ''

The Devil's Crown ''The Devil's Crown'' is a BBC television series which dramatised the reigns of three medieval Kings of England: Henry II and his sons Richard I and John. It is also known as ''La couronne du Diable'' in French. The series was written by Jack ...

'' (1978), which stars Brian Cox.

References

*

External links

Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library, ''Carte du Vexin, Beauvoisis, et Hurepoix''
historical map of the Vexin region by Christophe Nicolas Tassin (1634) {{Authority control Geography of Normandy Belgae