Aubigny-les-Pothées (, before 1962: ''Aubigny'') is a commune in the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

department in the

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

region of northern

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 ...

Geography

Aubigny-les-Pothées is located some 25 km west of

Charleville-Mézières Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France and the prefecture of the Ardennes department, in the Grand Est region. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. History Charleville and Mézières were ori ...

and 13 km north of Signy-l'Abbaye. Access to the commune is by road D978 from Logny-Bogny in the west which passes through the commune and the village and continues east to Rouvroy-sur-Audry. The D985 branches off the D978 at the eastern border of the commune and goes south to Signy-l'Abbaye. The minor D20 road goes north from the village to Auvillers-les-Forges. A railway line passes through the commune from east to west but there is no station in the commune. The nearest station is at Liart to the west. The commune is mixed forest and farmland.Google Maps
/ref> The Audry river flows through the commune and the village from west to east and continues east to join the Sormonne south of

Sormonne Sormonne () is a commune in the Ardennes department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. Geography The river Sormonne, a left tributary of the Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing thr ...

Neighbouring communes and villages

History

Two

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

cemeteries have been identified in the commune: one at a place called ''Bocmont'', the other at a place called ''Croix-Ancelet''. The bodies showed the characteristic positioning of ''arms along the body and legs separated'' which predominated in the region in the 6th and 7th centuries.Patrick Perin, ''Historic Review of Ardennes'', No. 5, 1971, pp. 22-25 In the 13th century the village was the main town in ''les Potées'' ecclesiastical domain which was a possession of the chapter of

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

.Octave Guelliot, ''Traditional and Popular geography of Ardennes'', Librairie Emile Nourry, 1931 The letter ''h'' in ''Pothées'' was introduced later. Aubigny was the main town of this possession. In 1436 people from

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

burned the Chateau of Aubigny.M. Badin, ''Classical and Administrative departmental geography of France, Department of Ardennes'', 1848, p.163 In the early days of the First World War in 1914, the village church was a very basic hospital. Straw scattered on the ground served as a bed for the wounded.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors Aubigny-les-Pothées has adhered to the charter of the ''Regional Natural Park of the Ardennes'' since its creation in December 2011.

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aubignois'' or ''Aubignoises'' in French.Le nom des habitants du 08 - Ardennes
habitants.fr

Sites and monuments

File:FR-08-Aubigny-les-Pothées.JPG, The church Square File:Aubigny-les-Pothées (Ardennes) église, chevet.JPG, The

chevet In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. In Byzan ...

of the Church File:Aubigny-les-Pothées (Ardennes) église, fontaine sous le portail.JPG, The fountain under the entrance of the Church File:Aubigny-les-Pothées (Ardennes) église, sommet de la tour.JPG, The top of the steeple

Notable people linked to the commune

*Edouard Piette (1827-1906) Archaeologist and pre-historian, born in Aubigny-les-Pothées

References

External links

Aubigny-les-Pothées on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Aubigny'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aubignylespothees Communes of Ardennes (department)