Saint-Martin-de-Ré (, "St Martin of Ré"; Saintongeais: ''Sént-Martin-de-Ré'', before 1962: ''Saint-Martin'') is a commune in the western French department of

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Chérente-Marine''; ) is a Departments of France, department in the French Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, on the country's west coast. Named after the river Charente (river), Charen ...

.Commune de Saint-Martin-de-Ré (17369)
INSEE It is one of the ten communes located on the

Île de Ré Île de Ré (; variously spelled Rhé or Rhéa; Poitevin dialect, Poitevin: ''ile de Rét''; , ) is an island off the Atlantic coast of France near La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, on the northern side of the Pertuis d'Antioche strait. Its high ...

. The fortifications in Saint-Martin-de-Ré, drawn up by Vauban between 1681 and 1685, were inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 2008 for their testimony to Vauban's work and its influence on military strategy and architecture over the subsequent 200 years.

History

Fortifications

Saint-Martin-de-Ré has extensive fortifications, reflecting the strategic importance of the Île de Ré. During the

Huguenot Rebellions The Huguenot rebellions, sometimes called the Rohan Wars after the Huguenot leader Henri, Duke of Rohan, Henri de Rohan, were a series of rebellions of the 1620s in which French people, French Calvinist Protestants (Huguenots), mainly located in ...

of the 1620s,

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...

ordered that the island be fortified as a counterweight to the nearby

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

city of

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle'') is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France, department. Wi ...

on the French mainland. This included a citadel at Saint-Martin. After La Rochelle had been subdued, Saint-Martin's fortifications were largely demolished to remove its potential threat to royal power. In 1627, an English invasion force under the command of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham attacked the island in order to relieve the

Siege of La Rochelle The siege of La Rochelle (, or sometimes ) was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627–1628. The siege marked the height of Huguenot rebellions, the struggle between ...

. After three months of combat in the Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré against the French under Marshal Toiras, the Duke was forced to withdraw in defeat. Later, in the 1670s, the French engineer, Vauban was commissioned to review and overhaul the island's defences and, as a result, Saint Martin was enclosed by extensive and modern walls and embankments. This was done in three major phases ending in 1702 and the result was an enclosed town capable of housing the island's population for a long siege. Porte centre penitencier Saint-Martin

Prison to the penal colonies

Between 1873 and 1938, the prison in Saint-Martin-de-Ré kept prisoners before they were shipped to the penal colonies in

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. See penal colonies on Ré Island .

Population

The population of the commune has remained steady since 1800, although it was considerably larger during the French Revolution and dipped below 2000 from the 1920s to the 1940s. The commune is the fifth-largest town on the island. With La Flotte, it forms a small urban area.

Gallery

File:Saint Martin de Re before Vauban 17th century.jpg, Map of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, with fortress and city, 17th century, before the enlarged fortifications of Vauban. File:Saint Martin de Re 17th century map.jpg, Map of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, after the fortifications of Vauban, 1722. Image:Stmartinderé.jpg File:Porte ville saint martin 01.jpg, City gate in Saint-Martin File:Jielbeaumadier baudet du poitou culotte st-martin-de-re 2013.jpeg, ''Âne en culotte'' donkey

Personalities

* Nicolas Baudin, sailor and explorer * Peter Stephen Du Ponceau, linguist and one of the oldest born individuals to be photographed (b. 1760).

Twin Town

* Esperance, Western Australia

References

External links

Saint-Martin-de-Ré Tourism Office

Île de Ré and Ernest Cognacq museums

Vauban fortifications

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintmartindere Communes of Charente-Maritime Aunis Charente-Maritime communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Vauban fortifications in France