Aisne
Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374.
Geography
The department borders No ...
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as 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. ...
,
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 ...
. It is notable as the signing-place in 1539 of the '' Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts'' discontinuing the use of Latin in official French documents, and as the birthplace in 1802 of French novelist Alexandre Dumas '' père''.
Geography
It is located NE of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
Laon
Laon () is a city in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
History
Early history
The Ancient Diocese of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held s ...
. Its nickname ''Petite villa sur la côte de Retz'' means ''Little villa by the coast of Retz'', as the town is situated next to the
Forest of Retz
The Forest of Retz (French ''Forêt de Retz'', ) is one of the largest :forests of France, forests of France, covering some 13,000 hectares in the Aisne about 80 km northeast of Paris. It is a National forest (France), national forest (''f ...
Francis I of France
Francis I (; ; 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 removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...
('François Ier'), which made French the official language in the kingdom instead of regional languages like
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...
or the elite European
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...
of the time,
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
.
In 1914, the British Expeditionary Force fought a rearguard action here during the Retreat from Mons. On 1 September, the British 4th ( Guards) Brigade who were covering the withdrawal of 2nd Division, came into contact with the leading units of the German III Corps on the edge of woodland near Villers-Cotterêts. The brigade lost more than 300 men in the encounter, but were able to break away and continue the withdrawal. Many are buried at Guards' Grave, a military cemetery maintained by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...
. An ancillary hospital to that of Royaumont was set up in the town and a silent documentary about it was made.
La Plaine Saint-Rémy, Pisseleux, was an ancient commune that was merged with Villers-Cotterêts in 1971.
Population
The inhabitants are called ''Cottevreziens'' in French.
Notable residents
* Charles Baur (1929–2015), Mayor of Villers-Cotterêts (1953–1989), President of the Regional Council of
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...
(1976–1978, 1985–2004)
Sports
The town was the start of Stage 4 in the
2007 Tour de France
The 2007 Tour de France the 94th running of Tour de France, the race, took place from 7 to 29 July. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and ...
.
Sights
The original château was built around 950 AD and was burnt to the ground twice before being rebuilt out of stone in the early 12th century. The front entrance is the only original remaining structure, which is listed with the Historic Monument Registry at the École des Beaux Arts. Francis I purchased the château from the de Noüe family to house his mistress
Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly
Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly (), Duchess of Étampes, (15081580) was Maîtresse-en-titre, chief mistress of Francis I of France. She became Francis' mistress following his return from captivity in 1526. Anne enriched her family and friends through ...
. The was updated with 18th-century régence decoration by Gilles-Marie Oppenordt. The current owner is the Pépinières du Valois, an agricultural venture.
In 1902 the city opened a Museum Alexandre Dumas to gather souvenirs about the family. In 1952 the museum moved to a local 19th century mansion that served as General Maunoury's headquarters during the First World War. It has three rooms, each of them dedicated to one of the family members,Page du musée sur le site internet de la mairie /ref> being the general Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, his son novelist
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright.
His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...
Communes of the Aisne department
The following is a list of the 796 communes in the French department of Aisne.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):King Francis I signed the '' Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts''.
File:2012--DSC 0208-Hôtel-de-Ville-de-Villers-Cotterêts.jpg, Villers-Cotterêts town hall
Catholic Encyclopedia
''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...
