Rouen

Rouen is in the Seine-Maritime departmente of France. It lies on the flood plain of the River Seine, and in Ancient Roman times was the lowest point at which the river could be bridged. The hills by which the provinial French city is flanked provide grand views of its historical and architectural treasures utilised by the 19th century British artist Richard Parkes Bonington. Rouen city centre, which is largely pedestrianised, is a popular destination for tourists. Rouen was the historic capital of the Duchy of Normandy and residence of the dukes - at least until William established his castle at Caen, Château de Caen, and Rouen got demoted. Within its precincts stood the dukes' palace, transferred from the south-west corner to the south-east corner of the enclosure in the time of King Richard I, and the cathedral with its dependencies and the communal or private buildings of the canons of Notre-Dame. The cité also contained a number of seigniorial mansions or hôtels and homes of wealthy lay and church dignitaries, often built of Caen limestone, amid gardens and orchards. Currently the capital of the Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) region, it is part of the future planning region for Greater Paris.

Timeline

911 - An accord was passed at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, on the frontier of Norman territory. This was in fact only attested by an act of chancellery issued by Charles the Simple, dated 918, which briefly mentions the lands granted to the Seine Normans. Whether de facto or by right, the accord made Rollo the new Count of Rouen.
1064 - William Duke of Normandy is depicted for the first time in the Bayeux Tapestry, sitting in state with his sword upheld. A state of threatening hostilities exists between Normandy and Ponthieu. Lookouts are posted in trees watch the border. Rouen is guarded by sentries keeping watch on the walls. Later on the fair-haired Harold, King of England leads the way to Rouen, while William follows casually, leaned back, and with a hawk on his wrist.
1144 - After several years of conflict between the Angevins and the Barons of Normandy, Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou, captured Rouen and took control of the whole of the duchy of Normandy. Geoffrey also took the title of Duke of Normandy.
1154 - At the end of a civil war in England a triumphant Henry II returned to Rouen in Normandy to a warm reception from his family including Eleanor and his eight month old son William.
13 October 1162 - Eleanor of Aquitaine gave birth to a daughter at Rouen. The girl was named Eleanor after her mother.
1174 - From the middle of July King Louis of France, Henry the Young King and Philip the count of Flanders had surrounded the city of Rouen. The city had held out against the war engines. Henry II arrived at Rouen in the middle of August to rescue the city. The besiegers were fearful that Henry II would invade France and the siege was lifted.
25 April 1199 - King John I of England is crowned Duke of Normandy at Rouen by Walter the Archbishop of Rouen.
24 June 1204 - Philippe II entered Rouen and definitively annexed Normandy to the French Kingdom. The fall of Rouen meant the end of independent Normandy. Rouen lost its rights over the Seine river traffic and, when the citizens rebelled over new taxes on commerce, the town bells were seized and the toll bridge over the river was destroyed.
April 1356 - King Jean II and Marshal d'Audrehem visited Rouen Castle with a hundred men-at-arms to arrest Charles of Navarre, Jean de Harcourt and several other Norman lords for treason. Jean de Harcourt and the other minor lords are executed. The resistance of the citizens to this high-handed act was only quelled by spreading news of the King's presence.
February 1382 - Protests were held in Rouen against new taxes. A roi de Rouen Jean le Gras was elected at the head of this protest movement, became known as the Harelle. Uprisings ensued elsewhere in France. The king decided to act against Rouen. Jean le Gras fled when the King arrived, and a small number of rebels were executed. Despite the victory, the King was unable to re-enforce the taxation that prompted the revolt, and spent most of the next two years putting down similar tax revolts around the kingdom that followed the example of Rouen. The Harelle was one of many popular revolts in late medieval Europe, including the English peasants' revolt of 1381.
29 July - Siege of Rouen begins.
19 January 1419 - Rouen fell to King Henry V of England, after a six month siege, in which half the population died. With the ransom of the city fixed at three hundred thousand crowns of gold; the chains were to be taken down from every street; and ground sufficient for an English palace was to be given up. Henry received the keys of Rouen from Guy le Bouteiller, in the Chartreuse de la Rose, upon a throne, and dressed in cloth of gold. Rouen subsequently acted as the administrative capital of the English forces in France.
Martyrdom of Jeanne d'Arc.

23 May 1430 - Joan of Arc prisoner of the Burgundians. Joan of Arc was later surrendered to the English on payment of a fee.
9 January 1431 - Proceedings against the captive Joan began in the castle of Rouen. The tower in where she was imprisoned during her trial, has become known as the Joan of Arc tower.
21 February 1431 - Filing of formal charges.
30 May 1431 - Joan of Arc, convicted and then burnt at the stake on the Place du Vieux Marché.

29 October 1449 - Rouen surrendered to a French army.
1499 - Exchequer of Normandy transformed into a permanent court of justice which was called the Parlement of Normandy and sat in the Palais de Justice.
15 April 1562 - Huguenots under the Prince of Condé seized Rouen.
12 Dec 1821 - The novelist Gustave Flaubert was born at Rouen. His father, the son of a veterinary surgeon of Nogent-sur-Seine, after studying medicine in Paris, had settled down at Rouen where he became, surgeon-in-chief of the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital.
1885 - Pont Boieldieu