169-532: Bapaume French pronunciation: [bapom] (original Dutch name Batpalmen) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France . Bapaume is a farming and light industrial town located some 23 km south by south-east of Arras and 50 km north-east of Amiens . Access to the commune is by the D 917 road from Ervillers in
338-443: A Motte-and-bailey castle , and finally and a castle in the location of the motte. Queen Mahaut of Artois had her chamber in this castle and it seems that Joan of Arc spent one night there. In 1335 the city itself was fortified away from the castle. These fortifications were not, however, very effective and the city was taken repeatedly. In 1540 Charles V ordered a fortified place to be built. Thick walls with bastions surrounding
507-544: A dowry . Philip met her at Amiens on 14 August 1193 and they were married that same day. At the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, Archbishop Guillaume of Reims crowned both Philip and Ingeborg. During the ceremony, Philip was pale, nervous, and could not wait for the ceremony to end. Following the ceremony, he had Ingeborg sent to the convent of Saint-Maur-des-Fosses and asked Pope Celestine III for an annulment on
676-541: A war memorial and two military cemeteries that also have graves from the Second World War : Bapaume church was demolished by shelling in 1916 During World War II Bapaume was again an area of intense fighting. The mayor, Abel Guidet, was a member of the Resistance and was arrested and deported to the camp of Gross-Rosen where he died on 27 November 1944. Since 1948 there has been a monument showing
845-421: A "realm of 100,000 steeples". Parishes lacked the municipal structures of post-Revolution communes. Usually, one contained only a building committee ( conseil de fabrique ), made up of villagers, which managed the buildings of the parish church, the churchyard, and the other numerous church estates and properties, and sometimes also provided help for the poor, or even administered parish hospitals or schools. Since
1014-445: A category currently being phased out), made up of 33,327 communes (91.1 percent of all the communes of metropolitan France), and 52.86 million inhabitants, i.e., 86.7 percent of the population of metropolitan France. These impressive results however may hide a murkier reality. In rural areas, many communes have entered a community of communes only to benefit from government funds. Often the local syndicate has been turned officially into
1183-407: A cheerful face of ruddy complexion, and a temperament much inclined towards good-living, wine, and women. He was generous to his friends, stingy towards those who displeased him, well-versed in the art of stratagem, orthodox in belief, prudent and stubborn in his resolves. He made judgments with great speed and exactitude. Fortune's favourite, fearful for his life, easily excited and easily placated, he
1352-537: A commune for their administration. This is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions: Furthermore, two regions without permanent habitation have no communes: In metropolitan France , the average area of a commune in 2004 was 14.88 square kilometres (5.75 sq mi). The median area of metropolitan France's communes at
1521-537: A community of communes, the new community of communes in fact managing only the services previously managed by the syndicate, contrary to the spirit of the law which has established the new intercommunal structures to carry out a much broader range of activities than that undertaken by the old syndicates. Some say that, should government money transfers be stopped, many of these communities of communes would revert to their former status of syndicate, or simply completely disappear in places where there were no syndicates prior to
1690-926: A conference at Andely and then entertained him at Paris, and both times he committed to complying with the treaty. In 1202, disaffected patrons petitioned the French king to summon John to answer their charges in his capacity as John's feudal lord in France. John refused to appear, so Philip again took up Arthur of Brittany's claims to the English throne as well as betrothing him to his six-year-old daughter Marie . In retaliation, John crossed over into Normandy and his forces soon captured Arthur, presumably as well as Arthur's sister Eleanor. In 1203, Arthur disappeared, with most people believing that John had had him murdered. The outcry over Arthur's fate saw an increase in local opposition to John, which Philip used to his advantage. He took to
1859-695: A conflict arose between Philip and Count Philip I of Flanders over the Vermandois , which King Philip claimed as his wife's dowry. Finally the Count of Flanders invaded France, ravaging the whole district between the Somme and the Oise before penetrating as far as Dammartin . Notified of Philip's approach with 2,000 knights, he headed back to Flanders. Philip chased him, and the two armies confronted each other near Amiens . By this stage, Philip had managed to counter
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#17327732221282028-482: A counterattack in Vexin, while Mercadier led a raid on Abbeville . By autumn 1198, Richard had regained almost all that had been lost in 1193. With the warring sides in a deadlock, Philip offered a truce so that discussions could begin towards a more permanent peace, with the offer that he would return all of the territories except for Gisors. In mid-January 1199, the two kings met for a final meeting, Richard standing on
2197-564: A crossing point between Artois and the Flanders plain on one side, and the Somme valley and the Paris Basin on the other. From the mid-11th century there was a Bapaume toll which was revised in 1202 and again in 1442. Many roads pass through Bapaume, both old roads between the two regions then the autoroute (1965) and the TGV (1993). In the 19th century, however, the city council opposed
2366-536: A density of communes as France, and even there an extensive merger movement has started in the last 10 years. To better grasp the staggering number of communes in France, two comparisons can be made: First, of the original 15 member states of the European Union there are approximately 75,000 communes; France alone, which comprises 16 percent of the population of the EU-15, had nearly half of its communes. Second,
2535-490: A key ally, Baldwin of Flanders , in 1197. The same year, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI died and was succeeded by Otto IV , Richard's nephew, who put additional pressure on Philip. Finally, many Norman lords were switching sides and returning to Richard's camp. This was the state of affairs when Philip launched his campaign of 1198 with an attack on Vexin that was pushed back and then compounded by
2704-474: A long procession, as his grateful subjects came out to greet the victorious king. In the aftermath of the battle, Otto retreated to his castle of Harzburg and was soon overthrown as Holy Roman Emperor , to be replaced by Frederick II . Count Ferdinand remained imprisoned following his defeat, while King John's attempt to rebuild the Angevin Empire ended in complete failure. Philip's decisive victory
2873-484: A major battle, Philip retreated, only to have his rear guard caught at Fréteval on 3 July. This Battle of Fréteval turned into a general encounter in which Philip barely managed to avoid capture as his army was put to flight. Fleeing back to Normandy, Philip avenged himself on the English by attacking the forces of John and the Earl of Arundel , seizing their baggage train. By now both sides were tiring, and they agreed to
3042-769: A massive merger of communes, including by such distinguished voices as the president of the Cour des Comptes (the central auditing administrative body in France). In 1971 the Marcellin law offered support and money from the government to entice the communes to merge freely with each other, but the law had only a limited effect (only about 1,300 communes agreed to merge with others). Many rural communes with few residents struggle to maintain and manage basic services such as running water, garbage collection, or properly paved communal roads. Mergers, however, are not easy to achieve. One problem
3211-592: A much larger territory covering 449,964 km (173,732 sq mi) and yet is divided into only 290 municipalities ( kommuner ). Alsace has more than double the total number of municipalities of the Netherlands which, in spite of having a population nine times larger and a land area four times larger than Alsace, is divided into just 390 municipalities ( gemeenten ). Most of the communes in Alsace, along with those in other regions of France, have rejected
3380-644: A new bride. Initial agreement had been reached for him to marry Margaret , daughter of Count William I of Geneva , but the young bride's journey to Paris was interrupted by Thomas, Count of Savoy , who kidnapped Philip's intended new wife and married her instead, claiming that Philip was already bound in marriage. Philip finally achieved a third marriage in June 1196, when he was married to Agnes of Merania from Dalmatia. Their children were Marie and Philip , Count of Clermont . Pope Innocent III declared Philip Augustus' marriage to Agnes of Merania null and void, as he
3549-489: A part of Normandy. Returning to France in late 1191, Philip began plotting to find a way to have those territories restored to him. He was in a difficult situation, as he had taken an oath not to attack Richard's lands while he was away on a crusade. The Third Crusade ordained territory under the protection of the Church in any event. Philip was unsuccessful in requesting a release from his oath from Pope Celestine III , so he
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#17327732221283718-587: A rebellion against him aided by Philip's son Louis , the First Barons' War . The military actions surrounding the Albigensian Crusade helped prepare the expansion of France southward. Philip did not participate directly in these actions, but he allowed his vassals and knights to help carry them out. Philip transformed France into the most prosperous and powerful country in Europe. He checked
3887-493: A result, the imperial crown was given to his rival Otto IV, the nephew of King John. Otto, prior to his accession, had promised to help John recover his lost possessions in France, but circumstances prevented him from making good on his promise. By 1212, both John and Otto were engaged in power struggles against Pope Innocent III : John over his refusal to accept the papal nomination for the archbishop of Canterbury , and Otto over his attempt to strip King Frederick II of Germany of
4056-456: A siege by the French army. This capitulation was highly celebrated in Paris since Bapaume was considered one of the main strongholds of Artois and Flanders. Louis XIII confirmed the powers of the city in 1642. He reinforced the fortifications that had suffered during the siege. The city and the surrounding countryside still had to suffer the presence of Spanish and French armies until 1654 (Arras
4225-543: A significant role in one of the greatest centuries of innovation in construction and education in France. With Paris as his capital, he had the main thoroughfares paved, built a central market, Les Halles , continued the construction begun in 1163 of Notre-Dame de Paris , constructed the first incarnation of the Louvre as a fortress, and gave a charter to the University of Paris in 1200. Under his guidance, Paris became
4394-416: A statue of Louis XV on a horse was erected in the square. This was the first statue of the young monarch in France. On 24 July 1744 the king passed through Bapaume and was highly acclaimed by the people. He again passed through the city on 6 September 1745, 2 May and 11 June 1746, and 25 September 1747. Its position subjected Bapaume to multiple wars. Defensive structures were built: first a Roman camp, then
4563-791: A struggle. Philip then penetrated deep into Normandy, reaching as far as Dieppe . To keep the duplicitous John on his side, Philip entrusted him with the defence of the town of Évreux . Meanwhile, Philip was joined by Count Baldwin IX of Flanders , and together they laid siege to Rouen , the ducal capital of Normandy. Here, Philip's advance was halted by a defence led by the Earl of Leicester . Unable to penetrate this defence, Philip moved on. At Mantes on 9 July 1193, Philip came to terms with Richard's ministers, who agreed that Philip could keep his gains and would be given some extra territories if he ceased all further aggressive actions in Normandy, along with
4732-448: A surrounding wall and large ditches around the city in 1335. The entire castle and city was one of the most beautiful fortresses and was called the "Key of Artois". The fortifications protected the inhabitants of Bapaume repeatedly from frightful depredations by the English in that war. The Bailiwick of Bapaume suffered terribly during this period: it is during this time that villagers hid in their muches (underground hiding places) dug in
4901-664: Is 35 km (14 sq mi); and in Germany , the majority of Länder have communes ( Gemeinden ) with a median area above 15 km (5.8 sq mi). Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany were the only places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of France's overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards. They usually group into
5070-402: Is that mergers reduce the number of available elected positions, and thus are not popular with local politicians. Moreover, citizens from one village may be unwilling to have their local services run by an executive located in another village, whom they may consider unaware of or inattentive to their local needs. In December 2010 the law n° 2010-1563 regarding reform of territorial collectivities
5239-516: Is the only administrative unit below the commune in the French Republic but exists only in these three communes. These municipal arrondissements are not to be confused with the arrondissements that are subdivisions of French départements : French communes are considered legal entities , whereas municipal arrondissements, by contrast, have no official capacity and no budget of their own. The rights and obligations of communes are governed by
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5408-614: Is the smallest and oldest administrative division in France . " Commune " in English has a historical association with socialist and collectivist political movements and philosophies. This association arises in part from the rising of the Paris Commune (1871) which could have more felicitously been called, in English, "the rising of the City of Paris". There is nothing intrinsically different between "town" in English and commune in French. The French word commune appeared in
5577-612: The Battle of Bouvines . Philip was unhorsed by the Flemish pikemen in the heat of battle, and were it not for his mail armor he would have probably been killed. When Otto was carried off the field by his wounded and terrified horse, and the Count of Flanders was severely wounded and taken prisoner, the Flemish and Imperial troops saw that the battle was lost, turned, and fled the field. The French did not pursue. Philip returned to Paris triumphant, marching his captive prisoners behind him in
5746-552: The Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT) which replaced the Code des communes (except for personnel matters) with the passage of the law of 21 February 1996 for legislation and decree number 2000-318 of 7 April 2000 for regulations. From 1794 to 1977 — except for a few months in 1848 and 1870-1871 — Paris had no mayor and was thus directly controlled by the departmental prefect. This meant that Paris had less autonomy than certain towns or villages. Even after Paris regained
5915-494: The County of Artois as her dowry. The marriage was held at Bapaume , with the bishops of Senlis and Laon in attendance. From the time of his coronation, all real power was transferred to Philip, as his father's health slowly declined. The great nobles were dissatified with Philip's advantageous marriage. His mother and four uncles, all of whom exercised enormous influence over Louis, were extremely unhappy with his attainment of
6084-501: The Duchy of Brittany . To seal the treaty, a marriage between Blanche of Castile , John's niece, and Louis the Lion , Philip's son, was contracted. This agreement did not bring warfare to an end in France, however, since John's mismanagement of Aquitaine led the province to rebel later in 1200, a disturbance that Philip secretly encouraged. To disguise his ambitions, Philip invited John to
6253-492: The Franks ( Latin : rex Francorum ), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself "King of France" ( rex Francie ). The son of King Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne , he was originally nicknamed ' God-given ' ( Dieudonné ) because he was a first son and born late in his father's life. Philip was given the epithet " Augustus " by the chronicler Rigord for having extended
6422-602: The Lordship of Ireland as papal fiefs, which John would rule as the pope's vassal, and for which John would do homage to the pope. No sooner had the treaty between John and the pope been ratified in May 1213 than Verraccio announced to Philip that he would have to abandon his expedition against John, since to attack a faithful vassal of the Holy See would be a mortal sin . Philip argued in vain that his plans had been drawn up with
6591-644: The Low Countries . On 27 July 1214, the opposing armies suddenly discovered that they were in close proximity to one another, on the banks of a little tributary of the River Lys , near the bridge at Bouvines . It being a Sunday, Philip did not expect the allied army to attack, as it was considered unholy to fight on the Sabbath. Philip's army numbered some 7,000, while the allied forces possessed around 9,000 troops. The armies clashed at what became known as
6760-565: The National Assembly ( Assemblée Nationale ) passed a law creating the commune, designed to be the lowest level of administrative division in France, thus endorsing these independently created communes, but also creating communes of its own. In this area as in many others, the work of the National Assembly was, properly speaking, revolutionary: not content with transforming all the chartered cities and towns into communes,
6929-482: The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts of 1539 by Francis I , the priest in charge of the parish was also required to record baptisms, marriages, and burials. Except for these tasks, villages were left to handle other issues as they pleased. Typically, villagers would gather to decide over a special issue regarding the community, such as agricultural land usage, but there existed no permanent municipal body. In many places,
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7098-537: The Roman Empire the town prospered as it was next to the road linking Bavay to Amiens . This period lasted about three centuries. The barbarian invasions of 255–280 totally destroyed this first Bapaume. Under the Late Roman Empire the city was rebuilt in the same place by Batavi settlers who were enlisted as soldier-farmers. Defensive mounds were built around the site of the current Bapaume and
7267-537: The Seine , while remaining within striking distance of Rouen. His next objective was the castle of Verneuil , which had withstood an earlier siege. Once Richard arrived at Barfleur , he soon marched towards Verneuil. As his forces neared the castle, Philip, who had been unable to break through, decided to strike camp. Leaving a large force behind to prosecute the siege, he moved off towards Évreux, which John had handed over to his brother to prove his loyalty. Philip retook
7436-631: The United States , with a territory fourteen times larger than that of the French Republic, and nearly five times its population, had 35,937 incorporated municipalities and townships at the 2002 Census of Governments, fewer than that of the French Republic. The number of barangays in the Philippines, villages of Indonesia, and muban in Thailand also have a higher number than the French communes. There have long been calls in France for
7605-642: The crown lands of France so remarkably. After decades of conflicts with the House of Plantagenet , Philip succeeded in putting an end to the Angevin Empire by defeating a coalition of his rivals at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. This victory would have a lasting impact on western European politics: the authority of the French king became unchallenged, while the English King John was forced by his barons to assent to Magna Carta and deal with
7774-444: The mairies . These abrupt changes profoundly alienated devout Catholics, and France soon was plunged into the throes of civil war , with the fervently religious regions of western France at its center. It would take Napoleon I to re-establish peace in France, stabilize the new administrative system, and make it generally accepted by the population. Napoleon also abolished the election of the municipal councils, which now were chosen by
7943-476: The papal legate , who was encouraging Philip to pursue his objective. Verraccio however was also holding secret discussions with King John. Advising the English king of his precarious predicament, he persuaded John to abandon his opposition to papal investiture and agreed to accept the papal legate's decision in any ecclesiastical disputes as final. In return, the pope agreed to accept the Kingdom of England and
8112-716: The prefect , the local representative of the central government. Today, French communes are still very much the same in their general principles as those that were established at the beginning of the Revolution. The biggest changes occurred in 1831, when the French Parliament re-established the principle of the election of municipal councils, and in 1837 when French communes were given legal "personality", being now considered legal entities with legal capacity. The Jacobin revolutionaries were afraid of independent local powers, which they saw as conservative and opposed to
8281-551: The 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia , for a large gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis , 'things held in common'. As of January 2021, there were 35,083 communes in France , of which 34,836 were in metropolitan France , 129 in the overseas departments , and 83 in the overseas collectivities and New Caledonia . This is a considerably higher total than that of any other European country , because French communes still largely reflect
8450-512: The 1999 census was even smaller, at 10.73 square kilometres (4.14 sq mi). The median area gives a better sense of the size of a typical mainland France commune than the average area since the average includes some very large communes. In Italy , the median area of communes ( comuni ) is 22 km (8.5 sq mi); in Belgium it is 40 km (15 sq mi); in Spain it
8619-401: The 36,683 communes have fewer than 500 inhabitants and, with 4,638,000 inhabitants, these smaller communes constitute just 7.7 percent of the total population. In other words, just 8 percent of the French population live in 57 percent of its communes, whilst 92 percent are concentrated in the remaining 43 percent. Alsace , with an area of 8,280 km (3,200 sq mi), and now part of
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#17327732221288788-583: The Allied forces tear holes through trench lines. On 29 August the New Zealand Division , after heavy fighting, occupied Bapaume, having broken through, with the British 5th Infantry Division , the very strong Le Transloy-Loupart trench system and having overcome many other strong points around the town. The Germans set up a trap in the town hall with a mine and a timer which exploded just before
8957-644: The Cathars did not end until 1244, when their last strongholds were finally captured. The fruits of the victory, the submission of the south of France to the crown, were to be reaped by Philip's son Louis VIII and grandson Louis IX . From 1216 to 1222, Philip also arbitrated in the War of the Succession of Champagne and finally helped the military efforts of Duke Odo III of Burgundy and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II to bring it to an end. Philip II Augustus played
9126-403: The Church, thereby justifying his attack as motivated solely by religious scruples. He summoned an assembly of French barons at Soissons , which was well attended. The only exception was Count Ferdinand of Flanders , who refused out of anger over the loss of the towns of Aire and Saint-Omer that had been captured by Philip's son Louis the Lion. He would not participate in any campaign until he
9295-502: The County of Artois. The nephew of Mahaut called himself Robert III of Artois and claimed the throne for a long time and, in revenge, helped the English. There followed a long period of war and disasters. Countess Mahaut often resided at the castle as she traveled frequently. She had her own room there and undertook numerous fortification works. On her death Bapaume passed to the Count of Flanders in 1330. He undertook major works including
9464-655: The Court of the Twelve Peers of France to answer for Arthur's murder. John requested safe conduct, but Philip only agreed to allow him to come in peace, while providing for his return only if it were allowed after the judgment of his peers. Not willing to risk his life on such a guarantee, John refused to appear, so Philip summarily dispossessed the English of all lands. Pushed by his barons, John eventually launched an invasion of northern France in 1206, disembarking with his army at La Rochelle during one of Philip's absences, but
9633-433: The Flemish invasion of Artois which diverted his attention elsewhere. On 27 September, Richard entered Vexin, taking Courcelles-sur-Seine and Boury-en-Vexin before returning to Dangu . Philip, believing that Courcelles was still holding out, went to its relief. Discovering what was happening, Richard decided to attack the French king's forces, catching Philip by surprise. Philip's forces withdrew and attempted to reach
9802-505: The Franco-English war. The Angevin kings of England (the line of rulers to which Henry II belonged), were Philip's most powerful and dangerous vassals as Dukes of Normandy and Aquitaine and Counts of Anjou. Philip made it his life's work to destroy Angevin's power in France. One of his most effective tools was to befriend all of Henry's sons and use them to foment rebellion against their father. He maintained friendships with Henry
9971-561: The French and English crusaders travelled together, but the armies split at Lyon after Richard decided to go by sea from Marseille , whereas Philip took the overland route through the Alps to Genoa . The French and English armies were reunited in Messina , where they wintered together. On 30 March 1191, the French set sail for the Holy Land and on 20 April Philip arrived at Acre , which
10140-653: The French crown, he expelled all Jews from the demesne and confiscated their goods. Philip expelled them from the royal demesne in July 1182 and had Jewish houses in Paris demolished to make way for the Les Halles market. The measures were profitable in the short-term, the ransoms alone bringing in 15,000 marks and enriching Christians at the expense of Jews. Ninety-nine Jews were burned alive in Brie-Comte-Robert . In 1198 Philip allowed Jews to return. In 1181,
10309-721: The Germans took over the city again. In 1918 the Second Battle of Bapaume , 21 August–3 September, was part of the second phase of the Battle of Amiens , the British and Commonwealth attack that was the turning point of the First World War on the Western Front and the beginning of the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive . Improved armoured support and artillery bombardment weakened once impregnable positions and helped
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#173277322212810478-528: The Kingdom of Sicily. Philip decided to take advantage of this situation, first in Germany, where he aided the German noble rebellion in support of the young Frederick. John immediately threw England's weight behind Otto, and Philip now saw his chance to launch a successful invasion of England. In order to secure the cooperation of all his vassals in his plans for the invasion, Philip denounced John as an enemy of
10647-565: The National Assembly also decided to turn all the village parishes into full-status communes. The Revolutionaries were inspired by Cartesian ideas as well as by the philosophy of the Enlightenment . They wanted to do away with all the peculiarities of the past and establish a perfect society, in which all and everything should be equal and set up according to reason, rather than by tradition or conservatism. Thus, they set out to establish administrative divisions that would be uniform across
10816-502: The Région Grand Est, used to be the smallest of the regions of metropolitan France , and still has no fewer than 904 communes. This high number is typical of metropolitan France but is atypical when compared with other European countries. It shows the distinctive nature of the French commune as a geo-political or administrative entity. With its 904 communes, Alsace has three times as many municipalities as Sweden , which has
10985-537: The Young King and Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany until their deaths. Indeed, at Geoffrey's funeral, he was so overcome with grief that he had to be forcibly restrained from casting himself into the grave. He broke off his friendships with Henry's other sons Richard and John as each ascended to the English throne. Philip travelled to the Holy Land to participate in the Third Crusade of 1189–1192 with King Richard I of England and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa , leaving Vézelay with his army on 4 July 1190. At first,
11154-446: The advice, and quickly marched at the head of his troops into the territory of Flanders. The French fleet proceeded first to Gravelines and then to the port of Damme. Meanwhile, the army marched by Cassel , Ypres , and Bruges before laying siege to Ghent . Hardly had the siege begun when Philip learnt that the English fleet had captured a number of his ships at Damme and that the rest were so closely blockaded in its harbour that it
11323-411: The ambitions of the count by breaking his alliances with Duke Henry I of Brabant and the Archbishop of Cologne , Philipp von Heinsberg . This, together with an uncertain outcome were he to engage the French in battle, forced the Count to conclude a peace. In July 1185, the Treaty of Boves left the disputed territory partitioned, with Amiénois , Artois, and numerous other places passing to the king, and
11492-419: The arrival of the Australians. The First Battle of Bapaume ran from 24 to 25 March 1918 and the Second Battle of Bapaume from 21 August to 3 September 1918. After the armistice the slow and dangerous work of demining began. The city was classified as a red zone and major work was done for reconstruction. The English city of Sheffield provided assistance for reconstruction. There remains from this time
11661-452: The benefit of poorer suburbs. Moreover, intercommunal structures in many urban areas are still new, and fragile: Tensions exist between communes; the city at the center of the urban area often is suspected of wishing to dominate the suburban communes; communes from opposing political sides also may be suspicious of each other. Two famous examples of this are Toulouse and Paris. In Toulouse, on top of there being six intercommunal structures,
11830-552: The business that brought him hither. But still, if he finds himself in bad health, or is afraid lest he should die here, his will be done." On 31 July 1191, the French army of 10,000 men (along with 5,000 silver marks to pay the soldiers) remained in Outremer under the command of Duke Hugh III of Burgundy . Philip and his cousin Peter of Courtenay , Count of Nevers , made their way to Rome, where Philip protested to Pope Celestine III (to no avail) of Richard's abusive manner, and from there returned to France. The decision to return
11999-400: The campaign ended in disaster. After backing out of a conference that he himself had demanded, John eventually bargained at Thouars for a two-year truce, the price of which was his agreement to the chief provisions of the judgment of the Court of Peers, including a loss of his patrimony. In 1208, Philip of Swabia , the successful candidate to become Holy Roman Emperor , was assassinated. As
12168-532: The central government's calls for mergers and rationalization. By way of contrast, in the German states bordering Alsace, the geo-political and administrative areas have been subject to various re-organizations from the 1960s onward. In the state of Baden-Württemberg , the number of Gemeinden or communities was reduced from 3,378 in 1968 to 1,108 in September 2007. In comparison, the number of communes in Alsace
12337-669: The chalky soil. Bapaume was under the control of the Dukes of Burgundy from 1383 to 1494 and it was in this city that John the Fearless took refuge after the assassination of the Duke of Orléans in 1407. It was also at Bapaume that he reunited his army to reenter the campaign on 30 January 1414. In July 1414 the King of France laid siege to Bapaume: John's garrison surrendered without fear and Charles VI then went to besiege Arras. A peace treaty
12506-410: The chartered cities) suddenly became legal entities for the first time in their history. This is still the case today. During the revolution, approximately 41,000 communes were created, on territory corresponding to the limits of modern-day France (the 41,000 figure includes the communes of the departments of Savoie , Haute-Savoie and Alpes-Maritimes which were annexed in 1795, but does not include
12675-409: The city and county of Alençon . Philip's eldest son, Louis , inherited the County of Artois in 1190 when Queen Isabella died. The main source of funding for Philip's army was the royal demesne. In times of conflict, he could immediately call up 250 knights, 250 horse sergeants, 100 mounted crossbowmen, 133 crossbowmen on foot, 2,000-foot sergeants, and 300 mercenaries. Towards the end of his reign,
12844-501: The city and the castle were included. In 1578 the castle and the city were united into one whole. These fortifications by Charles V were later reinforced by Vauban . Elaborate defensive systems such as mines and tunnels were built. In 1550 Wallerand de Hauteclocque , Squire and Lord of Wail , Havernas , and Hauteclocque , was appointed by the king as lieutenant and captain of the town and castle of Bapaume. Later Dominique de Grossolles, knight and Lord of Saint-Martin, became "Major of
13013-535: The city of Toulouse chartered by the counts of Toulouse). These cities were made up of several parishes (up to c. 50 parishes in the case of Paris), and they were usually enclosed by a defensive wall . They had been emancipated from the power of feudal lords in the 12th and 13th centuries, had municipal bodies which administered the city, and bore some resemblance with the communes that the French Revolution would establish except for two key points: In
13182-554: The city. It was then looted and burned by the troops of Louis XI on 7 May 1475 and again in 1477. In 1486 Charles VIII attacked Artois again and thus Bapaume. The area suffered much from the fighting between the Burgundians and the French. On 4 June 1488 fire caused further damage to the city. As a result of the Treaty of Senlis of 13 May 1493 concluded between the King of France and Maximilian of Austria , Bapaume came under
13351-590: The commune revive the actions of the revolutionary committee. The city was the capital of the district from 1790 to 1795. The Battle of Bapaume was fought on 2 and 3 January 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 on the territories of Biefvillers-lès-Bapaume and Bapaume. General Louis Léon César Faidherbe at the head of the Northern Army stopped the Prussians. In 1916 Bapaume
13520-604: The condition that Philip would hand back the captured territory if Richard would pay homage. To prevent Richard from spoiling their plans, Philip and John attempted to bribe Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI in order to keep the English king captive for a little while longer. Henry refused, and Richard was released from captivity on 4 February 1194. By 13 March Richard had returned to England, and by 12 May he had set sail for Normandy with some 300 ships, eager to engage Philip in war. Philip had spent this time consolidating his territorial gains and by now controlled much of Normandy east of
13689-482: The consent of Rome, that his expedition was in support of papal authority that he only undertook on the understanding that he would gain a plenary indulgence ; he had spent a fortune preparing for the expedition. The papal legate remained unmoved, but Verraccio did suggest an alternative. The Count of Flanders had denied Philip's right to declare war on England while King John was still excommunicated , and that his disobedience needed to be punished. Philip eagerly accepted
13858-432: The conspiracy to overthrow the legitimate king of England. At the start of 1193, John visited Philip in Paris, where he paid homage for Richard's continental lands. When word reached Philip that Richard had finished crusading and had been captured on his way back from the Holy Land, he promptly invaded Vexin. His first target was the fortress of Gisors, commanded by Gilbert de Vascoeuil , which surrendered without putting up
14027-544: The country: the whole of France would be divided into départements , themselves divided into arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons, themselves divided into communes, no exceptions. All of these communes would have equal status, they would all have a mayor at their head and a municipal council elected by the inhabitants of the commune. This was a real revolution for the thousands of villages that never had experienced organized municipal life before. A communal house had to be built in each of these villages, which would house
14196-530: The death of Philip, Count of Flanders, who held the county of Vermandois proper. His death threatened to derail the Treaty of Gisors that Philip had orchestrated to isolate the powerful Blois-Champagne faction. Philip decided to return to France to settle the issue of succession in Flanders, a decision that displeased Richard, who said, "It is a shame and a disgrace on my lord if he goes away without having finished
14365-498: The deck of a boat, and Philip standing on the banks of the Seine River. Shouting terms at each other, they could not reach an agreement on the terms of a permanent truce, but they did agree to further mediation, which resulted in a five-year truce that held. Later in 1199, Richard was killed during a siege involving one of his vassals. In May 1200, Philip signed the Treaty of Le Goulet with Richard's successor John . The treaty
14534-464: The departments of modern-day Belgium and Germany west of the Rhine , which were part of France between 1795 and 1815). This was fewer than the 60,000 parishes that existed before the revolution (in cities and towns, parishes were merged into one single commune; in the countryside, some very small parishes were merged with bigger ones), but 41,000 was still a considerable number, without any comparison in
14703-412: The difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondissements of its largest cities, the communes are the lowest level of administrative division in France and are governed by elected officials including a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ). They have extensive autonomous powers to implement national policy. A commune
14872-599: The division of France into villages or parishes at the time of the French Revolution . (1) Within the current limits of metropolitan France, which existed between 1860 and 1871 and from 1919 to today. (2) Within the current extent of overseas France, which has remained unchanged since the independence of the New Hebrides in 1980. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes; even uninhabited mountains or rain forests are dependent on
15041-487: The duchy for his unborn grandson Arthur I, Duke of Brittany . Philip, as Henry's liege lord, objected, stating that he should be the rightful guardian until the birth of the child. Philip then raised the issue of his other sister, Alys, Countess of Vexin , and her delayed betrothal to Henry's son Richard I of England , nicknamed Richard the Lionheart. With these grievances, two years of combat followed (1186–1188), but
15210-412: The east to discredit the English king in the eyes of his subjects. Among the stories Philip invented included Richard being involved in treacherous communication with Saladin , alleging he had conspired to cause the fall of Gaza , Jaffa , and Ascalon , and that he had participated in the murder of Conrad of Montferrat . Finally, Philip made contact with John, Richard's brother, whom he convinced to join
15379-543: The end of the afternoon, following the storming of the Bastille , the provost of the merchants of Paris, Jacques de Flesselles was shot by the crowd on the steps of Paris City Hall. Although in the Middle Ages the provosts of the merchants symbolized the independence of Paris and even had openly rebelled against King Charles V , their office had been suppressed by the king, then reinstated but with strict control from
15548-480: The fact that there are pronounced differences in size between French communes. As mentioned in the introduction, a commune can be a city of 2 million inhabitants such as Paris, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, or just a hamlet of 10 inhabitants. What the median population tells us is that the vast majority of the French communes only have a few hundred inhabitants, but there are also a small number of communes with much higher populations. In metropolitan France 57 percent of
15717-602: The first city of teachers the medieval world knew. In 1224, the French poet Henry d'Andeli wrote of the great wine-tasting competition that Philip II Augustus commissioned, the Battle of the Wines . Philip II fell ill in September 1222 and had a will made, but carried on with his itinerary, but travelling in hot weather the next summer resulted in a fever. The king recovered and felt well enough to resume his restless activity of touring his kingdom. The partial return of his health prompted him to travel to Paris on 13 July 1223, against
15886-558: The form of a law on 22 March 1890, which provided for the establishment of single-purpose intercommunal associations. French lawmakers having long been aware of the inadequacy of the communal structure inherited from the French Revolution for dealing with a number of practical matters, the so-called Chevènement law of 12 July 1999 is the most recent and most thoroughgoing measure aimed at strengthening and simplifying this principle. In recent years it has become increasingly common for communes to band together in intercommunal consortia for
16055-624: The fortress of Gisors. Bunched together, the French knights with king Philip attempted to cross the Epte River on a bridge that promptly collapsed under their weight, almost drowning Philip in the process. He was dragged out of the river and shut himself up in Gisors, having successfully evaded Richard and reinforced the fortress. Philip soon planned a new offensive, launching destructive raids into Normandy and again targeting Évreux which he captured and sacked. Richard countered Philip's thrust with
16224-465: The grounds of non-consummation. Philip had not reckoned with Ingeborg, however; she insisted that the marriage had been consummated, and that she was his wife and the rightful queen of France. The Franco-Danish churchman William of Æbelholt intervened on Ingeborg's side, drawing up a genealogy of the Danish kings to disprove the alleged impediment of consanguinity . In the meantime, Philip had sought
16393-576: The king could muster some 3,000 knights, 9,000 sergeants, 6,000 urban militiamen, and thousands of foot sergeants. Using his increased revenues, Philip was the first Capetian king to build a French navy actively. By 1215, his fleet could carry a total of 7,000 men. Within two years, his fleet included 10 large ships and many smaller ones. Reversing his father's tolerance and protection of Jews, Philip in 1180 ordered French Jews to be stripped of their valuables, ransomed and converted to Christianity on pain of further taxation. In April 1182, partially to enrich
16562-548: The king, and so they had ended up being viewed by the people as yet another representative of the king, no longer the embodiment of a free municipality. Following that event, a "commune" of Paris was immediately set up to replace the old medieval chartered city of Paris, and a municipal guard was established to protect Paris against any attempt made by King Louis XVI to quell the ongoing revolution. Several other cities of France quickly followed suit, and communes arose everywhere, each with their municipal guard. On 14 December 1789,
16731-437: The kingdom. A parish was essentially a church, the houses around it (known as the village), and the cultivated land around the village. France was the most populous country in Europe at this time, with a population of approximately 25 million inhabitants in the late 18th century ( England in contrast had only 6 million inhabitants), which accounts for the large number of parishes. French kings often prided themselves on ruling over
16900-653: The law. In urban areas, the new intercommunal structures are much more a reality, being created by local decision-makers out of genuine belief in the worth of working together. However, in many places, local feuds have arisen, and it was not possible to set up an intercommunal structure for the whole of the urban area: some communes refusing to take part in it, or even creating their own structure. In some urban areas like Marseille there exist four distinct intercommunal structures! In many areas, rich communes have joined with other rich communes and have refused to let in poorer communes, for fear that their citizens would be overtaxed to
17069-552: The least money per inhabitant, whereas urban communities are given the most money per inhabitant, thus pushing communes to form more integrated communities where they have fewer powers, which they might otherwise have been loath to do if it were not for government money. The Chevènement law has been extremely successful in the sense that a majority of French communes now have joined the new intercommunal structures. On 1 January 2007, there were 2,573 such communities in metropolitan France (including five syndicats d'agglomération nouvelle ,
17238-414: The local feudal lord ( seigneur ) still had a major influence in the village's affairs, collecting taxes from tenant-villagers and ordering them to work the corvée , controlling which fields were to be used and when, and how much of the harvest should be given to him. Additionally, some cities had obtained charters during the Middle Ages, either from the king himself or from local counts or dukes (such as
17407-575: The lowest communes' median population of all the European countries (communes in Switzerland or Rhineland-Palatinate may cover a smaller area, as mentioned above, but they are more populated). This small median population of French communes can be compared with Italy, where the median population of communes in 2001 was 2,343 inhabitants, Belgium (11,265 inhabitants), or even Spain (564 inhabitants). The median population given here should not hide
17576-480: The main community of Toulouse and its suburbs is only a community of agglomeration, although Toulouse is large enough to create an Urban Community according to the law. This is because the suburban communes refused an urban community for fear of losing too much power, and opted for a community of agglomeration, despite the fact that a community of agglomeration receives less government funds than an urban community. As for Paris, no intercommunal structure has emerged there,
17745-565: The main traffic was not east–west but north–south. To ensure the passage against the bandits a toll was established by the counts of Flanders with soldiers escorting the merchants on the part crossing the Arrouaise Forest and north of the city. Churches were built with this toll. The Lords of Bapaume were subject to the Counts of Flanders. On 28 April 1180 the marriage of Philip Augustus and Isabelle of Hainaut , daughter of Baldwin V
17914-466: The maximum allowable pay of the mayor and deputy mayors, and municipal campaign finance limits (among other features) all depend on the population echelon into which a particular commune falls. Since the PLM Law of 1982, three French communes also have a special status in that they are further divided into municipal arrondissements : these are Paris, Marseille , and Lyon . The municipal arrondissement
18083-486: The mayors. Civil marriages were established and started to be performed in the mairie with a ceremony not unlike the traditional one, with the mayor replacing the priest, and the name of the law replacing the name of God (" Au nom de la loi, je vous déclare unis par les liens du mariage. " – "In the name of the law, I declare you united by the bonds of marriage."). Priests were forced to surrender their centuries-old baptism, marriage, and burial books, which were deposited in
18252-425: The meetings of the municipal council as well as the administration of the commune. Some in the National Assembly were opposed to such a fragmentation of France into thousands of communes, but eventually Mirabeau and his ideas of one commune for each parish prevailed. On 20 September 1792, the recording of births, marriages, and deaths also was withdrawn as a responsibility of the priests of the parishes and handed to
18421-471: The moment of his arrest to honour his memory. At the Town Hall are an urn with soil from Groß-Rosen and a painting featuring the mayor. Azure, 3 hands appaummee of Argent 2 and 1, the hand at dexter chief a hand sinister with 2 hands dexter. These are Canting arms . List of Successive Mayors Bapaume has twinning associations with: The pairing with Moers is the work of Henri Guidet,
18590-510: The north which passes through the commune in a zig-zag then continues south-east to Beaulencourt . The D 930 goes east by north-east to Frémicourt . The D 929 branches off the D 917 at the edge of the commune and goes south-west to Warlencourt-Eaucourt . The A1 autoroute passes south down the eastern edge of the commune and serves the city by the exit 14. Bapaume has been called the Seuil de Bapaume (Bapaume threshold) due to its position as
18759-521: The north, cities tended to be administered by échevins (from an old Germanic word meaning judge), while in the south, cities tended to be administered by consuls (in a clear reference to Roman antiquity), but Bordeaux was administered by jurats (etymologically meaning "sworn men") and Toulouse by capitouls ("men of the chapter"). Usually, there was no mayor in the modern sense; all the échevins or consuls were on equal footing, and rendered decisions collegially. However, for certain purposes, there
18928-523: The number of communes in the process – the Gemeinden of West Germany were decreased from 24,400 to 8,400 in the space of a few years – France only carried out mergers at the margin, and those were mostly carried out during the 19th century. From 41,000 communes at the time of the French Revolution, the number decreased to 37,963 in 1921, to 36,569 in 2008 (in metropolitan France). Thus, in Europe, only Switzerland has as high
19097-404: The number of municipalities compared to the large and populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (396 Gemeinden in September 2007). Despite differences in population, each of the communes of the French Republic possesses a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ), which jointly manage the commune from the municipal hall ( mairie ), with exactly the same powers no matter
19266-605: The offensive and, apart from a five-month siege of Andely, swept all before him. After Andely surrendered, John fled to England. By the end of 1204, most of Normandy and the Angevin lands, including much of Aquitaine , had fallen into Philip's hands. Philip requested John release Eleanor of Brittany, claiming that she was to be his daughter-in-law, but to no avail. What Philip had gained through victory in war, he sought to confirm by legal means. Philip, again acting as John's liege lord over his French lands, summoned him to appear before
19435-631: The only partially successful statute enacted in 1966 and enabling urban communes to form urban communities or the more marked failure of the Marcellin law of 1971, the Chevènement law met with a large measure of success, so that a majority of French communes are now involved in intercommunal structures. There are two types of these structures: In exchange for the creation of a community, the government allocates money to them based on their population, thus providing an incentive for communes to team up and form communities. Communities of communes are given
19604-592: The passage through its territory of the Paris–Lille railway . This position was regretted by 1859 when the municipality called for the construction of a railway linking Achiet-le-Grand (on the Paris-Lille route) to Bapaume with animal traction (possibly they were afraid of steam). The first section of the Achiet–Marcoing railway linked the two communes and was commissioned in 1871, with steam traction. The line
19773-403: The place of the former communes, which are represented by a delegated mayor and a delegated council. Between 2012 and 2021, about 820 communes nouvelles have been established, replacing about 2,550 old communes. The expression "intercommunality" ( intercommunalité ) denotes several forms of cooperation between communes. Such cooperation first made its appearance at the end of the 19th century in
19942-541: The populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. Communes vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris , to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. Communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes ( "lieu dit" or "bourg" ),
20111-518: The power of the nobles and helped the towns free themselves from seigneurial authority, granting privileges and liberties to the emergent bourgeoisie . He built a great wall around Paris ("the Wall of Philip II Augustus "), re-organised the French government, and brought financial stability to his country. Philip was born in Gonesse on 21 August 1165, the son of Louis VII and Adela of Champagne . He
20280-400: The process, before forcing him to acknowledge Richard as his heir. Finally, by the Treaty of Azay-le-Rideau (4 July 1189), Henry was forced to renew his own homage, confirm the cession of Issoudun to Philip (along with Graçay ), and renounce his claim to suzerainty over Auvergne . Henry died two days later. His death and the news of the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin , diverted attention from
20449-495: The provision of such services as refuse collection and water supply. Suburban communes often team up with the city at the core of their urban area to form a community charged with managing public transport or even administering the collection of local taxes. The Chevènement law tidied up all these practices, abolishing some structures and creating new ones. In addition, it offered central government finance aimed at encouraging further communes to join in intercommunal structures. Unlike
20618-572: The remainder, with the county of Vermandois proper, left provisionally to the Count of Flanders. It was during this time that Philip II was nicknamed "Augustus" by the monk Rigord for augmenting French lands. Meanwhile, in 1184, Stephen I, Count of Sancerre and his Brabançon mercenaries ravaged the Orléanais. Philip defeated him with the aid of the Confrères de la Paix . A disagreement arose between Philip and King Henry II of England , who
20787-480: The residents of Bapaume ensured that the fortifications of the castle and the city were rebuilt in 1578. The period troubled by incursions and devastation lasted until 1598 when the Treaty of Vervins was signed on 2 May. An era of peace and prosperity followed, despite a plague epidemic in 1626, which ended in March 1635 when Louis XIII declared war on Philip IV of Spain . On 18 September 1641 Bapaume surrendered after
20956-489: The revolution, and so they favored a powerful central state. Therefore, when they created the communes, they deprived them of any legal "personality" (as they did with the départements ), with only the central state having legal "personality." By 1837 that situation was judged impractical, as mayors and municipal councils could not be parties in courts. The consequence of the change, however, was that tens of thousands of villages which had never had legal "personality" (contrary to
21125-417: The right to elect its own mayor in 1977, the central government retained control of the Paris police. In all other French communes, the municipal police are under the mayor's supervision. French communes were created at the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789–1790. Before the revolution, France's lowest level of administrative division was the parish ( paroisse ), and there were up to 60,000 of them in
21294-474: The rivalry between François I and Charles V . The city was devastated by the French on 15 October 1521 and went to Charles V in the Treaty of Madrid . It was again destroyed by fire in 1543 although in the meantime the Emperor had given the order to rebuild the castle and fortifications. The region was again ravaged by the French armies in 1554. After an attempt to take the castle by a person called Lelievre,
21463-506: The road from Arras to Saint-Quentin and Péronne was diverted to pass near the defences. This town was called Helena and was the place where Aetius repulsed the Frankish invasion attempt in 448. This invasion was successful in 454 and ended the Roman presence. During the following centuries the city was devastated several times. The Franks built a castle on the Roman mound as the area
21632-515: The rule of the House of Austria and was administered by the governors of the Netherlands and Governors appointed by the kings of Spain until 1641. A new era of prosperity began, troubled by the attempts of Governors to restrict the privileges of the city. On 23 July 1509 Mayor Philippe Leclercq obtained a written statement of the powers of Mayors and Aldermen of Bapaume. Bapaume suffered much from
21801-406: The same as those designed at the time of the French Revolution more than 200 years ago, with the same limits. Countless rural communes that had hundreds of inhabitants at the time of the French Revolution now have only a hundred inhabitants or fewer. On the other hand, cities and towns have grown so much that their urbanized area is now extending far beyond the limits of their commune which were set at
21970-403: The same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them. In Réunion, demographic expansion and sprawling urbanization have resulted in the administrative splitting of some communes . The median population of metropolitan France's communes at the 1999 census was 380 inhabitants. Again this is a very small number, and here France stands absolutely apart in Europe, with
22139-520: The same time. Philip now marched southward into the Berry region. His primary objective was the fortress of Issoudun , which had just been captured by Richard's mercenary commander, Mercadier . The French king took the town and was besieging the castle when Richard stormed through French lines and made his way in to reinforce the garrison, while at the same time, another army was approaching Philip's supply lines. Philip called off his attack, and another truce
22308-567: The situation remained unchanged. Philip initially allied with Henry's young sons Richard the Lionheart and John , who were in rebellion against their father. The first attempt to seriously test Henry's resolve came when Philip II launched an attack on Berry in the summer of 1187 and captured the fortress of Issoudun , but by June made a truce with Henry, which left Issoudun in Philip's hands while also granting him Fréteval in Vendômois . Though
22477-414: The size of the commune. This uniformity of status is a legacy of the French Revolution, which wanted to do away with the local idiosyncrasies and tremendous differences in status that existed in the kingdom of France. French law makes allowances for the vast differences in commune size in a number of areas of administrative law. The size of the municipal council, the method of electing the municipal council,
22646-844: The son of Abel Guidet, who is involved in Franco-German reconciliation. Communes of France The commune ( French pronunciation: [kɔmyn] ) is a level of administrative division in the French Republic . French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, Gemeinden in Germany, comuni in Italy, or municipios in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes . Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage
22815-442: The suburbs of Paris fearing the concept of a "Greater Paris", and so disunity still is the rule in the metropolitan area, with the suburbs of Paris creating many different intercommunal structures all without the city. Philip Augustus Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus ( French : Philippe Auguste ), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of
22984-408: The temporary Truce of Tillières. The war resumed in 1195 when Philip once again besieged Verneuil. He continued the siege in secret as Richard arrived to negotiate in person; when Richard found out, he swore revenge and left. Philip now pressed his advantage in northeastern Normandy, where he conducted a raid at Dieppe , burning the English ships in the harbor while repulsing an attack by Richard at
23153-461: The throne since Philip had taken the royal seal from his father. Louis died on 18 September 1180. The royal demesne had increased under Philip I and Louis VI , but had slightly diminished under Louis VII. The first major increase to the royal demesne came in 1185, when Philip acquired the County of Amiens . He purchased the County of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis in 1218, and following the death of Robert I, Count of Alençon in 1219, Philip obtained
23322-609: The time of the revolution. The most extreme example of this is Paris, where the urbanized area sprawls over 396 communes. Paris in fact was one of the very few communes of France whose limits were extended to take into account the expansion of the urbanized area. The new, larger, commune of Paris was set up under the oversight of Emperor Napoléon III in 1859, but after 1859 the limits of Paris rigidified. Unlike most other European countries, which stringently merged their communes to better reflect modern-day densities of population (such as Germany and Italy around 1970), dramatically decreasing
23491-522: The town and castle of Bapaume". In the 19th century Bapaume was not considered a walled city. The dismantling of fortifications was therefore undertaken in 1847. This was done by the Army as part of maneuvers and experiments with explosives. The walls and bastions were leveled and the ditches were filled. Only the tower and part of the Dauphin bastion are still visible. Work has been done recently to restore
23660-428: The town and sacked it, but during this time, his forces at Verneuil abandoned the siege, and Richard entered the castle unopposed on 30 May. Throughout June, while Philip's campaign ground to a halt in the north, Richard was taking a number of important fortresses to the south. Philip, eager to relieve the pressure off his allies in the south, marched to confront Richard's forces at Vendôme . Refusing to risk everything in
23829-516: The truce was for two years, Philip found grounds for resuming hostilities in the summer of 1188 and succeeded in seizing Châteauroux . He skillfully exploited the estrangement between Henry and Richard, and Richard did homage to him voluntarily at Bonsmoulins in November 1188. In 1189, as Henry's health was failing, Richard openly joined forces with Philip to drive him into submission. They chased him from Le Mans to Saumur , capturing Tours in
23998-745: The underground galleries and make them available to visit: firstly, the Bastion of Reyne south-east of the city and then, on the other side, the Dauphin Bastion. These tunnels served as shelter during the two world wars. Bapaume society was transformed during the French Revolution . During the Terror , the Castle was not sufficient to imprison citizens suspected of not being favourable to the Revolution. Homes vacated by residents who had fled were requisitioned to serve as prisons. Joseph Le Bon came to
24167-580: The world at the time, except in the empire of China (but there, only county level and above had any permanent administration). Since then, tremendous changes have affected France, as they have the rest of Europe: the Industrial Revolution , two world wars , and the rural exodus have all depopulated the countryside and increased the size of cities. French administrative divisions, however, have remained extremely rigid and unchanged. Today about 90 percent of communes and departments are exactly
24336-430: Was Louis IX of France, in 1237, who attached Bapaume to the County of Artois from under the thumb of Robert d'Artois, his brother, provided it paid homage to the kings of France. The city enjoyed a period of prosperity from the toll and its fine linen weaving ( Batiste ) by mulquiniers in the countryside. Robert I, Count of Artois was succeeded by Robert II, Count of Artois then Mahaut, Countess of Artois as head of
24505-428: Was adopted, which created the legal framework for the communes nouvelles (lit. "new communes"). A commune nouvelle can be created by merger of a number of communes at the request of the municipal councils of all the communes or at the initiative of the state representative in the department (the prefect ). The municipal council of the new commune can decide to create communes déléguées (lit. "delegated communes") in
24674-459: Was agreed; the Treaty of Louviers . The war slowly turned against Philip over the course of the next three years. Political and military conditions seemed promising at the start of 1196 when Richard's nephew Arthur I, Duke of Brittany ended up in Philip's hands, and he won the Siege of Aumale despite an attempt from Richard to relieve it, but Philip's good fortune did not last. Richard won over
24843-416: Was already under siege by a lesser contingent of crusaders, and he started to construct siege equipment before Richard arrived on 8 June. By the time Acre surrendered on 12 July, Philip was severely ill with dysentery , which reduced his zeal. Ties with Richard were further strained after the latter acted in a haughty manner after Acre fell to the crusaders. More importantly, the siege of Acre resulted in
25012-498: Was also Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine in France. The death of Henry's eldest son, Henry the Young King , in June 1183, began a dispute over the dowry of Philip's widowed sister Margaret . Philip insisted that the dowry should be returned to France as the marriage did not produce any children, per the betrothal agreement. The two kings would hold conferences at the foot of an elm tree near Gisors , which
25181-546: Was also fuelled by the realization that with Richard campaigning in the Holy Land, English possessions in northern France would be open to attack. After Richard's delayed return home, the war between England and France would ensue over the possession of English-controlled territories. The immediate cause of Philip's conflict with Richard the Lionheart stemmed from Richard's decision to break his betrothal with Philip's sister Alys at Messina in 1191. Some of Alys's dowry that had been given over to Richard during their engagement
25350-407: Was celebrated at Bapaume. Due to this union, in 1191 Bapaume was placed under the control of the King of France. Philip Augustus returned several times to Bapaume to grant communal charters. The city became independent with the construction of a town hall with a belfry, the creation of a coat of arms and a seal, and a citizens' militia. In 1202 the toll was first revised then a second time in 1291. It
25519-561: Was crucial in shaping Western European politics in both England and France. In England, the defeated John was so weakened that he was soon required to submit to the demands of his barons and sign Magna Carta, which limited the power of the crown and established the basis for common law. The Battle of Bouvines marked the end of the Angevin Empire. After the early death of Isabella of Hainault in childbirth in 1190, Philip decided to marry again. He decided on Ingeborg , daughter of King Valdemar I of Denmark , who received 10,000 marks of silver as
25688-540: Was forced to build his own casus belli . On 20 January 1192, Philip met William FitzRalph , Richard's seneschal for Normandy. Presenting some documents purporting to be from Richard, Philip claimed that the English king had agreed at Messina to hand disputed lands over to France. Not having heard anything directly from their sovereign, FitzRalph and the Norman barons rejected Philip's claim to Vexin. Philip at this time also began spreading rumours about Richard's action in
25857-451: Was impossible for them to escape. He ordered the fleet to be burned to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. The destruction of the French fleet had once again raised John's hopes, so he began preparing for an invasion of France and a reconquest of his lost provinces. The English barons were initially unenthusiastic about the expedition, which delayed his departure, so it was not until February 1214 that he disembarked at La Rochelle. John
26026-473: Was inhabited by bandits who hid in the Arrouaise forest. A bandit called Bérenger seized the castle by a ruse and made his mark on it. After his death the people of Helluin (Helena) came to shelter near the fort and thus Bapaume was born. Helluin disappeared gradually. It is through several excavations at this place that traces of this city were found and its history. The city gradually grew in importance,
26195-580: Was later extended to Marcoing . The TGV came to the town in 1993. Bapaume ( Batpalmen or Bapalmen in Flemish ) means "beat your palms" in the sense of "suffering" because of the poverty of the land or some past devastation. The current city is not in its original location. During the Gallic period the town was located some 1500 m to the west near an abundant source: the source of the Sensée river. During
26364-499: Was meant to bring peace to Normandy by settling the issue of its much-reduced boundaries. The terms of John's vassalage were not only for Normandy, but also for Anjou , Maine, and Touraine . John agreed to heavy terms, including the abandonment of all the English possessions in Berry and 20,000 marks of silver, while Philip in turn recognized John as king of England, formally abandoning Arthur of Brittany's candidacy, whom he had hitherto supported, recognizing instead John's suzerainty over
26533-480: Was nicknamed "Dieudonné" (God-given) being the first born son, arriving late in his father's life. Louis intended to make Philip co-ruler with him, in accordance with the traditions of the House of Capet , but these plans were delayed when Philip became ill after a hunting trip. His father went on pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral to pray for Philip's recovery, and
26702-1053: Was one échevin or consul ranking above the others, a sort of mayor, although not with the same authority and executive powers as a modern mayor. This "mayor" was called provost of the merchants ( prévôt des marchands ) in Paris and Lyon; maire in Marseille, Bordeaux, Rouen , Orléans , Bayonne and many other cities and towns; mayeur in Lille ; premier capitoul in Toulouse; viguier in Montpellier ; premier consul in many towns of southern France; prêteur royal in Strasbourg ; maître échevin in Metz ; maire royal in Nancy ; or prévôt in Valenciennes . On 14 July 1789, at
26871-461: Was one of the cities considered to be strategic objectives by the allies in the framework of the Battle of the Somme . Bapaume was occupied by the Germans on 26 September 1914 then by the British on 17 March 1917. The town hall was destroyed on 25 March by a delayed action mine left by the Germans, killing 24 people including Australian soldiers and two French members of parliament. On 24 March 1918,
27040-555: Was only reduced from 946 in 1971 (just before the Marcellin law aimed at encouraging French communes to merge with each other was passed, see Current debate section below) to 904 in January 2007. Consequently, the Alsace region—despite having a land area only one-fifth the size and a total population only one-sixth of that of its neighbor Baden-Württemberg—has almost as many municipalities. The small Alsace region has more than double
27209-518: Was part of the territory of Vexin . This should have reverted to Philip upon the end of the betrothal, but Philip, to prevent the collapse of the Crusade, agreed that this territory was to remain in Richard's hands and would be inherited by his male descendants. Should Richard die without an heir, the territory would return to Philip, and if Philip died without an heir, those lands would be considered
27378-480: Was restored to his ancient lands. Philip was eager to prove his loyalty to Rome and thus secure papal support for his planned invasion, announced at Soissons a reconciliation with his estranged wife Ingeborg of Denmark , which the popes had been promoting. The barons fully supported his plan, and they all gathered their forces and prepared to join with Philip at the agreed rendezvous. Through all of this, Philip remained in constant communication with Pandulf Verraccio ,
27547-464: Was signed on 30 August and Bapaume was given to John the Fearless, but it was in such a state that on 3 September there were insufficient voters to elect aldermen. After the death of John, his son Philip the Good spent several days at the castle in 1420 and it was he who in 1437 granted the town of Bapaume two free fairs per year. A period of prosperity followed but on 4 April 1472 a terrible fire destroyed
27716-412: Was so positioned that it would overshadow each monarch's territory, but to no avail. Philip pushed the case further when King Béla III of Hungary asked for the widow's hand in marriage, and thus her dowry had to be returned, to which Henry finally agreed. The death of Henry's fourth son, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany , began a new round of disputes, as Henry insisted that he retain the guardianship of
27885-520: Was still married to Ingeborg. He ordered the king to part from Agnes, and when he did not, the pope placed France under an interdict in 1199. This continued until 7 September 1200. Due to pressure from the pope, Ingeborg's brother King Valdemar II of Denmark and ultimately Agnes' death in 1201, Philip finally took Ingeborg back as his wife, but it would not be until 1213 that she would be recognized at court as queen. The only known description of Philip describes him as "a handsome, strapping fellow, with
28054-478: Was taken by Louis XIV who passed through Bapaume twice in August). The sun king passed through Bapaume several times in 1667 while returning from Flanders . On 11 May 1670 he came to review the troops stationed near the city. On 7 May 1673 he passed the night at the castle after inspecting the fortifications. In 1681 Bapaume was destroyed by fire after which it was forbidden to rebuild with thatched roofs. In 1723
28223-524: Was to advance from the Loire , while his ally Otto IV made a simultaneous attack from Flanders, together with the Count of Flanders. The three armies did not coordinate their efforts effectively. It was not until John had been disappointed in his hope for an easy victory after being driven from Roche-au-Moine and had retreated to his transports that the Imperial Army, with Otto at its head, assembled in
28392-495: Was told that his son had indeed recovered. However, on his way back to Paris, the king suffered a stroke. In declining health, Louis VII had 14-year-old Philip crowned and anointed as king at Reims on 1 November 1179 by Archbishop William of the White Hands . Philip was married on 28 April 1180 to Isabella of Hainault , the daughter of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut and Countess Margaret I of Flanders . Isabella brought
28561-549: Was very tough with powerful men who resisted him, and took pleasure in provoking discord among them. Never, however, did he cause an adversary to die in prison. He liked to employ humble men, to be the subduer of the proud, the defender of the Church, and feeder of the poor". When Pope Innocent III called for a crusade against the "Albigensians", or Cathars , in Languedoc in 1208, Philip did nothing to support it, though he did not stop his nobles from joining in. The war against
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