5-503: The Rorgonids were a powerful Frankish family dating from the eighth century. They are sometimes referred to as the first Mayennaise dynasty , referring to the city of Mayenne , and are the original counts of Maine. The Rorgonids were named after Rorgon I, Count of Maine , who was the progenitor of the dynasty. His son, Gauzfrid, Count of Maine , was the first to hold power in the Norman March of Neustria . The Rorgonids controlled
10-512: Is a commune in the Mayenne department , northwestern France . It is a subprefecture of the department. It is situated on the river Mayenne . In medieval times, the town was the seat of the Lords of Mayenne . The town originated when Juhel II of Mayenne (lord of Mayenne, Gorron and Ambrières (1110–1161)) built a monastery near the gate of the pre-existing castle, which led to the formation of
15-617: The County of Maine throughout the ninth century. The Rorgonids and the Widonids competed for control of the Breton March through much of that time. The first known ruler of Maine (called the Duke of Maine) was Charivius , who is conjectured by Christian Settipani to be the brother or nephew of Lambert, Count of Hesbaye . Further, Settipani identifies Charivius as a direct ancestor of
20-636: The Rorgonids. Charivius was displaced as ruler of Maine by the Carolinians in 748, with his dynasty restored in 832. The House of Châteaudun descended from Gauzfred I (or Geoffrey I) whom Count Theobald I of Blois made viscount of Châteaudun in 956. Recent research makes him a direct-line agnatic descendant of the Frankish family Rorgonides. Mayenne, Mayenne Mayenne ( / m aɪ ˈ ɛ n / , French: [majɛn] )
25-512: The settlement. Mayenne was besieged twice during the French Wars of Religion , in 1574 and 1590, and suffered substantial damage. It was rebuilt and re-embellished in the following century thanks to the help of Cardinal Mazarin . It however suffered from plague in 1707. On 9 June 1944, during World War II, it was bombed by the RAF , which caused heavy damage and numerous casualties. Mayenne
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