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Alençon

 

Contents

Flag

Meaning/Origin of the Flag

Coat of Arms

Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

Map of the historical Regions in France

Explanations about the Regions

History

Origin of the Country's Name



Flag

Flagge Fahne flag drapeau Alençon
1291–1365,
Flag of Alençon,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)




Flagge Fahne flag drapeau Alençon
1365–1549,
Flag of Alençon,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)



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Meaning/Origin of the Flag

The flag of Alençon is a scutcheon-flag, its design is actually the image of the coat of arms of that line of the Valois, which got Alençon in 1291 as a fiefdom, when King Philip IV. of France handed over the County of Alençon to his brother Charles of Valois. This image of the flag was transfered to the area in which the county was located in modern times. Flags in today's sense did not exist at that time, possibly a banner with the heraldry of the sovereign. With a few exceptions, such banners (including the coats of arms) had in France nothing to do with the country, they were only referred to the coats of arms of the respective rulers.

Source: Wikipedia (D), Volker Preuß

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Coat of Arms


Wappen arms crest blason Alençon Montgomery
ca. 1080–1217,
Coat of arms of the Montgomery,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)


Wappen arms crest blason Alençon Anjou
1291–1297,
Coat of arms of the County of Alençon,
Source, by: Wikipedia (FR)


Wappen arms crest blason Alençon
1297–1365,
Coat of arms of the County of Alençon,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)


Wappen arms crest blason Alençon
1365–1549,
Coat of arms of the Duchy of Alençon,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)

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Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

The progenitor of the line of Valois, Prince Charles (1270–1325, son of King Philipp III.), Count of Valois, Anjou and Maine, took over the coat of arms from Prince John Tristan (1250–1270, Count of Valois, son of King Ludwig IX.). He surrounded the lily arms of the Capetians with a wide red border. For the line of Valois-Alençon, which began in 1297, when Charles II., son of Charles of Valois, was born, were fixed eight white balls on the red border as the special heraldic feature. The coat of arms of the Capetians showed three golden lilies on blue, but originally was the coat of arms sprinkled with lilies. From 1365 (by others sources 1376), the number of lilies was reduced to three. The lily-symbol is very old, already the Germanic tribe of the Franks has used it. The House of the Capetians has provided the kings of France between 987 and 1328. It goes back to Hugo Capet, son of Hugo the Great, who was electet to the King of France, in 987, after the death of King Ludwig V. from the House of the Carolingians. The Capetians brought out three branch lines which became the Kings of France: Valois 1328–1589, Bourbon 1589–1792 and 1814–1830, and Orléans 1830–1848.

Source: Heraldique Europeenne, Volker Preuß, Wikipedia (D)

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Map of the historical Regions in France

The historical, French Regions:

in black: governorate and province in 1776,
in red: former county, province oder governorate

Map: Volker Preuß

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Explanations about the Regions

The until the French Revolution existing provinces (or governorates) have been historically grown structures, which had their roots oftenly in former fiefdoms of the French crown, historic counties and duchies. They oftenly existed for hundreds of years and had preserved regionality (e.g. cultural particularities and regional languages). On the occasion of the French Revolution such phenomena were of course not desirable, and as part of their bloody and violent egalitarianism any regional references were eliminated. Shortly after the French Revolution the provinces were dissolved and France became divided into many départements, which should have approximately the same size and the same status. The départements were named after rivers or mountains, to use never and in no circumstances the name of an old province. However, there was no success in cutting the connections of the people of France to their respective regions, so that administrative regions were re-created in 1960, to have a better control in regional administrative processes. In this way became départements, which were placed in a historical province, administratively grouped to an oftenly historically named region. The resulted structures coincide only approximately with the boundaries of the old provinces. In the strictly centralist France any regionality is avoided, so that even the official flags of these regions mostly look like flags of companies, unloving, unhistorical, technocratic and modernistic, and these flags should not be a subject of any lexical considerations here. Only in a few of that regions, exist official flags which remember the historical models. But, even the existence of these today's regions is douptful, because in 2014 was passed a territorial reform valid from the year 2016, that reduces the number of the existing regions by merging to nearly the half. However, there exist unofficial flags in nearly all of these regions, which should remember the old provinces and the old heraldry.

Wikipedia Link to the regions of France: click or tap here
FOTW Link to the regions of France: click or tap here

Source: Flags of the World, Wikipedia (D), Volker Preuß

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History

ca 1080 · establishing of the County of Alençon around the Dominion of Bellême, whose heiress Mabile de Bellême marries Roger II. de Montgomery

1217 · death of Robert III. de Montgomery, the reign of the House of Montgomery as the Counts of Alençon ends

1220 · the heiress Countess Alix sells the county to King Philip II. of France (Capetian), Alençon gets affiliated to the French royal domain

1268 · King Louis IX. of France (Capetian) hands over the county of Alençon to his fifth son Peter

1284 · death of Peter I. of Alençon, the county gets re-affiliated to the French royal domain

1291 · King Philip IV. of France (Capetian) hands over the territorially enlarged County of Alençon to his brother Charles of Valois, the county is inherited in the afteryears within the House of Valois-Alençon

1414 · the County of Alençon is rised to a duchy

1517 · Duke Charles IV. is Duke of Berry

1521 · death of Charles IV. , Duke of Alençon and Duke of Berry, because there are no descendants, the line of Valois-Alençon extincts, the inheritance goes to his wife Margaret, Duchess of Alençon and Duchess of Angoulême

1525 · Margaret is Countess of Armagnac

1549 · death of Margaret, Duchess of Alençon, the Duchy of Alençon gets re-affiliated to the French royal domain

1559–1566 · Catherine de Medici – by marriage of King Henry II. since 1547 Queen of France – is the Duchess of Alençon

1570 · King Charles IX. of France (Valois) hands over the Duchy of Alençon to his younger brother Francis-Hercules, Duke of Anjou, he died childless in 1584, the duchy gets re-affiliated to the French royal domain, the title of Duke of Alençon is awarded in the following years as an appanage to royal princes again and again, but the Duchy becomes affiliated to the province of Normandy

1710 · King Louis XIV. of France (Bourbon) gives the title to his grandson, the Duke of Berry

1774 · King Louis XVI. of France (Bourbon) gives the title to his eldest brother, the Count of Provence

1844–1910 · Prince Ferdinand Philipp, member of the House of Orléans, has the title of the Duke of Alençon

Source: Wikipedia (D), Meyers Konversationslexikon

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Origin of the Country's Name

The name of the country goes of course back to the residence of Alençon. About the origin or the meaning of the name is nothing known. However, during the late Antiquity and the Merovingian period the place Alençon was called "Montsort".

Source: Wikipedia (FR), Volker Preuß

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