the encyclopedic entry of Harfleur

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Harfleur

Harfleur, town (1993 est. pop. 9,221), Seine-Maritime dept., N France, at the mouth of the Seine River on the English Channel. It was a flourishing port during the later Middle Ages but declined because of silting in the 16th cent. The siege and capture (1415) of Harfleur by the English in the Hundred Years War is described by Shakespeare in Henry V.

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Harfleur

Harfleur is a commune in the Seine-Maritime département of the Haute-Normandie region of northern France.

Geography

A light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux by the banks of the Seine and Lézarde rivers, some east of Le Havre, at the junction of the N282, D231 and D9015 roads. SNCF railways have a station here.

History

In Roman times, Harfleur was known as Caracotinum, the principal port of the ancient Calates. A Roman road led from Harfleur to Troyes. Another road that disappeared during the Hundred Years War linked Harfleur to Fécamp).
Several Merovingian sarcophagi have been unearthed at the foot of Mount Cabert.
In the Middle Ages, its name, Herosfloth, Harofluet or Hareflot, was still sufficiently uncorrupted to indicate its Norman origins. The suffix fleur comes from Old Norse Flöthe meaning "estuary or arm of the sea" and is related to the word fjord. The precise meaning of the prefix "har" is unknown.

1202 saw the granting of a town charter by King John of England.
In 1281 began the expansion of the port of Harfleur.
At the beginning of the 14th century, Harfleur saw the setting-up of a Catalan and Portuguese merchants association.
1341 - 1361 saw the building of the city walls, pierced by three gates (Porte d’Eure, Porte de Rouen and Montivilliers Gate). These were restored in the 15th century after the destruction of the Hundred Years War.

For six centuries, it was the principal seaport of northwestern France. In 1415, it was captured by Henry V of England. In 1435, the people of the district of Caux, led by Jean de Grouchy, rose against the English. 104 of the inhabitants opened the gates of the town to the insurgents, and forced the English occupiers out. The memory of the deed was long perpetuated by the bells of St Martin's tolling 104 strokes.
Between 1445 and 1449 the English were again in possession, but the town was recovered for the French by Dunois in 1450.
In 1562, the Huguenots pillaged Harfleur and its registers and charters perished in the confusion, but its privileges were restored by Charles IX of France in 1568. It was not until 1710 that it was subjected to the "taille." In the 16th century, the port began to dwindle in importance owing to the silting up of the Seine estuary and the rise of Le Havre. In 1887, the Tancarville canal restored waterborne access to the town from both the Seine and Le Havre.