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36-614: He was born in Caen , the son of a volunteer of 1792, He early went to Paris and obtained work as a sculptor on the church of the Madeleine , but his passion for the stage soon led him to join a strolling company of comedians. Finally chance gave him an opportunity to show his talents, and at the Porte Saint Martin he became the popular interpreter of romantic drama of the type popularized by Alexandre Dumas, père . One of his greatest successes

72-681: A minor settlement throughout the Roman period and began to see major development commence in the 10th century, under the patronage of the Dukes of Normandy. Around 1060, William the Conqueror began construction of the Château de Caen , which became the centre of the ducal court. Duchess Matilda of Flanders also founded the Benedictine Abbey of Sainte-Trinité, Caen around the same time, eventually being buried in

108-494: A significant impact on medieval history writing in England and the development of Arthurian literature and subsequently provided inspiration for numerous later writers, including Sir Thomas Malory and Jorge Luis Borges . Brut (ca. 1190) is a Middle English poem compiled and recast by Layamon. It is named after Britain 's mythical founder, Brutus of Troy . It is contained in the manuscripts Cotton Caligula A.ix, written in

144-445: Is CN . Layamon Layamon or Laghamon ( UK : / ˈ l aɪ . ə m ə n , - m ɒ n / , US : / ˈ l eɪ . ə m ə n , ˈ l aɪ -/ ; Middle English: [ˈlaɣamon] ) – spelled Laȝamon or Laȝamonn in his time, occasionally written Lawman – was an English poet of the late 12th/early 13th century and author of the Brut , a notable work that

180-527: Is a commune 15 km (9.3 mi) inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados . The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (as of 2018 ), while its functional urban area has 470,000, making Caen the second largest urban area in Normandy and the 19th largest in France. It is also the third largest commune in all of Normandy after Le Havre and Rouen . It

216-503: Is known for its historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror , who was buried there, and for the Battle for Caen , heavy fighting that took place in and around Caen during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, destroying much of the city. The city has now preserved the memory by erecting a memorial and a museum dedicated to peace, the Mémorial de Caen . The first references to

252-597: Is located 200 km (120 mi) northwest of Paris, connected to the South of England by the Caen ( Ouistreham ) to Portsmouth ferry route through the English Channel . Situated a few miles from the coast, the landing beaches, the bustling resorts of Deauville and Cabourg , as well as Norman Switzerland and the Pays d'Auge , Caen is often considered the archetype of Normandy. Caen

288-509: Is somewhat ameliorated due to its slightly inland position. In spite of this, summers are still cool by French standards and the climate is typically maritime in terms of high precipitation, relatively modest sunshine hours and mild winters. The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Caen proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Caen absorbed the former commune of Venoix in 1952. The castle, Château de Caen , built c.  1060 by William

324-499: Is the home of the Baroque musical ensemble Les Arts Florissants . The organization was founded by conductor William Christie in 1979 and derives its name from the 1685 opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier . Caen was the birthplace or origin of: Caen is twinned with: From 1947 to 2006, Caen was a stage of the Tour de France a total of 15 times. Further, Caen was one of the hosts of

360-602: The Caen Guided Light Transit ( French : TVR de Caen but known locally as the "tram"), a guided trolleybus network which operated from 2002 to 2017, which was closed due to reliability issues. The city previously had a tramway which operated from 1860 to 1937. Caen also had several main and branch railway lines linking Caen railway station ( French : Gare de Caen ) to all parts of Normandy with lines to Paris , Vire , Flers , Cabourg , Houlgate , Deauville , Saint-Lô , Bayeux and Cherbourg . Now

396-654: The Comédie-Française , where she remained ten years. He created the part of D'Artagnan in The Youth of The Musketeers and The Musketeer (a dramatization of 20 Years After by Dumas) and also the part of Lagardere in Feval and Anciet-Bourgeois's Hunchback . This article about a French stage actor is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Caen Caen ( UK : / ˈ k ɒ̃ ˈ k ɒ n / ; French: [kɑ̃] ; Norman : Kaem )

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432-603: The EuroBasket 1983 . The city has a football team, SM Caen , who as of 2024 are owned by superstar footballer Kylian Mbappé . The Drakkars de Caen play ice hockey in the FFHG Division 1 . In 2014, Caen was the location of the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games . Current arms: Gules, a single-towered open castle Or, windowed and masoned sable. Under the Ancien Régime : Per fess, gules and azure, 3 fleurs de lys Or. During

468-565: The First French Empire : Gules, a single-towered castle Or, a chief of Good Imperial Cities (gules, 3 bees Or). Today, Caen has no motto, but it used to have one, which did not survive the French Revolution . As a result, its spelling is archaic and has not been updated: Un Dieu, un Roy, une Foy, une Loy. (One God, one King, one Faith, one Law.) This motto is reflected in a notable old Chant royal . Caen's home port code

504-616: The A84 is a toll-free motorway. The city is encircled by the N814 ring-road (Boulevard Périphérique) that was completed in the late 1990s. The N13 connects Caen to Cherbourg and to Paris. A section of the former N13 (Caen-Paris) is now D613 (in Calvados) following road renumbering. The Boulevard Périphérique includes a viaduct called the Viaduc de Calix that goes over the canal and River Orne . The canal links

540-463: The British Second Army fought the battle of Caen to dislodge German forces from the city. During the battle, Allied bombing raids heavily damaged the city and caused numerous French civilian casualties. After the battle, little of prewar Caen remained, and reconstruction efforts in the city continued until 1962. Postwar work included the reconstruction of complete districts of the city and

576-497: The Conqueror, who successfully conquered England in 1066, is one of the largest medieval fortresses of Western Europe. It remained an essential feature of Norman strategy and policy. At Christmas 1182, a royal court celebration for Christmas in the aula of Caen Castle brought together Henry II and his sons, Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland , receiving more than a thousand knights. Caen Castle, along with all of Normandy,

612-597: The SNCF operates the Paris-Caen-Cherbourg, Caen-Rouen, Caen- Le Mans -Tours, Caen- Rennes services and some others small lines, while Railcoop will soon open new lines such as Lille-Amiens-Rouen-Caen-Rennes-Nantes and Paris-Caen-Brest making Caen railway station its north-western hub. Caen station is the second busiest in Normandy, after Rouen station. Caen - Carpiquet Airport is the biggest airport in Normandy considering

648-477: The abbey. Caen succeeded Bayeux as the capital of Lower Normandy , complementing the second ducal capital of Rouen . Caen fell to Philip II of France on 21 May 1204, and was incorporated along with the remainder of Normandy into the Kingdom of France. In 1346, King Edward III of England led his army against the city, hoping to loot it. It was expected that a siege of perhaps several weeks would be required, but

684-496: The army took the city in less than a day, on 26 July 1346, storming and sacking it , killing 3,000 of its citizens, and burning much of the merchants' quarter on the Île St-Jean. Only the castle of Caen held out, despite attempts to besiege it. A few days later, the English left, marching to the east and on to their victory at the Battle of Crécy . It was later captured following a siege by Henry V in 1417 and treated harshly for being

720-529: The city to the sea to permit cargo ships and ferries to dock in the port of Caen . Ferries which have docked include the Quiberon and the Duc de Normandie . The agricultural and food-processing Agrial cooperative has its head office in Caen. Agrial group processes vegetables , cider apples , milk , poultry and meat with the help of its 12,000 employees and all its partners. The Théâtre de Caen (1963)

756-474: The city's recovery efforts. The resulting film, You Can't Kill a City , is preserved in the National Archives of Canada . Caen is in an area of high humidity. The river Orne flows through the city, as well as small rivers known as les Odons , most of which have been buried under the city to improve urban hygiene. Caen has a large flood zone, named "La prairie", located around the hippodrome, not far from

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792-649: The first quarter of the 13th century, and in the Cotton Otho C.xiii, written about fifty years later (though in this edition it is shorter). Both are kept at the British Library . The Brut is 16,095 lines long and narrates the history of Britain. It is largely based on the Anglo-Norman Roman de Brut by Wace , which is in turn inspired by Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae . It is, however, longer than both and includes an enlarged section on

828-425: The first town to put up any resistance to his invasion. In 1450 towards the end of the war, French forces recaptured Caen . During World War II , Caen was captured by German forces during the Battle of France in 1940 and placed under military occupation . In 1944, Allied forces launched Operation Overlord , invading German-occupied France and rapidly advancing through Normandy . From 6 June to 6 August 1944,

864-422: The latter making crossing from March to November. The ferry terminal is 15 km (9.3 mi) from Caen with a daytime shuttle bus service for foot passengers. There is also a cyclist road from Caen to Ouistreham. Caen is connected to the rest of France by motorways to Paris ( A13 ), Brittany and Southern France ( A84 ) and to Le Mans and central France ( A88 – A28 ). The A13 and A88 are toll roads while

900-637: The life and exploits of King Arthur . Among the new material Layamon provided were an account of the birth of Merlin and one of the origins of the Round Table , as well as details of Arthur's departure by ship to Avalon to be healed by the elf-queen. It is written in a combination of alliterative verse , deriving from Old English, and rhyme, influenced by Wace's Roman de Brut and used in later Middle English poetry. Print-era editors and cataloguers have spelled his name in various ways, including "Layamon", "Lazamon", or "Lawman". Brown University suggests that

936-571: The name of Caen are found in different acts of the dukes of Normandy : Cadon 1021/1025, Cadumus 1025, Cathim 1026/1027. Year 1070 of the Parker manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to Caen as Kadum , and year 1086 of the Laud manuscript gives the name as Caþum . Despite a lack of sources as to the origin of the settlements, the name Caen would seem to be of Gaulish origin, from

972-686: The number of passengers and flights that it serves every year. Most flights are operated by HOP! , Volotea and the French national airline Air France operates flights to the French cities of Lyon , Nice, Toulouse, Montpellier, Marseille, Biarritz, Ajaccio, Figari, Bastia and Calvi. Caen is served by the large port of Ouistreham , lying at the mouth of the Caen Canal where it meets the English Channel . A cruise/ferry service operates between Portsmouth , England, and Caen/Ouistreham running both standard roll-on-roll-off car ferries and supercat fast ferries, with

1008-505: The original on 13 February 2006 . Retrieved 28 August 2004 . ) In repentance for marrying his cousin Mathilda of Flanders , William ordered two abbeys to be built on the Pope 's encouragement: Mayors of Caen have included: Joël Bruneau was re-elected mayor in the 2020 municipal elections . In 1952, the small commune of Venoix became part of Caen. In 1990, the agglomeration of Caen

1044-548: The river Orne, which is regularly submerged. Caen is 10 km (6.2 mi) from the Channel . A canal ( Canal de Caen à la Mer ) parallel to the Orne was built during the reign of Napoleon III to link the city to the sea at all times. The canal reaches the English Channel at Ouistreham . A lock keeps the tide out of the canal and lets large ships navigate up the canal to Caen's freshwater harbours. Caen has an oceanic climate that

1080-503: The university campus. It took 14 years (1948–1962) and led to the current urbanization of Caen. Having lost many of its historic quarters and its university campus in the war, Caen does not have the atmosphere of a traditional Norman town such as Honfleur , Rouen , Cabourg , Deauville or Bayeux . The Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit filmed the D-Day offensive and Orne breakout several weeks later. It returned several months later to document

1116-470: The words catu- , referring to military activities and magos , field, hence meaning "manoeuvre field" or "battlefield". In Layamon 's Brut , the poet asserts that King Arthur named the city in memory of Sir Kay , although the historicity of King Arthur is widely doubted. Caen was known in Roman times as 'Catumagos', from the Gaulish roots magos meaning 'field' and catu meaning 'combat'. It remained

Étienne Mélingue - Misplaced Pages Continue

1152-443: Was a part of 9 cantons , of which it was the chief town. These cantons contained a total of 13 towns. Caen gave its name to a 10th canton, of which it was not part. Since the 2015 canton reorganization, Caen is part of the cantons of Caen-1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 . Twisto is the urban transport network of Caen, including about sixty bus lines and 3 tramway lines. The present tram network officially opened on 27 July 2019 replacing

1188-480: Was as Benvenuto Cellini , in which he displayed his ability both as an actor and as a sculptor, really modelling before the eyes of the audience a statue of Hebe . He sent a number of statuettes to the various exhibitions, notably one of Gilbert Louis Duprez as William Tell . Mélingue's wife, Théodorine Thiesset (1813–1886), was the actress selected by Victor Hugo to create the part of Guanhumara in Burgraves at

1224-876: Was handed over to the French Crown in 1204. The castle saw several engagements during the Hundred Years' War (1346, 1417, 1450) and was in use as a barracks as late as the Second World War. Bullet holes are visible on the walls of the castle where members of the French Resistance were shot during the Second World War. Today, the castle serves as a museum that houses the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen (Museum of Fine Arts of Caen) and Musée de Normandie (Museum of Normandy) along with many periodical exhibitions about arts and history. (See "Timeline of Caen Castle" . Archived from

1260-491: Was organized into a district, transformed in 2002 into a Communauté d'agglomération ( Grand Caen (Greater Caen), renamed Caen la Mer in 2004), gathers 29 towns and villages, including Villons-les-Buissons , Lion-sur-Mer , Hermanville-sur-Mer , which joined the Communauté d'agglomération in 2004. The population of the "communauté d'agglomération" is around 220,000 inhabitants. In the former administrative organisation, Caen

1296-612: Was the first to present the legends of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table in English poetry (the first Arthurian poems were by Frenchman Chrétien de Troyes ). J. R. R. Tolkien valued him as a transmitter of early English legends in a fashion comparable to the role played with respect to Icelandic legend by Snorri Sturluson . Layamon describes himself in his poem as a priest living at Areley Kings in Worcestershire . His poem had

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