Yvetot

The lords of Yvetot bore the title of king from the 15th until the middle of the 16th century, their petty monarchy being popularized in one of Béranger's songs. In 1592, Henry IV here defeated the troops of the Catholic League.^[1]

The town’s prosperity was linked to strong commerce, developed as early as the 17th century, thanks to its fiscal statutes and to cotton spinning, which saw massive expansion after 1794. In the 19th century, the town developed fabric production. Until 1926, Yvetot had been chef-lieu of the old arrondissement of Yvetot, and a sub_prefecture. During this period of reorganisation, it lost its status of sub-prefecture. In World War II, Yvetot was practically razed in 1940 by the Germans. Later, the 75th Division of the U.S. Army, 575th Signal Co., maintained its command post in the town from December 14–20, 1944, as it counterattacked against the German army. After the war, Yvetot was rebuilt in a classical style and regained its importance in the middle of the 20th century.

Heraldry

	The arms of Yvetot are blazoned : Gules, 2 garbs (sheaves of wheat) and 2 shuttles crossed in saltire Or.

Population

Historical population of Yvetot
Year	1882	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006
Population	8444	7932	9510	10433	10605	10807	10776	11436
From the year 1962 on: No double counting—residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) are counted only once.

The Round Church and its stained-glass window

The stained-glass window, considered the largest in Europe with an area of 1,046 m² (11,259 sq ft), was constructed in the 1950s by Max Ingrand. The window's main colors are in shades of crimson, gold and blue. Meticulous assembly from a thousand pieces of glass, the stained-glass window portrays saints, with a wide section consecrated to the Normans of the diocese of Rouen. Either side of Christ are St. Peter (patron saint of Yvetot for a thousand years) and the apostles, including St. Valery (apostle of Calluses and Vimeux in the 7th century), St. Saëns (an Irish monk and founder of an abbey in the valley of the Varenne), St. Ouen (who introduced monasteries to Rouen) and St. Wandrille. The bishops of Rouen are also depicted. Among the bishops are St. Roman (in the process of strangling the gargoyle that devastated Rouen), St Rémy, and St Hugues. Others represented in the stained-glass include the Virgin Mary and Joan of Arc shining in her armour.

Anecdotes

Yvetot’s entry in the Dictionnaire des idées reçues by Gustave Flaubert, reads: "YVETOT: Voir Yvetot et mourir ! (See Yvetot and die) (cf. Naples and Seville)". It is in Yvetot that novelist Guy de Maupassant received his primary education; the town itself and its surrounding area, le Pays de Caux feature extensively in his œuvre.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Yvetot is twinned with:

References

INSEE

↑ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Yvetot". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 947.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yvetot.

(All French language)

Communes of the Seine-Maritime department

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 168604783 GND: 4317732-3 BNF: cb15275340x (data)

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