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- historical region in today's France
- former county, duchy and province
• 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
13th/14th century,
Flag of Maine
– Drapeau de Maine,
Source, by: Wikipedia (FR)
15th century,
Flag of Maine
– Drapeau de Maine,
Source, by: Wikipedia (FR)
from 1960,
Unofficial flag of Pays-de-la-Loire
– Drapeau de officieux de la Pays-de-la-Loire,
Source, by: Wikipedia (FR)
The flag of Maine is a scutcheon-flag, its design is actually the image of the coat of arms of the line of the Valois. Nevertheless, there are flags with a silver lion in the upper corner. Duke Charles I. (1414-1472), who is Duke of Anjou and Maine from 1434, added the previous Valois Crest by a silvery lion in the upper left corner of the coat of arms. Only he has made use of these, because in the time coming after him, in coats of arms, which had Maine as a heraldic sign in it, the lion did not appear again. Nevertheless, the use of the lion in flag and crest seems to have prevailed until today, probably to ensure a better distinction to Valois and Anjou. The in 1960 created Region of "Pays-de-la-Loire", to which Maine belongs, uses an unofficial flag modeled after historical coats of arms. It shows the heraldry of Maine, Anjou, Vendée and Bretagne.
Source:
Volker Preuß,
Wikipedia (D)
1246–1434,
Coat of arms of Maine
– blason de Maine,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)
1434–1481,
Coat of arms of Maine
– blason de Maine,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)
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. 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. Duke Charles I. (1414-1472), who is Duke of Anjou and Maine from 1434, added the previous Valois Crest by a silvery lion in the upper left corner of the coat of arms. Only he has made use of these, because in the time coming after him, in coats of arms, which had Maine as a heraldic sign in it, the lion did not appear again. Nevertheless, the use of the lion in the crest seems to have prevailed until today, probably to ensure a better distinction to Valois and Anjou.
Source:
Volker Preuß, Wikipedia (D)
The historical, French Regions:
in black: governorate and province in 1776,
in red: former county, province oder governorate
Map: Volker Preuß
The provinces (or governorates) that existed until the French Revolution were historically grown entities that had often developed from former fiefdoms of the French crown, historical counties and duchies, often existed for hundreds of years and had preserved regional characteristics (cultural peculiarities and regional languages). Such phenomena were naturally undesirable to the French Revolution, and in the context of its bloody and violent egalitarianism, all regional references were eradicated. Shortly after the Revolution, the provinces were dissolved and France was divided into many small départements, which were to be approximately the same size and have the same status, controlled by prefects of the central administration in Paris. The departments were named after rivers or mountains so as not to use the names of any of the old provinces. However, it was not possible to sever the ties between the inhabitants of France and their respective historically grown regions, so that in 1960 regions were created again. There can hardly be said to be any real autonomy. The regions are only supposed to promote the economic, social, health, cultural and scientific development of the region, keep an eye on housing and living conditions, and provide support in some areas, e.g. urban development policy, urban regeneration, regional planning, preservation of regional identity and promotion of regional languages. When the regions were formed, departments located in a particular historical province were administratively grouped together into a region that often had the same historical name. The resulting entities only roughly corresponded to the boundaries of historical provinces. In strictly centralised France, however, any form of responsible regionalism is avoided. The regions do not even have their own seals with which to mark their own legally binding decisions, because there are no plans to introduce such a thing. Therefore, anything to do with coats of arms or flags is completely irrelevant. The logos of the regions are used generally, sometimes with the colours reversed and placed arbitrarily on flags or banners. There are no rules, as they are not official symbols. The logos and flags of the regions therefore often look like company logos: Unloving, unhistorical, technocratic and modernistic. That is why most of these regions have a kind of unofficial heraldic flag, which is intended to recall historical heraldic models. However, these are merely decorative in nature and are not a symbol of sovereign functions. The regions created in 1960 were even called into question in 2014, and a territorial reform was decided – centrally from Paris – which reduced the number of regions by almost half through mergers. The regions and their institutions were not even consulted on this matter.
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
antiquity · settlement by Celtic tribes, the largest of them are the Aulerkers and Cenomans
56 B.C. · Roman conquest, to the province of Gallia Lugdunensis
5th century A.D. · the west of the country joins the Federation of Armorica to find protection against Germanic invasions, the
east of the country was conquered by the Franks, until 507 (under King Clovis) expansion of the empire to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pyrenees and the Alps
511 · death of King Clovis, division of the Frankish Empire by Salic law of succession among his four sons (residences in Paris, Soissons, Orleans, Reims)
550 · administrative division of the kingdom into the kingdoms of Austrasia, Neustria and Burgundy, today's Maine comes to Neustria
8th century · establishing of the County of Maine, strengthening of the Frankish Empire
832 · Rorgon I., son-in-law of Charlemagne, is Earl, he founds the line of the Rorgonids as Counts of Maine
865 · the first mention of Duke of "Francia", called Robert the Strong, the County of Maine is part of the Duchy of Francia
880 · at the division of the Frankish Empire (Treaty of Verdun and Ribbemont) was created the West Frankish Kingdom (the later France) under a line of the Carolingians
886 · death of Gauzfried, (from the house of Rorgonids), county and title are transferred to Roger (from the house of Robertins)
900 · county and title are transferred from Gauzlin II., last Robertin, to Robert II. (Capetian, Duke of Francia), he enfeoffs Hugh I. (from the House of Rorgonids) with the county, he founds the line of the Counts of the Second House of Maine
987 · death of Louis V. (986–987) from the house of the Carolingians, Hugo Capet, son of Hugo the Great was elected to the King of France and becomes the founder of the Capetian dynasty (Kings of France 987–1328)
1062 · death of Herbert II., Count of Maine, last count from the Second House of Maine, he inherits the county to William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy)
1063–1070 · reign of Count Robert (son of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy) , married with Margaret, sister of Herbert II., he founds the dynasty of the Rollonids as from the Dukes of Normandy fief dependend Counts of Maine
1110 · Count Fulk V. of Anjou (House of Plantagenet) marries Eremburg of Beaugency, the heiress of Maine
1113 · Henry I., son of William the Conqueror, King of England and Duke of Normandy, recognizes Fulk V. as Count of Maine, but the supremacy of Normandy is confirmed
1144 · Geoffrey Plantagenet, son of Fulk V. of Anjou, establishes itself as Duke of Normandy
1150 · Henry II., son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, is Duke of Normandy
1151 · death of Geoffrey Plantagenet, his son Henry II., is Count of Maine, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy
1204 · Philip Augustus, King of France, conquers Normandy, Anjou, Maine and Touraine (Angevin Empire of the Plantagenets)
1246 · Louis the Saint, King of France, hands over the County of Maine to his brother Charles of Valois, he founds the line of the counts of Maine from the House of Capet
1328 · death of King Charles IV. (the Fair), extinction of the direct Capetian line, according to Salic Law Count Philip of Valois (Son of Prince Charles of Valois, first cousin of King Charles IV.) came on the French throne (as King Philip VI .), Maine comes thus to the royal domain (royal possessions), the English king Edward III. lays claim to the throne as a maternal nephew of Charles IV., reason for the "Hundred Years War" (Anglo-French War, 1338–1453), out of the House of Valois came all kings of France from 1328 to 1589
1360 · John II., King of France, rises Anjou and Maine to duchies
1380 · death of Charles V. (the Wise), King of France, his brother Louis is indemnifyed with Anjou and Maine as Paragium, he founds the Younger Line of Anjou, he is as Ludwig I. (1339-1384) from 1380 Duke of Anjou and Maine, and from 1382 further Count of Provence, as well as his son Ludwig II. (1377-1417), who has two sons: Ludwig III. (1403-1434) who is 1417-1434 Duke of Anjou and Maine and Count of Provence, and Charles I. (1414-1472) who is from 1434 Duke of Anjou and Maine, his son Charles II. (1436-1481) is from 1472 Duke of Anjou and Maine and Count of Provence, with his death in 1481 the line extincts
1424–1448 · Maine is occupied by the English, John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, is Count of Maine
1481 · The Younger Line of Anjou extincts, the land comes back to the Crown, the title of the duke and the country are awarded in the following years as an appanage to royal princes again and again
1776 · the already in the 14th century created governorates of the civil administration of the kingdom of France become committed to a number of 39, and correspond in this way to the number of provinces, in previous years could any provinces be summarized in one governorate
1789 · French Revolution, the governorates (provinces) become abolished, Maine is divided into departments (approximately Sarthe and Mayenne)
1960 · reintroduction of regions in France, formation of the Region of Pays de la Loire with Nantes as capital, but not within the historic boundaries, just by integrating of the departments of Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe und Vendée
Source:
Wikipedia (D),
Meyers Konversationslexikon
The name "Maine" has its roots in the name of a river in western France. It starts at the city of Angers by the confluence of the rivers Sarthe and Mayenne, runs in a southwesterly direction and flows after 12 km, at Bouchemaine, as a right affluent into the Loire. The River Maine and the river Mayenne had formerly a single Latin name: Mediuna, what means: river of the middle. The landscape and the County of "Maine" has yet another historic name: it was called "Cenomania", a reference to the earlier here living Cenomans.
Source:
Wikipedia (D),
Meyers Konversationslexikon,
Volker Preuß
