Charnie

Charnie is a Forêt located at the borders of the departments of the Mayenne (Saint-Leger, Holy-Suzanne, Thorigné-in-Charnie…) in the west, and the Sarthe (Parennes, Chemiré-in-Charnie, Play-in-Charnie…) in the east.

Situation

One distinguishes the forest from the Large-Charnie in the west and the forest of the Small-Charnie in the east. They are elements of the old forest of the Mans, in which the August 5th 1392 the king Charles VI was taken of a crisis of insanity.

The canton of Holy-Suzanne current occupies about the center of Charnie, which included/understood, according to François-Augustin Gérault, moreover:

in the west Saint-Christophe-of-Luat the, Livet and the Vault-Rainsouin,
in the south, Hampers and Saulges,
in the east, in the the Sarthe, Neuvillette-in-Charnie, Chemiré-in-Charnie, Étival-in-Charnie, Play-in-Charnie, Saint-Denis-with Orques, Saint-Symphorien.

The septentrional part is occupied by a mountainous solid mass (alt. 290m with the top of Torcé-Fish pond-in-Charnie), separated from the still higher hillocks of the Coëvrons by a broad and deep valley. From these solid masses some affluents rise from the Vègre, the Treulon, affluent of the Erve, and the Vaige. The southernmost part of Charnie, furrowed by these rivers, is still broken, but nonmountainous, more fertile than the first, glaze of wood and moors. These waste or wooded lands extended formerly much further.

Etymology

According to some, the origin of the name Charnie would come from the Celt Kairn, Carn (cf Carnac, Charnay…) who would mean either crowned stone (one finds there many monuments Mégalithique S), or carnage (cf Latin caro, carnis, flesh), because of the sacrifices which one made on these stones.

the forest of the Holy-Suzanne baronnie of was not other than Charnie, forest immense, whose city and castle of Holy-Suzanne occupied about the central point. The name of Holy-Suzanne could not go up beyond our first race. It is not made by it mention before the 11th century. The name of the Charnie is of a quite former date. The word carneia or its derivatives, is frequent in the countries of old Celtic, in England and France. Him several significances are given. It seems that one sees there usually attached an idea of dedication, as one finds it with Carnack in Brittany, in the country Chartrain , Carnutes , etc…

At all events one finds as from the 9th century the following forms:

Villa sita in pago Carnicence, nominates Bonalla , 838
Fecti in sylva quinque Carnida mansionilia , 9th century
Carneia , 989
Sylva de Salgia which is in Charnia , 1050
Boscum Charneie , circa 1090
Locum sancti Nicolai in sylva Carneta , 1109
Eccl. Sancti Nicolai in Charnia , 1197
Conventus de Charneia…, Vicus de Charneia , 1198
Olca which is ultra Carneriam in will terra B. - M. 1202
Joeyacum in Charneia , 1238

National forest of Small-Charnie

From a surface of 716 ha, the National forest of Small-Charnie extends on the communes from Saint-Symphorien, Neuvillette-in-Charnie, Parennes, Tennie, Fillet-in-Champagne… One finds Feuillu S there, (oaks, charms, beeches, tremble, chestnuts…), and of the resinous (Douglas, fir trees of Nordmann, maritime pines, Laricio pines…). The whole of the forest is inventoried in Natural Zone of Floristic and Faunistic Ecological Interest , because of a very rich fauna, in particular with regard to ornithology.

Forest of Large-Charnie

This forest extends in particular on the communes from Torcé-Fish pond-in-Charnie, Saint-Denis-with Orques, Blandouet, Chammes, Saint-Jean-on-Erve, Saint-Leger, Livet (Wood of the Small valleys) and Holy-Suzanne. Culminating points: Signal of Fish ponds , 290m., Saint Nicolas's Day , 269m., the Mount-Black , 222 Mr.

History

Holy Aldric , bishop of 832 with 857, is the first which cleared the forest of Charnie by creating 5 agricultural establishments there. As from the 11th century, the large lords supported by concessions of rights or fields the religious parishes or families which based themselves in their vast possessions: Guy gives to the church Saulges its wood of Saulges in Charnie, with right of panage and waxes it, in 1050; Patrice de Sourches makes it possible to take in the Small-Charnie the standing wood to build the church of Bernay and the buildings of the monks, and the deadwood for those their men, 1080 - 1090; Raoul VII of Beaumont-with-Maine, lord of Holy-Suzanne, witness of the great examples of virtues of Alleaume saint, authorized it to found a convent of nuns which one called indifferently Abbaye of Charnie or of Étival-in-Charnie (1109).

the hermit Holy Alleaume, disciple of Robert d' Arbrissel, is established indeed at the end of the 11th century and at the beginning of the 12th century initially with the locality Saint Nicolas's Day , between Blandouet and Torcé-Fish pond-in-Charnie, then founds in 1109, following its meeting with the Viscount Raoul VII of Beaumont-with-Maine, lord of the castle close to Holy-Suzanne, an abbey of women with Étival-in-Charnie . The Viscounts of Beaumont continued with the nuns same liberalities; but, as in 1396 they complained that one put some prevention at the right of pasturage which they had in the forest to the river of Erve, the count d' Alençon, then lord of Holy-Suzanne, made them answer that they could not release their pigs in wood that after the three made proclamations each year. The Chartreuse of Park-in-Charnie equipped, in 1225, by the countess Marguerite de Fiff and the Viscount Raoul VIII of Beaumont-with-Maine, magnificiently closes the era of these foundations.

to exert their seigneuriaux rights and to take care of their interests in the forest of Charnie, the Viscounts of Beaumont had a joint owner of woodland , which was itself a rich person lord. Patry de Montgiroul exerted, in 1406, this function which, by alliance, passed to the lords of the Vault-Rainsouin. Georges de Préaux was equipped with it in 1565. The joint owner of woodland was “to make good with his lord the two third parties of the avoynes, gélines and sums of money of the recepte to his clean coustz and despens” . He had “the masles the oyseaux ones of prey which procédoient of the forest, falcons, goshawks, sparrowhawks, laniers” ; however, the baron of Holy-Suzanne, Rene d' Alençon, claimed (1480) that the joint owner of woodland was to keep to him with his costs. Personally the lord of the Vault took in the forest all wood necessary for the repair of his fields, provided that its subjects helped to make the hedges and ditches and with “to hoot” , when the Viscount of Beaumont wanted to drive out.

the Hillock Ganne, located in skirt of forest just opposite and in light overhang of the Holy-Suzanne fortress of , played a big role during the Guerre One hundred Year old (taken the Holyone, ordered by Ambroise de Loré, by the English of the count de Salisbury in 1425).

the king Henri III allowed, in 1574, with Henri de Navarre to alienate the forest of Charnie, which was dismembered. The lords of Bouillé had a great part of it.

Louis Gruau captured 67 wolves in the area of Charnie on its parish in a court space of time, which was worth to him to be presented to Louis XIII by Hercules de Rohan, large huntsman of France, and to publish at Pierre Chevalier in 1613 a work on the capture of the wolves: New invention of hunting to take and oster wolves of France, as the tables démonstrent it, with three speeches with pastoureaux François .

the wood of Charnie became national goods in 1791. The chouans of Louis Courtillé says Saint-Paul were usually held to with it.

It was also the asylum of the refractories in 1811 - 1812, which recognized Morin for their chief. In preparation for the return of these acts of rebellion, the government made bore, in 1813, of long alleys in the Largeone, and urged the marquis de Sourches de Tourzel to carry out similar work in the Smallone.

Toponymy

Several communes and localities bear the name of Charnie :

Chemiré-in-Charnie (the Sarthe), and the locality Étival-in-Charnie, where was founded in 1109 the abbey by Raoul VII of Beaumont, in which several Viscounts of Beaumont-with-Maine, Fresnay and Holy-Suzanne was buried between the beginning of the 12th century and the beginning of the 14th century: Raoul VII, Richard Ier, Raoul VIII and his wife Agnes of the Arrow, Agnès marries of Louis de Brienne, Jean Ier de Beaumont-Brienne.

Industrial exploitation

The richness mineral of the ground had allowed the establishment of two industries:

the glassmakings were 6, but none functioned rained in 1730;
the forging mills , so many to one old time, were reduced to 3 in 1732: Moncor, Chemiré and Conuère .

In addition of the carrières' was active so much with Torcé-Fish pond-in-Charnie (white Hillock) that with Holy-Suzanne (Tertre Ganne), and produced the paving stone necessary to the streets of Paris.

See too

Forest
Forest in Mayenne
List of the principal forests of France
Country of Art and History Coëvrons-Mayenne
Louis Courtillé says Saint-Paul
Jacques Bouteloup
Perrine Dugué
Louis Gruau
Liste of the Viscounts of Maine

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