Nogent (Haute-Marne)

Nogent is a common French, located in the department of the Haute-Marne and the area Champagne-Ardenne, it depends on the prefecture of Chaumont. It is also a chief town of canton. It is called also Nogent-in-Bassigny , although this name is not official any more since 1972.

Inhabitants

Gentilé: Nogentais (be). Anecdotiquement, the inhabitants of the high city are called the Fouéroux and the inhabitants of the low city the Balibeux.

Geography

Built on a rocky outcrop, the high city dominates the valley Traire, affluent of the Marne. Today Nogent, town of 4000 inhabitants is near the highways A31 and A5. Within a timbered, calm and green framework, it is hardly nothing any more but at 2 hours and half of Paris, Lyon, Germany and Switzerland. This favorable situation places the basin nogentais in full modernization, in excellent position in Europe.

Climate

Nogent is subjected, with the image of Haute-Marne and more especially of the plate of Langres to a very faded oceanic climate, with sensitive continental influences. Precipitations are abundant: between 810 and 1070 mm per annum which are distributed rather regularly throughout the year. They however are marked November at March and in May. One counts from 150 to 180 days of precipitations including 20 to 30 days with snowfalls. The annual average temperature is fresh, it is around 9°C, with 70 to 85 days of freezing, due to the relatively high altitude of Nogent (approximately 400 meters, on a rocky outcrop). The duration of annual total insolation is close 1750 hours, but does not exceed 170 hours on average November at January. The winds moderated on average, dominate of the Southern sectors in West, with a component of the considerable North-East in winter.

The summers are hot, sometimes canicular with temperatures bordering some times (and more and more often) the 35°C. They are also stormy. The winters have tendency (but despite everything less and less) to being long and cold, with temperatures going down under the -15°C, sometimes much less (- 18°C beginning 2007,-20°C in March 2006), the record of the area is for Langres (25 km of Nogent) where it made -33°C on December 9th, 1879).

History

The existence of megaliths (dolmens, in particular that of Pierre Alot) proves its extremely old origin. At the time Roman the site is on the passage of the way which carries out of Langres to Trêves. It is only into 610 that the history mentions Nogent for the first time: Nogentum. One can thus think that the fortress at that time had already an important place. One however does not know who controlled then, of the lords? If it is the case, there did not remain to us any trace of their acts and their names.

According to a historian, Roger, sons of Eudes, count de Blois and small son of Thibaut, count de Champagne, would have inherited Nogent by his father and died in 1024. It was taken again by family members then the lord of Broyes and Beaufort had a girl who for her marriage brought in dowry the seigniory of Nogent of this union was born Renier which was pilot with Milon of Chaumont, a transaction passed between the duke of Burgundy and the abbey of holy Bénigne of Dijon. He refused to recognize the suzerainty of Robert of Burgundy, bishop of Langres which was then one of the richest lords of the kingdom. It was to count without alliances. Indeed, Hugues Ier, Count de Champagne, by marrying Elisabeth of Burgundy had become the cousin of the bishop of Langres and took his party, both put the seat in front of the castle of Nogent. As it results from the following charter, the winners then gave to the Benign abbey of Saint of Dijon the church holy Jean, the church Germain saint and a small vault which was in the dwellings seigneuriales. This charter is from now on in the departmental records; in French: “Me Robert, by the grace of God, bishop of Langres, I gave to God and saint Bénigne, owner of the church of Dijon, the vault of Nogent, the churches and all that depends on this vault. that was done in time that I besieged the castle of Nogent”.

Once this achieved donation, the abbey of Dijon sent at once a prior to manage. The Saint-Germain church was then the church mother and the cure of Nogent was attached there; the Midsummer's Day church was only the branch. The construction of the church German saint, made by the care of the abbot Guillaume, the reformer of the Benign church holy, goes back to the end of the 10th century. Its elegant frame which mask today a vulgar ceiling, shows clearly this date; but the church appears to be almost completely rebuilt at the 15th century because the windows of the chorus belong to the last period of ogival architecture. This church is dedicated to Germain saint the resident of Auxerre bishop of Auxerre at the 5th century.

It is at that time as explained we it that the cutlery was established in Nogent and the number of inhabitants had to increase considerably since the church Jean saint becomes the church mother and Germain saint the branch.

Followed one calm period until Thibaut V, count de Champagne who had already great properties in Bassigny wanted to monopolize of all the area. All the lords leagued against him and the lord de Nogent also. Thibaut did not have a fortress to defend his fields on the border of the east this is why it had any interest to occupy the fortress of Nogent. After four years of fierce combats, the lord de Nogent, Rénier IV succumbed of an attack and its sons signed in 1235 a transaction by which they gave up the ground and the castle of Nogent to the count de Champagne. And as the Thibaut previous year had inherited the kingdom Navarre, Nogent was called Nogent-the-King. Its first aid was to repair and to increase the fortifications then he entrusted the guard of the castle to a governor. He liked much Nogent that he often came to visit and attracted himself the affection and estimates of all while freeing, in June 1235 the inhabitants of the country, which until subjected there to the laws of serfdom was attached to the grounds which they cultivated with the help of royalty and was sold with them.

In 1285, Nogent, with Champagne, is integrated into the royal field. During the One hundred Year old war (1337-1453), theBurgundian ones seize the city in 1417. In 1486, by continuations of the wars, there were nothing any more in Nogent but 92 household heads.

Then the wars of religion arrived. After which, Richelieu arrived at the capacity and made destroy the majority of the fortresses. Castles of Montigny and Coiffy though pertaining to the crown, were shaven. However, the castle of Nogent which was to have the same fate, escaped this destruction. The inhabitants asked that it be preserved and the order of demolition was withdrawn in the condition which they would only be given the responsability to keep it (at that time, 50 villages of the surroundings were to provide the subsistence necessary to the garrison of the castle and to make the military service there) under the command of a governor named by the king.

It is at this time that great misfortunes struck the population. Initially the war starts with the empire of Germany and Nogent, frontier town has harshly to suffer from all these horrors; then the plague, continuation inevitable of the war appears in 1637 and makes more than 500 victims in less than 60 days. In 1639, there were nothing any more but 120 inhabitants with Nogent the Top while the population of Nogent Bottom reached only the third of this figure.

As for the fortress of Nogent, since Richelieu, it is not attached any more to any historical event; like all the old strong castles, its role is finished. The ramparts existed still completely at the beginning of the 18th century but as for a long time one did not make there any more repairs, they collapsed soon and today, there remain nothing any more but ruins about it. Only a tower of angle remains today, rebuilt at the 19th century.

At the 18th century, the cutlery takes its rise and reaches its apogee at the end of. The industrial activity is prosperous: factories are created and the basin nogentais account then 6000 cutlers. The fame of nogentaise manufacture is so well established towards the end of the 18th century and the patriotism of its inhabitants so well-known qu on September 10th, 1793, the Committee of Public Hello orders to the Pradier citizen, to inspector and to general inspector of the knives at the National Assembly, to be transported in Nogent to assemble factories of sabers there for the use of the cavalry. September 25th, the assembly of the town of Nogent writes a proclamation which carries that the workmen have to cease their ordinary work to deal only with that clean with the utility of the common thing. The Masters cutlers jointly tender a supply of 15000 blades of sabers. If the sabers arm the cavalry, the bayonets miss at the infantry. In the month of Floréal year 3 (April 1795) Convention having required to add the supply of the bayonets, the popular Company of Nogent brings together all the workmen out of scissors, frames them by workmen cutlers and delivers the bayonets requested. These weapons were manufactured for the greatest part with the factory of the ponds which since was transformed into a printing works and in the Saint-Germain church which was transformed into manufacture of sabers for the needs for the cause.

At the end of, with the development of the administration of the stations, the city changes several times of name: Nogent-the-knives; Nogent-le-Roy; Nogent-in-Bassigny and finally Nogent since 1972.

Economy

The economic activity of Nogent is based on a long tradition coutelière and the manufacture of the knives of all kinds occupied the majority of the workmen formerly so much so that Nogent was called, at the 19th century: “NOGENT knives”!

For several decades, the companies nogentaises have adapted and diversified their techniques of manufacture by developing the control of their know-how to serve the modern markets, increasingly demanding: Cutlery and Chisel manufacturing, Stamping and machining, Surgical instruments, Hand tooling. … Nogent, the queen of the Cutlery, pledged from now on important for the future while launching one of the most important SPL of France: NOGENTECH. With NOGENTECH, more 1 500 competences offer services of high-quality in the trades of the mechanics and the transformation of metals.

Administration

current Municipal council (2007): 1st Associated: Anne-Marie NEDELEC (professor of history-geography in Chaumont), 2nd Associated: Daniel PRENAT (reprocessed professor), 3rd Associated: Gisele BORSENBERGER (housewife), 4th Associated: Robert HENRY (reprocessed pharmacist and mayor before 2001), 5th Associated: Marijuana CONREAUX (reprocessed nurse), 6th Associated: Marie-Claude BOURNOT (professor reprocessed).

Demography

The commune is depopulated unrelentingly, according to the departmental tendency.

Places and monuments

Two churches: church Jean Saint, Gothic, with Nogent-le-Haut and the church German Saint, Romance, in Nogent-le-Bas whose apse is classified with the Monuments of France.

Native house of Bernard Dimey.

Dolmen of Pierre Alot (close to the hamlet of Mauvaignant).

Remarkable Place de l'Hôtel de Ville (Charles-of-Gaulle place), with its fountain and the frontage of the town hall (on the left whose an old bell but out of use is).

Rich person museum of the Cutlery (place of the Town hall).

The crypt, located under the place of the Town hall, accessible only to the Days from the Inheritance.

Turn with crenels of the old ramparts of Nogent, reconstituted at the 19th century. It overhangs the valley Traire, affluent of the Marne.

Personalities

Bernard Dimey, poet and writer French (1931-1981).

Anecdote

In the film the human Animal of Jean Renoir turned in 1938, Lantier interpreted by Jean Gabin exclaims “But it is Nogent! ” in connection with a knife.

See too

Common of Haute-Marne

External bonds

Official site
general Sites on the communes:

Nogent on the site of the national geographical Institute
Nogent on the site of INSEE
Nogent on the site of Quid
Localization of Nogent on a chart of France and communes bordering
Plane on Nogent on Mapquest

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