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Yvetot is a commune in the Seine-Maritime département in the Haute-Normandie region of France.
HistoryThe name is of Scandinavian origin (Ivetofta). The town is most likely of Scandinavian origin too. Yvetot comes from the Frankish man’s name "Ivo", root of the modern French names Yves and Yvon, which are very common in Normandy, being adopted by the Scandinavian converts to Christianity, and "topt" (modern toft), 'farm' in Danish, found in many place-names throughout Normandy . This 'Ivo Veteris' (fr: Yves Le-Vieux) may have received this territory as a jarl of Rollo or his successors. These lords were often given the title king and benefited from all of the privileges of sovereignty up until 1551. One of the most popular songs of the 19th century, 'Le Roi d'Yvetot', written by the famous Béranger, helped propagate the legend of an independent state within the Duchy of Normandy and the Kingdom of France. However, it is established that, with no other allegiances since 1203, Yvetot remained a principality up until 1789, a time at which the title was held by the (now-extinct) d'Albon family. 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. Population
The Round Church and its stained-glass windowThe stained-glass window, considered the largest in Europe with 1046 m²), was constructed in the 1950s by Max Ingrand and is a jigsaw that explodes in crimson, gold and blue. Meticulous assembly of a thousand pieces of glass that portray 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. There are also bishops of Rouen. Among them: 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. AnecdotesYvetot’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 oeuvre. Twin townExternal links(All French language)
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