Annappes

Annappes is a village and former commune of the Nord Department of France, on the Mark River. In 1970, it was merged with the communes of Ascq and Flers-lez-Lille to form the new commune of Villeneuve d'Ascq. It is still a district of the commune today.

The origin of the name Annappes is very turbid. Theodore Leuridan , in a historical note on Annappes, considers several solutions

In 1980, a fragment of polished flint axe was found in the park of the current Saint-Adrien School. It is estimated to date from approximately 2000 BC. Other axes of this kind were discovered in the area of Lille, in particular in the alluvia of Deûle. The historians allot them to populations using cut stone tools, but already devoted to cattle breeding and agriculture. However, it is no proof that man was sedentary there; indeed archaeologists have now found traces of human occupation at the end of the independent Gallic era, in particular of sling stones, on the level of the Center Marc-Sautelet. However, it is probable, that this place was not a place of residence, but simply one of the folds in the forest (as described by Julius Caesar), where the Gallic people of the area took refuge from the Roman legions.

Annappes and its surroundings are with the Middle Ages the site of a royal field, as indicated on a text from the reign of Charlemagne. He must certainly have passed by the field of Asnapio to go to inaugurate the battle of Saint-Riquier in the year 800. At the time of the arrival of Charlemagne for the inauguration of the battle of Saint-Riquier in 800, his royal envoys drew up an inventory at Annappes. The description was so meticulous, that it was recopied as an example, in a handbook of management of the imperial farms, the Capitulary of Villis. Asnapio (its name at the time) was a very rich Carolingian field. About a hundred people lived there in the farm, surrounded by orchards. The peasants cultivated cereals on Mélantois. The outputs were raised enough, and five mills and four breweries, which manufactured the barley beer of the tenants, were installed close to the Mark river. The field had been built close to the marshes, and Asnapio was also a stud farm, which supplied the imperial cavalry. Here the composition of its livestock in 799:

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