Rochechouart

Rochechouart castle

Coat of arms

Rochechouart

Location within Nouvelle-Aquitaine region

Rochechouart

Coordinates: 45°49′26″N 0°49′18″E / 45.8239°N 0.8217°ECoordinates: 45°49′26″N 0°49′18″E / 45.8239°N 0.8217°E

Country

Rochechouart

Pays de la Météorite

Government

• Mayor (2014–2020)

Jean-Marie Rougier

Area¹

53.88 km² (20.80 sq mi)

Population (2013)²

3,807

• Density

71/km² (180/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

87126 /87600

Elevation

159–313 m (522–1,027 ft)
(avg. 265 m or 869 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Rochechouart (French pronunciation: [ʁɔʃ.ʃwaʁ]; Rechoard in Occitan, earlier La Ròcha Choard) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.

The name of the town comes from Latin roca cavardi, which roughly translates as the rock of Cavardus, the lord who had the fortified place built at the beginning of the 11th century. More often than not, natives pronounce it [ʁoˈʃwaʁ], not *[ʁɔʃəˈʃwaʁ] as is its pronunciation in Standard French.

Aymeric I, who lived around 990, was the first viscount and established the Rochechouartais dynasty. Aymeric IV took part in the First Crusade at the end of the 11th century at the side of Godfrey of Bouillon, and it was Aymeric VI (1170–1230) who built the present castle, the Château de Rochechouart, the keep and gatehouse of which remain standing.

At the end of the 13th century, Aimeric XI renounced a large part of his privileges and promulgated a charter of enfranchisement which transformed Rochechouart into a democratic city, and turned its inhabitants from slaves to the state into citizens. The city was from then on governed by four consuls who chose their own successors, without their lord's intervention. At the same time the viscount suppressed all direct taxes such as the "taille" and the "quête" and abolished duties of service to the feudal lord. He also accorded the inhabitants of Rochechouart the essential conditions for total liberty – they could dispose of their goods, buy or sell, import and export whatever they wanted, build, move about freely within the viscountcy, all without intervention from their lord. This Charter was very advanced for its times, and despite pressure from the other lords in the region, it remained in force until 1789. François de Rochechouart in the late 15th century is known for his study on the Dialogues of Pierre Salmon, the secretary of Charles VI of France. Before the French Revolution, Rochechouart administratively depended on the Province of Poitou, the viscounts of Rochechouart being vassals of the Count of Poitiers, and religiously, it was under the control of the diocese of Limoges.

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Wikipedia