The history of Neufchâtel and photos of its church

But first, I want to say happy birthday to CHM on his 97th birthday. Bon anniversaire, mon vieux.

     

     

The town of Neufchâtel and its church suffered severe damage at least twice in history — in 1472 and in 1940.
Here's my loose translation of what the French Wikipédia article has to say about the history of Neufchâtel-en-Bray:

Under a different name, Neufchâtel was already a settlement in Roman times. Invading Francs started moving into the region when the Roman Empire fell in the 5th century. They intemingled and intermarried with the local population. The first church in Neufchâtel (which again had a new name) was built in the 9th century.

In the 11th century, in an effort to protect the northern border of the Duchy of Normandy, the duke Henry I Beauclerc, who was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and also king of England, built a new castle that gave its name, Neufchâtel ("Newcastle"), to the town that grew up around it. Two new churches were built: Notre-Dame in the 12th century (photos in this post) and Saint-Jacques in the 13th. The town was prosperous for a time.

The sizeable town of Neufchâtel was beseiged many times because of its strategic location. The forces of French king Louis VII took control of the town in the year 1167 and pillaged it. Seven years later, forces loyal to the count of Flanders took control and again pillaged Neufchâtel. In 1189, Count John I of Ponthieu in Picardy, the province bordering Normandy to the north, took control of Neufchâtel for a few years. Next it was taken over by the Anglo-Norman king known as John Lackland. A year later, after still another siege, the town (and all of Normandy) fell under the control of the French King Philippe-Auguste.

In the late 14th century, during the 100 Years' War, the English king Henry V took control of Neufchâtel, and in the mid-15th century the French king took it back. Just as the town was recovering from sieges and wars, in 1472 it was again under attack, this time by the Duke of Burgundy, who burned the old town to the ground. A century later, Neufchâtel also suffered much damage during the French Wars of Religion. In 1870, Prussian forces occupied it for a month. Then in 1940, the Germans bombed it into oblivion. It was rebuilt after the war.