page_title: Normandy
section_title: 13th to 17th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Normandy / History / 13th to 17th centuries
context_page_description: Normandy is the northwesternmost of the 18 regions of France, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
  Normandy is divided into five administrative departments: Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne, and Seine-Maritime. It covers 30,627 square kilometres, comprising roughly 5% of the territory of metropolitan France. Its population of 3,322,757 accounts for around 5% of the population of France. The inhabitants of Normandy are known as Normans, and the region is the historic homeland of the Norman language. The neighboring regions are Hauts-de-France and Ile-de-France to the east, Centre-Val de Loire to the southeast, Pays de la Loire to the south, and Brittany to the southwest. The capital is Rouen.
  The historical region of Normandy comprised the present-day region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the departments of Mayenne and Sarthe. The Channel Islands are also historically part of Normandy; they cover 194 km² and comprise two bailiwicks: Guernsey and Jersey, which are British Crown dependencies over which Queen Elizabeth II reigns as Duke of Normandy.
context_section_description: In 1204, during the reign of  John of England, mainland Normandy was taken from England by France under King Philip II. Insular Normandy (the Channel Islands) remained,  however, under English control. In 1259, Henry III of England recognized the legality of French possession of mainland Normandy under the Treaty of Paris. His successors, however, often fought to regain control of their ancient fiefdom.
  The Charte aux Normands granted by Louis X of France in 1315 (and later re-confirmed in 1339) – like the analogous Magna Carta granted in England in the aftermath of 1204 – guaranteed the liberties and privileges of the province of Normandy.
  French Normandy was occupied by English forces during the Hundred Years' War in 1345–1360 and again in 1415–1450. Normandy lost three-quarters of its population during the war. Afterward prosperity returned to Normandy until the Wars of Religion. When many Norman towns (Alençon, Rouen, Caen, Coutances, Bayeux) joined the Protestant Reformation, battles ensued throughout the province. In the Channel Islands, a period of Calvinism following the Reformation was suppressed when Anglicanism was imposed following the English Civil War.
  Samuel de Champlain left the port of Honfleur in 1604 and founded Acadia. Four years later, he founded Québec City. From then onwards, Normans engaged in a policy of expansion in North America. They continued the exploration of the New World: René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle travelled in the area of the Great Lakes, then on the Mississippi River. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and his brother Lemoyne de Bienville founded Louisiana, Biloxi, Mobile and New Orleans. Territories located between Québec and the Mississippi Delta were opened up to establish Canada and Louisiana. Colonists from Normandy were among the most active in New France, comprising Acadia, Canada, and Louisiana.
  Honfleur and Le Havre were two of the principal slave trade ports of France.
caption: Joan of Arc burning at the stake in the city of Rouen, painting by Jules Eugène Lenepveu
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "71", "Image YResolution": "71", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Artist": "Jules Lenepveu (1819-1898)", "Image Copyright": "Public domain", "Image ExifOffset": "156", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2003:06:18 00:47:53", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "552", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "768"}