La Rochelle
La Rochelle
Location within Poitou-Charentes region  La Rochelle
Administration
Country	France
Region	Poitou-Charentes
Department	Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement	La Rochelle
Intercommunality	La Rochelle
Mayor	Maxime Bono (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	0–28 m (0–92 ft) (avg. 4 m or 13 ft)
Land area1	28.43 km2 (10.98 sq mi)
Population2	75,822  (2008)
- Density	2,667 /km2 (6,910 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	17300/ 17000
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Coordinates: 46°09′33″N 1°09′06″W / 46.1591°N 1.1517°W / 46.1591; -1.1517

La Rochelle (French pronunciation: [la Ê�É”.ʃɛl]) is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.

The city is connected to the ÃŽle de Ré by a 2.9 km (1.8 mi) bridge completed on 19 May 1988. Its harbour opens into a protected strait, the Pertuis d'Antioche.

History[link]

Antiquity[link]

Coin of the Santones Gauls, 5th–1st century BC, Cabinet des Médailles. Early Celtic coins were often inspired by the coinage of Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul.^[1]

Gallo-Roman warrior statuette found near La Rochelle in 1844. Orbigny-Bernon Museum.

Coastline around La Rochelle in Roman times.

The area of La Rochelle was occupied in antiquity by the Gallic tribe of the Santones, who gave their name to the nearby region of Saintonge and the city of Saintes.

The Romans then occupied the area, where they developed salt production along the coast as well as wine production, which was then re-exported throughout the Empire. Roman villas have been found at Saint-Éloi and at Les Minimes, as well as salt evaporation ponds dating from the same period.

Foundation[link]

La Rochelle was founded during the 10th century and became an important harbour in the 12th century. The establishment of La Rochelle as a harbour was a consequence of the victory of Guillaume X, Duke of Aquitaine over Isambert de Châtelaillon in 1130 and the subsequent destruction of his harbour of Châtelaillon.^[2] In 1137, Guillaume X to all intents and purposes made La Rochelle a free port and gave it the right to establish itself as a commune. Fifty years later Eleanor of Aquitaine upheld the communal charter promulgated by her father, and for the first time in France, a city mayor was appointed for La Rochelle, Guillaume de Montmirail. Guillaume was assisted in his responsibilities by 24 municipal magistrates, and 75 notables who had jurisdiction over the inhabitants. Under the communal charter, the city obtained many privileges, such as the right to mint its own coins, and to operate some businesses free of royal taxes, factors which would favour the development of the entrepreuneurial middle-class (bourgeoisie).

Plantagenet rule (1154–1224)[link]

Left image: Vauclair castle was built by the English in 1185.
Right image: Remnants of Vauclair castle, Place de Verdun, La Rochelle.

Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet in 1152, who became king of England as Henry II in 1154, thus putting La Rochelle under Plantagenet rule, until Louis VIII recaptured it in the 1224 Siege of La Rochelle. During the Plantagenet control of the city in 1185, Henry II had the Vauclair castle built, remains of which are still visible in the Place de Verdun.^[3]

The main activities of the city were in the areas of maritime commerce and trade, especially with England, the Netherlands and Spain. In 1196, a wealthy bourgeois named Alexandre Auffredi sent a fleet of seven ships to Africa to tap the riches of the continent. He went bankrupt and went into poverty as he waited for the return of his ships, but they finally returned seven years later filled with riches.

Knights Templar[link]

Left image: Court de la Commanderie in La Rochelle, ancient location of the Templars' headquarters.
Right image: Original Templar cross, Cour de la Commanderie.

The Knights Templar had a strong presence in La Rochelle since before the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who exempted them from duties and gave them mills in her 1139 Charter.^[4] La Rochelle was for the Templars their largest base on the Atlantic Ocean,^[5] and where they stationed their main fleet.^[6] From La Rochelle, they were able to act as intermediaries in trade between England and the Mediterranean.^[5] There is a legend that the Templars used the port of La Rochelle to escape from France with the fleet of 18 ships which had brought Jacques de Molay from Cyprus to La Rochelle. The fleet allegedly left laden with knights and treasures just before the issue of the warrant for the arrest of the Order in October 1307,^[7][8] and the legend continues that the Templars allegedly even left for America, burying a treasure in Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada (a story taken up in the 2004 movie National Treasure starring Nicolas Cage).^[9]

Hundred Years' War[link]

During the Hundred Years' War in 1360, following the Treaty of Bretigny La Rochelle again became English. La Rochelle however expelled the English in June 1372, following the naval Battle of La Rochelle, between a Castilian-French and an English fleet. The Spanish had 60 ships and the English 40. They also had more knights and men than the English. The French and Castilians decisively defeated the English, securing French control of the Channel for the first time since the Battle of Sluys in 1340. The naval battle of La Rochelle was one of the first cases of the use of handguns on warships, which were deployed by the French and Spanish against the English.^[10] Having recovered freedom, La Rochelle refused entry to Du Guesclin, until Charles V recognized the privileges of the city in November 1372.

In 1402, the French adventurer Jean de Béthencourt left La Rochelle and sailed along the coast of Morocco to conquer the Canary islands.^[11]

Until the 15th century, La Rochelle was to be the largest French harbour on the Atlantic coast, dealing mainly in wine, salt and cheese.

French Wars of Religion[link]

Left image: Remains of Reformation iconoclasm, Clocher Saint-Barthélémy, La Rochelle.
Right image: Remains of iconoclasm, Eglise Saint-Sauveur, La Rochelle.

During the Renaissance, La Rochelle progressively adopted Protestant ideas. Calvinism started to be propagated in the region of La Rochelle, resulting in its suppression through the establishment of Cours présidiaux tribunals by Henry II. An early result of this was the burning at the stake of two "heretics" in La Rochelle in 1552.^[12] Conversions to Calvinism however continued, due to a change of religious beliefs, but also to a desire for political independence on the part of the local elite, and a popular opposition to royal expenses and requisitions in the building projects to fortify the coast against England.^[12]

On the initiative of Gaspard de Coligny, the Calvinists attempted to colonize the New World to find a new home for their religion, with the likes of Pierre Richier and Jean de Léry. After the short-lived attempt of France Antarctique, they failed to establish a colony in Brazil, and finally resolved to make a stand in La Rochelle itself.^[13] Pierre Richier became "Ministre de l'église de la Rochelle" ("Minister of the Church of La Rochelle") when he returned from Brazil in 1558, and was able to considerably increase the Huguenot presence in La Rochelle, from a small base of about 50 souls who had been secretely educated in the Lutheran faith by Charles de Clermont the previous year. He has been described, by Lancelot Voisin de La Popelinière, as "le père de l'église de La Rochelle" ("The Father of the Church of La Rochelle").

Protestant "Grand Temple" of La Rochelle, built on the Place du Château, modern Place de Verdun, in 1600–1603. Accidentally burned down in 1687.

La Rochelle was the first French city, with Rouen, to experience iconoclastic riots in 1560, at the time of the suppression of the Amboise conspiracy, before the riots spread to many other cities.^[14] Further cases of Reformation iconoclasm were recorded in La Rochelle from 30 May 1562, following the Massacre of Vassy. Protestants pillaged churches, destroyed images and statues, and also assassinated 13 Catholic priests in the Tower of the Lantern.^[15]

From 1568, La Rochelle became a centre for the Huguenots, and the city declared itself an independent Reformed Republic on the model of Geneva.^[16] This led to numerous conflicts with the Catholic central government. The city supported the Protestant movement of William of Orange in the Netherlands, and from La Rochelle the Dutch under Louis of Nassau and the Sea Beggars were able to raid Spanish shipping.^[17][18]

In 1571 the city of La Rochelle suffered a naval blockade by the French Navy under the command of Filippo di Piero Strozzi and Antoine Escalin des Aimars, a former protagonist of the Franco-Ottoman alliance.^[19] The city was finally besieged during the Siege of La Rochelle (1572-1573) during the French Wars of Religion, following the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in August 1572, and occurred at the same time as other sieges of Protestant cities such as the Siege of Sancerre. The conflict ended with the 1573 Peace of La Rochelle, which restricted the Protestant worship to the three cities of Montauban, Nîmes and La Rochelle. Pierre Richier died in La Rochelle in 1580.

Huguenot rebellions[link]

La Rochelle in 1628. Detail of Claude Lorrain Le siège de La Rochelle.

Under Henry IV, and under the regency of his son Louis XIII, the city enjoyed a certain freedom and prosperity. However, La Rochelle entered into conflict with the authority of the adult Louis, beginning with a 1622 revolt.^[20] A fleet from La Rochelle fought a royal fleet of 35 ships under the Charles de Guise in front of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, but was defeated on 27 October 1622, leading to the signing of the Peace of Montpellier.^[20]

Revolt of Soubise (1625)[link]

In 1625, a new Huguenot revolt led by Duke Henri de Rohan and his brother Soubise led to the Capture of Ré island by the forces of Louis XIII. Soubise conquered large parts of the Atlantic coast, but the supporting fleet of La Rochelle was finally defeated by Montmorency, as was Soubise with 3,000 when he led a counter-attack against the royal troops who had landed on the island of Ré.^[21]

Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628)[link]

Cardinal Richelieu at the Siege of La Rochelle, Henri Motte, 1881.

Following these events, Louis XIII and his Chief Minister Cardinal Richelieu declared the suppression of the Huguenot revolt the first priority of the kingdom. The English came to the support of La Rochelle, starting an Anglo-French War (1627-1629), by sending a major expedition under the Duke of Buckingham. The expedition however ended in a fiasco for England with the Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré (1627). Meanwhile, cannon shots were exchanged on 10 September 1627 between La Rochelle and Royal troops. This resulted in the Siege of La Rochelle in which Cardinal Richelieu blockaded the city for 14 months, until the city surrendered and lost its mayor and its privileges.

Expulsion from La Rochelle of 300 Protestant families in November 1661, Jan Luiken (1649–1712).

The remaining Protestants of La Rochelle suffered new persecutions, when 300 families were again expelled in November 1661, the year Louis XIV came to power. The reason for the expulsions was that Catholics deeply resented a degree of revival of Protestant ownership of property within the city.^[22]

The growing persecution of the Huguenots culminated with the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in 1685. Many Huguenots emigrated, founding such cities as New Rochelle in the vicinity of today's New York in 1689. La Rochelle, and the siege of 1627 form much of the backdrop to the later chapters of Alexandre Dumas, père's classic novel, The Three Musketeers.

La Rochelle and the New World[link]

La Rochelle slave ship Le Saphir ex-voto, 1741.

La Rochelle harbour in 1762. Joseph Vernet. Musée de la Marine.

Because of its western location, which saved days of sailing time, La Rochelle enjoyed successful fishing in the western Atlantic and trading with the New World, which served to counterbalance the disadvantage of not being at the mouth of a river (useful for shipping goods to and from the interior). Its Protestant ship-owning and merchant class prospered in the 16th century until the Wars of Religion devastated the city.^[23]

The period following the wars was a prosperous one, marked by intense exchanges with the New World (Nouvelle France in Canada, and the Antilles). La Rochelle became very active in triangular trade with the New World, dealing in the slave trade with Africa, sugar trade with plantations of the West Indies, and fur trade with Canada. This was a period of high artistic, cultural and architectural achievements for the city.

Robert de La Salle departed from La Rochelle, France, on 24 July 1684, with the aim of setting up a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi, eventually establishing Fort Saint Louis in Texas.^[24]

The city eventually lost its trade and prominence during the decades spanning the Seven Years' War, the French revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. During that period France lost many of the territorial possessions which it had had in the new World, and also saw a strong decrease in its sea power in the continuing conflicts with Britain, ultimately diminishing the role of such harbours as La Rochelle. After abolitionist movements led by such people as Samuel de Missy, the slave trade of La Rochelle ended with the onset of the French Revolution and the war with England in the 1790s, the last La Rochelle slave ship, the Saint-Jacques being captured in 1793 in the Gulf of Guinea.^[25] In February 1794, the National Assembly legislated the Universal Emancipation decree, which effectively freed all colonial slaves.

In 1809, the Battle of the Basque Roads took place near La Rochelle, in which a British fleet defeated the French Atlantic Fleet.

La Rochelle faience[link]

Faience of La Rochelle with Chinese figures, 18th century. Musée d'Orbigny-Bernon.

La Rochelle became one of the French centres for faience in the end of the 18th century.^[26][27] Bernard Palissy was born in the region and had some bearing in this development. During the 18th century, its style was greatly influenced by Chinese themes and Japanese Kakiemon-type designs.^[28][29] Many of these ceramics can be viewed at the Musée d'Orbigny-Bernon.

• 

  La Rochelle faience, 18th century.

• 

  La Rochelle faience with Chinese decorations.

• 

  La Rochelle faience pot, 18th century.

19th century[link]

In 1864, the harbour of La Rochelle (area of the "Bassin à flot" behind the water locks), was the site for the maiden dive experiments of the first mechanically-powered submarine in the World, Plongeur, commanded by Marie-Joseph-Camille Doré, a native of La Rochelle.

Second World War[link]

U-boat pens in the harbour of La Rochelle (2007).

During the Second World War, Germany established a submarine naval base at La Pallice (the main port of La Rochelle).

A German stronghold, La Rochelle was the last French city to be liberated at the end of the war. The Allied siege of La Rochelle took place between 12 September 1944, and 7 May 1945; the stronghold, including the islands of Ré and Oléron, was held by 20,000 German troops under a German vice-admiral Ernst Schirlitz. Following negotiations by the French Navy frigate captain Meyer, and the general German capitulation on 7 May, French troops entered La Rochelle on 8 May.

The submarine base became the setting for parts of the movie Das Boot; the U-boat scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark were also shot in La Rochelle. The base is featured in the computer game Commandos 2 men of courage.

Geography[link]

Geology[link]

La Rochelle seen from Spot Satellite

The limestone cliffs around La Rochelle reveal the Jurassic geology of the area

The bedrock of La Rochelle and surrounding areas is composed of layers of limestone dating back to the Sequanian stage (upper Oxfordian stage) of the Jurassic period (circa 160 million years ago), when a large part of France was submerged. Many of these layers are visible in the white cliffs that border the sea, which contain many small marine fossils. Layers of thick white rock, formed during period of relatively warm seas, alternate with highly fragile layers containing sand and remains of mud, formed during colder periods, and with layers containing various corals, that were formed during warmer, tropical times.^[30] The limestone thus formed is traditionally used as the main building material throughout the region.

The area of La Pointe du Chay about 5 kilometres from La Rochelle is a popular cliff area for leisurely geological surveys.

Climate[link]

Under Koppen’s climate classification, La Rochelle features an Oceanic climate. Although at the same latitude as Montreal in Canada or the Kuril islands in Russia, the area is quite mild throughout the year due to the influence of the Gulf Stream waters, and insolation is remarkably high, though far below the French Riviera on the Mediterranean Southern coast of France. La Rochelle seldom experiences very cold or very hot weather.

Population[link]

Today[link]

Panoramic picture of the harbour towers at night.

The city has beautifully maintained its past architecture, making it one of the most picturesque and historically rich cities on the Atlantic coast. This helped develop a strong tourism industry.

La Rochelle possesses a commercial deep water harbour, named La Pallice. The large submarine pens built during World War II still stand there, although they are not in use. La Pallice is equipped with oil unloading equipment, and mainly handles tropical wood. It is also the location of the fishing fleet, which was moved from the old harbour in the centre of the city during the 1980s.

La Rochelle also maintains strong links with the sea by harbouring the largest marina for pleasure boats in Europe at Les Minimes, and a rather rich boat-building industry.

La Rochelle has a very big aquarium, and a small botanical garden (the Jardin des plantes de La Rochelle).

The Calypso, the ship used by Jacques-Yves Cousteau as a mobile laboratory for oceanography, and which was sunk after a collision in the port of Singapore (1996) is now on display (sadly rotting) at the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle.

One of the biggest music festivals in France, "FrancoFolies", takes place each summer in La Rochelle, where Francophone musicians come together for a week of concerts and celebration. 2004 marked the 20th anniversary of this event.

La Rochelle is the setting for the best-selling series of French language textbooks in the UK, titled Tricolore. The central character, Martine Domme, lives with her family at the fictional address of 12, rue de la République.

Tourism[link]

Harbour towers at night

La Rochelle's main feature is the "Vieux Port" ("Old Harbour"), which is at the heart of the city, picturesque and lined with seafood restaurants. The city walls are open to an evening promenade. The old town has been well-preserved. From the harbour, boating trips can be taken to the Île d'Aix and Fort Boyard (home to the internationally famous TV show of the same name). Nearby Île de Ré is a short drive to the North. The countryside of the surrounding Charente-Maritime is very rural and full of history (Saintes). To the North is Venise Verte, a marshy area of country, criss-crossed with tiny canals and a popular resort for inland boating. Inland is the country of Cognac and Pineau. The attractive Île de Ré is accessible via a bridge from La Rochelle.

Transport[link]

La Rochelle and its region are served by the international La Rochelle - Île de Ré Airport, which has progressively developed over the last 5 years. Currently, it is the largest airport in the Poitou-Charentes region. The train station Gare de La Rochelle offers connections to Bordeaux, Nantes, Poitiers, Paris and several regional destinations.

OFP La Rochelle is a freight railway serving the port.^[32]

Education[link]

The city has more than 10 000 students each year. The University of La Rochelle was established in 1993. It is, with École supérieure de commerce de la rochelle (La Rochelle Business School), the biggest universities in La Rochelle. (7 000 & 2 000 students)

Landmarks[link]

• Orbigny-Bernon Museum
• Muséum d'histoire naturelle de La Rochelle
• Saint-Louis Cathedral

Personalities[link]

Born in La Rochelle[link]

• Antoine Albeau, windsurfer
• Jacques Nicolas Billaud-Varenne, politician and revolutionary
• Aimé Bonpland, botanist
• Natasha Nice, porn actress
• William-Adolphe Bouguereau, painter
• Jean-Loup Chrétien, astronaut
• John Theophilus Desaguliers, physician and mathematician
• Guy-Victor Duperre, admiral
• Jean Duvignaud, writer
• Eugène Fromentin, writer and painter
• Nicolas Gargot de La Rochette, governor of Placentia
• Bernard Giraudeau, actor and director
• Jean Guiton, mayor during the Siege of La Rochelle
• Grégory Havret, professional golfer
• Guy Laroche, fashion designer
• Melissa Lauren, porn actress
• Samuel de Missy, abolitionist
• Fabrice Neaud, artist and cartoonist
• Paul Ramadier, politician and member of the French Resistance
• René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, scientist
• Winshluss, artist and cartoonist
• Julien, French actor and resident
• Etienne Trudeau, ancestor of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau

Lived in La Rochelle[link]

• Colette Besson, sprinter
• Saint Louis de Montfort
• Alcide d'Orbigny, botanist
• Marie Louise Trichet
• Georges Simenon, author
• Martin AuCoin, earliest known ancestor of U.S. Congressman Les AuCoin

Sport[link]

Atlantique Stade Rochelais are a professional rugby union team in the Top 14 league. They play their home matches at Stade Marcel-Deflandre. Since 1991 the city has annually hosted the Marathon de La Rochelle, an international level race which featured 10,000 participants in 2010.^[33]

International relations[link]

Twin towns – Sister cities[link]

La Rochelle is twinned with:^[34]

• Lübeck, Germany, since 1988^[34]
• New Rochelle, United States, since 1910^[34]
• Newport, Rhode Island, United States ^[34]
• Acre, Israel, since 1972^[34]
• Essaouira, Morocco, since 1999^[34]
• Santiago de Figueiró, Portugal, since 2003^[34]
• Petrozavodsk, Russia, since 1973^[34]

See also[link]

	Kingdom of France portal
	France portal

• Communes of the Charente department

References[link]

• INSEE

• Boardman, John The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity, Princeton 1993 ISBN 0-691-03680-2

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: La Rochelle

• City council website
• Webpage about the fortifications
• Picture Gallery La Rochelle Winter
• History of the U-boat base at La Pallice

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Périgny Pessines Le Pin Pisany Plassac Plassay Polignac Pommiers-Moulons Pons Pont-l'Abbé-d'Arnoult Port-d'Envaux Port-des-Barques Les Portes-en-Ré Pouillac Poursay-Garnaud Préguillac Prignac Puilboreau Puy-du-Lac Puyravault Puyrolland Réaux Rétaud Rioux Rivedoux-Plage Rochefort La Rochelle Romazières Romegoux La Ronde Rouffiac Rouffignac Royan Sablonceaux Saint-Agnant Saint-Aigulin Saint-André-de-Lidon Saint-Augustin Saint-Bonnet-sur-Gironde Saint-Bris-des-Bois Saint-Césaire Saint-Christophe Saint-Ciers-Champagne Saint-Ciers-du-Taillon Saint-Clément-des-Baleines Saint-Coutant-le-Grand Saint-Crépin Saint-Cyr-du-Doret Saint-Denis-d'Oléron Saint-Denis-du-Pin Saint-Dizant-du-Bois Saint-Dizant-du-Gua Sainte-Colombe Sainte-Gemme Sainte-Lheurine Sainte-Marie-de-Ré Sainte-Même Sainte-Radegonde Sainte-Ramée Saintes Sainte-Soulle Saint-Eugène Saint-Félix Saint-Fort-sur-Gironde Saint-Froult Saint-Genis-de-Saintonge Saint-Georges-Antignac Saint-Georges-de-Didonne Saint-Georges-de-Longuepierre Saint-Georges-des-Agoûts Saint-Georges-des-Coteaux Saint-Georges-d'Oléron Saint-Georges-du-Bois Saint-Germain-de-Lusignan Saint-Germain-de-Marencennes Saint-Germain-de-Vibrac Saint-Germain-du-Seudre Saint-Grégoire-d'Ardennes Saint-Hilaire-de-Villefranche Saint-Hilaire-du-Bois Saint-Hippolyte Saint-Jean-d'Angély Saint-Jean-d'Angle Saint-Jean-de-Liversay Saint-Julien-de-l'Escap Saint-Just-Luzac Saint-Laurent-de-la-Barrière Saint-Laurent-de-la-Prée Saint-Léger Saint-Loup Saint-Maigrin Saint-Mandé-sur-Brédoire Saint-Mard Saint-Martial Saint-Martial-de-Mirambeau Saint-Martial-de-Vitaterne Saint-Martial-sur-Né Saint-Martin-d'Ary Saint-Martin-de-Coux Saint-Martin-de-Juillers Saint-Martin-de-Ré Saint-Maurice-de-Tavernole Saint-Médard Saint-Médard-d'Aunis Saint-Nazaire-sur-Charente Saint-Ouen Saint-Ouen-d'Aunis Saint-Palais-de-Négrignac Saint-Palais-de-Phiolin Saint-Palais-sur-Mer Saint-Pardoult Saint-Pierre-d'Amilly Saint-Pierre-de-Juillers Saint-Pierre-de-l'Île Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron Saint-Pierre-du-Palais Saint-Porchaire Saint-Quantin-de-Rançanne Saint-Rogatien Saint-Romain-de-Benet Saint-Romain-sur-Gironde Saint-Saturnin-du-Bois Saint-Sauvant Saint-Sauveur-d'Aunis Saint-Savinien Saint-Seurin-de-Palenne Saint-Sever-de-Saintonge Saint-Séverin-sur-Boutonne Saint-Sigismond-de-Clermont Saint-Simon-de-Bordes Saint-Simon-de-Pellouaille Saint-Sorlin-de-Conac Saint-Sornin Saint-Sulpice-d'Arnoult Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan Saint-Thomas-de-Conac Saint-Trojan-les-Bains Saint-Vaize Saint-Vivien Saint-Xandre Saleignes Salignac-de-Mirambeau Salignac-sur-Charente Salles-sur-Mer Saujon Seigné Semillac Semoussac Semussac Le Seure Siecq Sonnac Soubise Soubran Soulignonne Souméras Sousmoulins Surgères Taillant Taillebourg Talmont-sur-Gironde Tanzac Taugon Ternant Tesson Thaims Thairé Thénac Thézac Thors Le Thou Tonnay-Boutonne Tonnay-Charente Torxé Les Touches-de-Périgny La Tremblade Trizay Tugéras-Saint-Maurice La Vallée Vandré Vanzac Varaize Varzay Vaux-sur-Mer Vénérand Vergeroux La Vergne Vergné Vérines Vervant Vibrac Villars-en-Pons Villars-les-Bois La Villedieu Villedoux Villemorin Villeneuve-la-Comtesse Villexavier Villiers-Couture Vinax Virollet Virson Voissay Vouhé Yves

Dave Attwood (born 5 April 1987 in Bristol, England) is a rugby union player who plays at Lock for Bath Rugby in the Aviva Premiership.

Early career[link]

He has been a member of the Bristol First Team squad for two years and spent two years previous to that in the Academy. His rugby heroes include Alex Brown, Will Greenwood and coach and personal friend Phil Cue, his coach at Bristol Minis and Juniors and Dings Crusaders (now Head coach of North Bristol RFC). He attended The Ridings High School and graduated from Bristol University where he studied joint Honours Physics and Philosophy. He was England under 16 discus champion^[2] and still enjoys throwing today although he often complains that "he never finds the time."

Club career[link]

He played for Bristol Rugby in the Anglo-Welsh Cup as well as the European Challenge Cup in the 2008–9 season.

The 2008–09 season saw him feature more regularly in the Bristol first team squad before joining Gloucester in the summer of 2009.^[3] In February 2011, it was announced that he had agreed a two-year deal with Bath Rugby, starting at the beginning of the 2011-12 season

International career[link]

Attwood represented England under 19's in the 2006 Junior world cup and scored against New Zealand in the semi final.^[4] He continued in the England set up to play for the England under 20 team the following year.^[5] He was called into the England Saxons squad to face Italy A on 9 February 2008,^[6] he did not play in the match.^[7]

He made his debut for the England Saxons against Ireland Wolfhounds in January, 2010.^[8]

After an excellent first season with Gloucester, Attwood was called up into the full England team for the 2010 Summer tour to Australia. There he played two games with the second-string squad against the Australian Barbarians, where he was cited at the end of the first game for stomping – citing that was dismissed on technicalities before being reviewed.^[9] Attwood made his senior England debut as a replacement for Tom Palmer in the game against New Zealand on 7 November 2010.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bath Rugby Profile
• Gloucester Rugby Profile
• Bristol profile
• England profile
• What to do now – how a fresh start might look for England

PetriÅŸor Toderasc

Date of birth	(1980-07-15) July 15, 1980 (age 31)
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	113 kg (250 lb; 17.8 st)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Prop
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2000-2009	Romania	50	(40)

PetriÅŸor Toderasc (born IaÅŸi, 15 July 1980) is a Romanian rugby union footballer. He plays as a prop.

Toderasc plays currently for Atlantique Stade Rochelais, in France.

He has 50 caps for Romania, with 8 tries and 40 points scored, since his first match, a 37-17 loss to Italy, at 18 November 2000. He represented Romania twice at the Rugby World Cup finals, playing four matches in 2003, where he scored a try in the 90-8 loss to Australia, and two in 2007. His most recent match for the "Oaks" was at the 42-0 loss to Scotland, at 18 September 2007, at the Rugby World Cup finals. Toderasc was absent from his National Team until 28 November 2009, playing as a replacement in the 18-29 loss do Fiji, in a friendly match, in Bucharest.

External links[link]

• PetriÅŸor Toderasc International Statistics

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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (December 2010)

William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Self-Portrait (1879)
Birth name	William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Born	(1825-11-30)November 30, 1825 La Rochelle, France
Died	August 19, 1905(1905-08-19) (aged 79) La Rochelle, France
Nationality	French
Field	Painter
Movement	Realism
Works	The Birth of Venus The Bohemian

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (November 30, 1825 – August 19, 1905) was a French academic painter. William Bouguereau (French pronunciation: [wiljÉ‘m buÉ¡(É™)ˈÊ�o]) was a traditionalist; in his realistic genre paintings he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of Classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body.

Life and career[link]

William-Adolphe Bouguereau was born in La Rochelle, France on November 30, 1825, into a family of wine and olive oil merchants. He seemed destined to join the family business but for the intervention of his uncle Eugène, a Roman Catholic priest, who taught him classical and Biblical subjects, and arranged for Bouguereau to go to high school. He showed artistic talent early on. His father was convinced by a client to send him to the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, where he won first prize in figure painting for a depiction of Saint Roch. To earn extra money, he designed labels for jams and preserves.^[1]

Through his uncle, Bouguereau was given a commission to paint portraits of parishioners, and when his aunt matched the sum he earned, Bouguereau went to Paris and became a student at the École des Beaux-Arts.^[2] To supplement his formal training in drawing, he attended anatomical dissections and studied historical costumes and archeology. He was admitted to the studio of François-Edouard Picot, where he studied painting in the academic style. Academic painting placed the highest status on historical and mythological subjects and Bouguereau won the coveted Prix de Rome in 1850^[3], with his Zenobia Found by Shepherds on the Banks of the Araxes.^[4] His reward was a year at the Villa Medici in Rome, Italy, where in addition to formal lessons he was able to study first-hand the Renaissance artists and their masterpieces, as well as Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities.^[3] He also studied classical literature, which influenced his subject choice for the rest of career.^[3]

The Wave (1896)

Bouguereau, painting entirely within the traditional Academic style, exhibited at the annual exhibitions of the Paris Salon for his entire working life. An early reviewer stated, “M. Bouguereau has a natural instinct and knowledge of contour. The eurythmie of the human body preoccupies him, and in recalling the happy results which, in this genre, the ancients and the artists of the sixteenth century arrived at, one can only congratulate M. Bouguereau in attempting to follow in their footsteps…Raphael was inspired by the ancients…and no one accused him of not being original.�^[5]

Raphael was a favorite of Bouguereau and he took this review as a high compliment. He had fulfilled one of the requirements of the Prix de Rome by completing an old-master copy of Raphael’s The Triumph of Galatea. In many of his works, he followed the same classical approach to composition, form, and subject matter.^[6] Bouguereau's graceful portraits of women were considered very charming, partly because he could beautify a sitter while also retaining her likeness.

In 1856, he married Marie-Nelly Monchablon and subsequently had five children. By the late 1850s, he had made strong connections with art dealers, particularly Paul Durand-Ruel (later the champion of the Impressionists), who helped clients buy paintings from artists who exhibited at the Salons.^[7]Thanks to Paul Durand-Ruel, Bouguereau met Hugues Merle, who later often was compared to Bouguereau. The Salons annually drew over 300,000 people, providing valuable exposure to exhibited artists.^[8] Bouguereau’s fame extended to England by the 1860s, and he bought a large house and studio in Montparnasse with his growing income.^[9]

The Birth of Venus (1879)

Bouguereau was a staunch traditionalist whose genre paintings and mythological themes were modern interpretations of Classical subjects, both pagan and Christian, with a concentration on the naked female human body. The idealized world of his paintings, brought to life goddesses, nymphs, bathers, shepherdesses, and madonnas in a way that appealed to wealthy art patrons of the era.

Bouguereau employed traditional methods of working up a painting, including detailed pencil studies and oil sketches, and his careful method resulted in a pleasing and accurate rendering of the human form. His painting of skin, hands, and feet was particularly admired.^[10] He also used some of the religious and erotic symbolism of the Old Masters, such as the “broken pitcher� which connoted lost innocence.^[11]

Bouguereau received many commissions to decorate private houses, public buildings, and churches. As was typical of such commissions, Bouguereau would sometimes paint in his own style, and at other times conform to an existing group style. Early on, Bouguereau was commissioned in all three venues, which added enormously to his prestige and fame. He also made reductions of his public paintings for sale to patrons, of which The Annunciation (1888) is an example.^[12] He was also a successful portrait painter and many of his paintings of wealthy patrons remain in private hands.^[13]

Bouguereau steadily gained the honors of the Academy, reaching Life Member in 1876, and Commander of the Legion of Honor and Grand Medal of Honor in 1885.^[14] He began to teach drawing at the Académie Julian in 1875, a co-ed art institution independent of the École des Beaux-Arts, with no entrance exams and with nominal fees.^[15]

In 1877, both his wife and infant son died. At a rather advanced age, Bouguereau was married for the second time in 1896, to fellow artist Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau, one of his pupils.^[16] He used his influence to open many French art institutions to women for the first time, including the Académie française.

Near the end of his life he described his love of his art: “Each day I go to my studio full of joy; in the evening when obliged to stop because of darkness I can scarcely wait for the next morning to come…if I cannot give myself to my dear painting I am miserable�.^[17] He painted eight hundred and twenty-six paintings.

In the spring of 1905, Bouguereau's house and studio in Paris were robbed. On August 19, 1905, Bouguereau died in La Rochelle at the age of 79 from heart disease.

Fame and fall[link]

The Shepherdess (1889)

In his own time, Bouguereau was considered to be one of the greatest painters in the world by the Academic art community, and simultaneously he was reviled by the avant-garde. He also gained wide fame in Belgium, Holland, Spain, and in the United States, and commanded high prices.^[13]

Bouguereau’s career was close to a direct ascent with hardly a setback.^[18] To many, he epitomized taste and refinement, and a respect for tradition. To others, he was a competent technician stuck in the past. Degas and his associates used the term “Bouguereauté� in a derogatory manner to describe any artistic style reliant on “slick and artificial surfaces�,^[18] also known as a licked finish. In an 1872 letter, Degas wrote that he strove to emulate Bouguereau’s ordered and productive working style, although with Degas' famous trenchant wit, and the aesthetic tendencies of the Impressionists, it is possible the statement was meant to be ironic.^[19]

Bouguereau’s works were eagerly bought by American millionaires who considered him the most important French artist of that time.^[13] But after 1920, Bouguereau fell into disrepute, due in part to changing tastes^[3] and partly to his staunch opposition to the Impressionists who were finally gaining acceptance. For decades following, his name was not even mentioned in encyclopedias.

Name[link]

Bouguereau's signature (detail)

Sources on his full name are contradictory: it is sometimes given as William-Adolphe Bouguereau (composed name), William Adolphe Bouguereau (usual and civil-only names according to the French tradition), while in other occasions it appears as Adolphe William Bouguereau (with Adolphe as the usual name). However, the artist used to sign his works simply as William Bouguereau (hinting "William" was his given name, whatever the order), or more precisely as "W.Bouguereau.date" (French alphabet) and later as "W-BOVGVEREAV-date" (Latin alphabet).

Bouguereau as a teacher[link]

From the 1860s, Bouguereau was closely associated with the Académie Julian where he gave lessons and advice to art students, male and female, from around the world. During several decades he taught drawing and painting to hundreds, if not thousands, of students. Many of them managed to establish artistic careers in their own countries, sometimes following his academic style, and in other cases, rebelling against it, like Henri Matisse. He married his most famous pupil, Elizabeth Jane Gardner, after the death of his first wife.

Legacy[link]

In 1974, the New York Cultural Center staged a show of Bouguereau's work as a curiosity. In 1984, the Borghi Gallery hosted the commercial show of his 23 oil paintings and 1 drawing. In the same year a major exhibition was organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, in Canada. The exhibition opened at the Musée du Petit-Palais, in Paris, traveled to The Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, and concluded in Montréal. In 1997 Mark Borghi and Laura Borghi organized an early Internet exhibition. A 2005 exhibit of three works by Bouguereau at the J. Paul Getty Museum, "instantly became the single most popular work at the museum, ultimately building to tens of thousands of visitors clogging the halls waiting their turn to see the exhibit."^[20] Recently Bouguereau's popularity has seen a revival partially due to the work of the Art Renewal Center, which features him as the most popular artist on the site.^[21] Bouguereau's works are in many public collections.

Selected works[link]

Tête d'Etude l'Oiseau (1867)

• La Danse (1856?)
• Alone in the World (Latest 1867)
• The Knitting Girl (1869)
• The Elder Sister (1869)
• Nymphs and Satyr (1873)
• The Birth of Venus (1879)
• Evening Mood (1882)
• The Nut Gatherers (1882)
• The Young Shepherdess (1885)
• Chapel of the Virgin, Saint-Vincent-de-Paul church, Paris (1885–89)
• Le Printemps (The Return of Spring) (1886)
• Premier Deuil (The First Mourning) (1888)
• The Shepherdess (1889)
• Psyché et l'Amour (Psyche and Cupid) (1889)
• L'Amour et Psyché, enfants (1890)
• The Bohemian (1890)
• The Goose Girl (1891)
• Psyché (1892)
• Le ravissement de Psyché (The Rapture of Psyche) (1895)

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Albert Boime: The Academy and French Painting in the Nineteenth Century (London, 1971).
• Aleska Celebonovic: Peinture kitsch ou réalisme bourgeois, l'art pompier dans le monde. Paris: Seghers, 1974.
• Art Pompier: Anti-Impressionism. New York: The Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, 1974.
• Mario Amaya (Forward), Robert Isaacson (catalogue and selection): William Adolphe Bouguereau. New York: New York Cultural Center, 1974.
• John Russell: Art: Cultural Center Honors Bouguereau. In New York Times, 1974.
• Louise d 'Argencourt and Douglas Druick: The Other Nineteenth Century. Ottawa: The National Gallery of Canada, 1978.
• James Harding: Les peintres pompiers. Paris: Flammarion, 1980.
• "The Bouguereau Market". The Art newsletter. January 6, 1981. pp. 6–8.
• Louise d'Argencourt and Mark Steven Walker: William Bouguereau. Montreal, Canada: The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1984.
• Robert Rosenblum and H.W. Janson: 19th Century Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1984.
• Michael Gibson: Bouguereau's "Photo-Idealism". In International Herald Tribune, 1984.
• Grace Glueck: To Bouguereau, Art Was Strictly "The Beautiful. In The New York Times, 1985.
• Cécile Ritzenthaler: L'école des beaux art du XIXe siècle. édition Mayer, 1987
• Exhibition catalogue William Adolphe Bouguereau, L'Art Pompier. Borghi & Co., New York, 1991.

External links[link]

Look up dolce far niente in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (category)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: William-Adolphe Bouguereau

• 288 works by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (www.bouguereau.org)
• Biography of William Bouguereau (Art Renewal Center)
• Bouguereau Gallery at MuseumSyndicate
• Getty Research Institute Bouguereau material, including letters
• The Academic Tradition Personified (Rehs Galleries, Inc. exhibition)
• Ibiblio.org, Bouguereau Web Museum
• Catalog of Bouguereau works