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HENRI , See also:comte de La Rochejacquelein, See also:born at Dubertien, near See also:Chatillon, sur Sevres, on the loth of See also:August 1772, did not emigrate with his See also:father. He served in the constitutional guard of the See also: After his See also:death she went through various adventures recorded in her See also:memoirs, first published at See also:Bordeaux in 1815. They are of extreme See also:interest, and give a remarkable picture of the war and the fortunes of the royalists. She saved much of her own See also:property and her first See also:husband's, when a conciliatory policy was adopted after the fall of the Terrorists. After her second See also:marriage she lived with her husband on her estates, both refusing all offers to take service with See also:Napoleon. In 1814 they took an active See also:part in the royalist See also:movement in and about Bordeaux. In 1815 the marquis endeavoured to bring about another Vendean rising for the king, and was shot in a skirmish with the Imperialist forces at the See also:Pont See also:des Marthes on the 4th of See also:June 1815. The marquis died at See also: LA ROCHELLE, a seaport of western France, See also:capital of the See also:department of See also:Charente-Inferieure, 90 M. S. by E. of See also:Nantes on the railway to Bordeaux. Pop. (1906) See also:town 24,524, See also:commune 33,858. La Rochelle is situated on the See also:Atlantic See also:coast on an inlet opening off the See also:great See also:bay in which See also:lie the islands of Re and See also:Oleron. Its fortifications, constructed by See also:Vauban, have a See also:circuit of 3z M. with seven See also:gates. Towards the See also:sea are three towers, of which the See also:oldest (1384) is that of St See also:Nicholas. The apartment in the first See also:storey was formerly used as a See also:chapel. The See also:Chain See also:Tower, built towards the end of the 14th See also:century, is so called from the chain which guarded the See also:harbour at this point; the entrance to the tidal See also:basin was at one See also:time spanned by a great pointed See also:arch between the two towers. The See also:lantern tower (1445–1476), seven storeys high, is surmounted by a lofty See also:spire and was once used as a lighthouse. Of the See also:ancient gateways only one has been preserved in its entirety, that of the " See also:Grosse Horloge," a huge square tower of the 14th or 15th century, the corner turrets of which have been surmounted with trophies since 1746. The See also:cathedral of La Rochelle (St Louis or St See also:Bartholomew) is a heavy Grecian See also:building (1742–1762) with a See also:dome above the See also:transept, erected on the site of the old See also: Externally the town-See also:house is in the See also:Gothic See also:style of the latter years of the 15th century and has the See also:appearance of a fortress, though its severity is much relieved by the beautiful See also:carving of the two entrances, of the machicolations and of the two belfries. The buildings looking into the inner court are in the See also:Renaissance style (16th and See also:early 17th centuries) and contain several See also:fine apartments. In the old episcopal See also:palace (which was in turn the See also:residence of See also:Sully, the See also:prince of Conde, Louis XIII., and See also:Anne of See also:Austria, and the See also:scene of the marriage of See also:Alphonso VI. of See also:Portugal with a princess of See also:Savoy) See also:accommodation has been provided for a library, a collection of records and a museum of See also:art and antiquities. Other buildings of See also:note are an See also:arsenal with an See also:artillery museum, a large See also:hospital, a See also:special See also:Protestant hospital, a military hospital and a lunatic See also:asylum for the department. In the botanical gardens there are museums of natural See also:history. See also:Medieval and Renaissance houses give a See also:peculiar See also:character to certain districts: several have See also:French, Latin or See also:Greek See also:inscriptions of a moral or religious turn and in general of Protestant origin. Of these old houses the most interesting is one built in the midddle of the 16th century and wrongly known as that of See also: The rearing of oysters and mussels and the exploitation of See also:salt marshes is carried on in the vicinity.
The inlet of La Rochelle is protected by a See also: Connected with the basin are two graving docks. La Pallice has See also:regular communication with See also:South America by the vessels of the Pacific See also:Steam See also:Navigation See also:Company and by those of other companies with See also:London, America, West See also:Africa, See also:Egypt and the Far See also:East. The port has petroleum refineries and chemical manure See also:works.
In 1906 there entered the port of La Rochelle, including the See also:dock of La Pallice, 441 vessels with a See also:tonnage of 629,038, and cleared 468 vessels with a tonnage of 664,861 (of which 235 of 241,146 tons cleared with See also:ballast). These figures do not include vessels entering from, or clearing for, other ports in France. The imports (value, £1,276,000 in 190o as compared with £1,578,000 in 1907) include See also:coal and patent See also:fuel, superphosphates, natural See also:phosphates, nitrate of soda, See also:pyrites, building-See also:timber, wines and See also:alcohol, See also:pitch, dried codfish, petroleum, jute, See also:wood-pulp. Exports (value, £1,294,000 in igoo; £1,979,0o° in 1907) include See also:wine and See also:brandy, See also:fancy goods, See also:woven goods, garments, skins, coal and briquettes, See also:furniture, potatoes.
La Rochelle existed at the close of the loth century under the name of Rupella. It belonged to the See also:barony of Chatelaillon, which was annexed by the See also:duke of See also:Aquitaine and succeeded Chatelaillon as chief town in Aunis. In 1199 it received a communal See also:charter from Eleanor, duchess of See also:Guienne, and it was in its harbour that See also: From its harbour in 1402 See also:Jean de See also:Bethencourt set out for the See also:conquest of the Canaries, and its See also:seamen were the first to turn to See also:account the See also:discovery of the new See also:world. The salt-tax provoked a See also:rebellion at Rochelle which See also:Francis I. repressed in See also:person; in 1568 the town secured exemption by the See also:payment of a large sum. At the See also:Reformation La Rochelle early became one of the chief centres of Calvinism, and during the religious See also:wars it armed privateers which preyed on See also:Catholic vessels in the Channel and on the high seas. In 1571 a See also:synod of the Protestant churches of France was held within its walls under the See also:presidency of See also:Beza for the purpose of See also:drawing up a See also:confession of faith. After the See also:massacre of St Bartholomew, La Rochelle held out for six and a See also:half months against the Catholic army, which was ultimately obliged to raise the See also:siege after losing more than 20,000 men. The See also:peace of the 24th of June 1573, signed by the See also:people of La Rochelle in the name of all the Protestant party, granted the Calvinists full See also:liberty of See also:worship in several places of safety. Under Henry IV. the town remained quiet, but under Louis XII I. it put itself again at the head of the Huguenot party. Its vessels blockaded the mouth of the Gironde and stopped the commerce of Bordeaux, and also seized the islands of Re and Oleron and several vessels of the royal See also:fleet. Richelieu then re-solved to subdue the town once for all. In spite of the assistance rendered by the English troops under See also:Buckingham and in spite of the fierce See also:energy of their See also:mayor Guiton, the people of La Rochelle were obliged to capitulate after a See also:year's siege (October 1628). During this investment Richelieu raised the celebrated mole which cut off the town from the open sea. La Rochelle then became the principal port for the See also:trade between France and the See also:colony of See also:Canada. But the revocation of the See also:Edict of Nantes (1685) deprived it of some thousands of its most industrious inhabitants, and the loss of Canada by France completed for the tim^ the ruin of its commerce. Its privateers, however, maintained a vigorous struggle with the English during the See also:republic and the See also:empire. See P. Suzanne, La Rochelle pittoresque (La Rochelle, 1903), and E. Couneau, La Rochelle disparue (La Rochelle, 1904). LA See also:ROCHE-SUR-See also:YON, a town of western France, capital of the department of Vendee, on an See also:eminence on the right bank of the Yon, 48 m. S. of Nantes on the railway to Bordeaux. Pop. (1906) town ,o,666, commune 13,685. The castle of La Roche, which probably existed before the time of the See also:crusades, and was frequently attacked or taken in the See also:Hundred Years' War and in the wars of See also:religion, was finally dismantled under Louis XIII. When Napoleon in 1804 made this See also:place, then of no importance, the chief town of a department, the stones from its ruins were employed in the erection of the administrative buildings, which, being all produced at once after a regular See also:plan, have a monotonous effect. The equestrian statue of Napoleon I. in an immense square overlooking the See also:rest of the town; the statue of General Travot, who was engaged in the " pacification " of La Vendee; the museum, with several paintings by P. See also:Baudry, a native artist,5of whom there is a statue in the town, are the only See also:objects of interest. Napoleon-Vendee and See also:Bourbon-Vendee, the names See also:borne by the town according to the dominance of either See also:dynasty, gave place to the See also:original name after the revolution of 1870. The town is the seat of a prefect and a court of assizes, and has a tribunal of first instance, a chamber of commerce, a branch of the Bank of France, a lycee for boys and training colleges for both sexes. It is a market for See also:farm-produce, horses and See also:cattle, and has See also:flour-See also:mills., 'The See also:dog fairs of La Roche are well known. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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