Last modified: 2006-12-23 by ivan sache
Keywords: seine-et-marne | meaux | fleur-de-lis (yellow) | letter: m (yellow) |
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![[Flag of Meaux]](../images/f/fr-77-me.gif)
Flag of Meaux - Image by Pascal Vagnat, 18 April 2002
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The municipality of Meaux (50,913 inhabitants) is located 45 km north-east of Paris around a meander of the river Marne.
Meldois, and the neighbouring region,
deslimited by the rivers Marne and Ourcq, called Multien. After the
Roman conquest, the town increased in size and was mentioned by
Julius Caesar under the name of Iatinum. It was located on the
crossraod between two important Roman ways.
During the dark ages following the fall of the Roman Empire, Meaux
was sacked several times, for example during the Barbarian invasions
in the IVth century and two times by the Normans in the IXth century.
In 943, feudality was established in the north of France, and the
County of Meaux was founded, which was rapidly incorporated into the
powerful County of Champagne. At that time,
such a county was more powerful than the small kingdom of France,
whose territory was restricted to the traditional province of
Ile-de-France. In 1179, Count Henri le
Libéral granted the citizens of Meaux a municipal charter. In
1229, the Treaty of Meaux, ending the
Albigensian Crusade, was signed by king
of France Philippe-Auguste and count of Champagne, on behalf of count
of Toulouse.
In 1284, Jeanne de Navarre, Count of Champagne's last heiress,
married king of France Philippe le Bel (1285-1314) and Champagne was
definitively incorporated to the Kingdom of France. In 1420, during
the Hundred Years' War, Meaux was seized by
King of England Henry V (1413-1422). In 1439, Constable of Richemont
reincorporated the city to France.
In the XIXth century, the economical development of Meaux was
triggered by the digging of the Ourcq Canal (1803-1825), linking in
108 kms the rivers Seine and Ourcq, the introduction of sugarbeet
cultivation in the area in 1806 as a response to the Continental
System, and the inauguration of the railway line Paris-Meaux in 1849.
In 1914, the Battle of Marne took place between 6 and 13 September
around Meaux. The Allied Armies, commanded by Joffre, stopped the
German Army commanded by Moltke and forced him to withdraw.
As early as the IVth century, Meaux was an important (Roman
Catholic) episcopal city. Some of its bishops played a great role in
the religious history of France.
In 660, during a short period of peace, Bishop Saint Faron founded
the monastery of Sainte-Croix.
In 1351, the poet and musician Philippe de Vitry (1291-1361), one of
the founders of the polyphonical school called Ars Nova, was
appointed Bishop of Meaux.
In 1516, Bishop Guillaume Briçonnet (1472-1534), influenced by
Erasmus, founded the Cénacle de Meaux, a group of
religious humanists, which included the reformist theologians
Guillaume Farel (1489-1565) and Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples
(1450-1536). Due to the increase in religious intolerance in France,
the Cénacle was dissolved in 1525. The area of Meaux
was then trashed by a religious civil war which ended only on 1
January 1594, when King of France Henri IV entered ceremoniously the
city and established the religious peace.
The most famous of the bishops of Meaux was Jacques Bénigne
Bossuet (1627-1704). Bossuet had been the
Dauphin's private tutor before being
appointed Bishop of Meaux in 1681. Bossuet, as the unofficial leader
of the French Roman Catholic Church, defended the religious politics
of Louis XIV against the Protestants and condemned
Fénelon's quietism. His
sermons (On Death, On the Eminent Dignity of the Poor) and
funeral orations are among the most beautiful texts of the Classical
period of French litterature. Bossuet's ability to distance on
religious questions and his charitable behaviour in Meaux yielded him
the nickname of the Aigle de Meaux (Eagle of Meaux).
The region of Meaux is also known for two excellent products:
- The Brie of Meaux is a softcheese which was elected "Prince of
the Cheese" during the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), and should
not be mistaken for the Brie de Melun, the Brie de Nemours and the
Brie de Nangis, much less common.
- The mustard of Meaux is still manufactured à
l'ancienne.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 18 April 2002
The flag of Meaux is vertically divided red-green with the
municipal coat of arms, also divided red-green, in the
middle.
Last time I went to Meaux, two years ago, there were long,
vertical forked banners placed at the entrance of the city. The
colours were light green and pink, probably because of sun fading.
The coat of arms was shifted to the top of the flag, following the
German use.
The arms of Meaux are (GASO):
Parti de gueules et de sinople à la lettre M onciale
d'or brochant sur la partition, au chef cousu d'azur semé de
fleurs de lys d'or (Per pale gules and vert overall the uncial letter M or a chief
azure semy de lis or).
According to Brian Timms, these arms were ascribed by the Armorial
Général, but at that period, it was known that the
town had possessed the arms which it uses today de temps
immemorial (from time immemorial). The letter M represents of
course Meaux.
The arms of Meaux were confirmed in 1821 by a Royal Decree (lettres
patentes) signed by King Louis XVIII.
Ivan Sache, 23 July 2003
![[Ceremonial flag]](../images/f/fr-77-m1.gif)
Ceremonial flag of Meaux - Image by Ivan Sache, 23 July 2003
On 28 February 2003, Ange Anziani, Mayor of Meaux, and
Jean-Francois Copé, State Secretary in charge of the relations
with the Parliament and Spokesperson of the Government, former Mayor
of Meaux, officially gave the municipal flag to the Scouts of Meaux
(Scouts de France).
The flag is white with the municipal arms in the middle and "Ville
de Meaux" written in black under the coat of arms.
Ivan Sache, 23 July 2003