Montbenoît

Montbenoît

The Doubs

Coat of arms
Montbenoît

Coordinates: 46°59′37″N 6°27′46″E / 46.9936°N 6.4628°ECoordinates: 46°59′37″N 6°27′46″E / 46.9936°N 6.4628°E
Country France
Region Franche-Comté
Department Doubs
Arrondissement Pontarlier
Canton Montbenoît
Intercommunality Canton of Montbenoît
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Frédéric Bourdin
Area1 5.03 km2 (1.94 sq mi)
Population (2008)2 365
 • Density 73/km2 (190/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 25390 / 25650
Elevation 762–1,125 m (2,500–3,691 ft)
(avg. 790 m or 2,590 ft)

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.

Montbenoît is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.

The abbey church (11th-20th centuries).

Geography

The commune lies 14 km (8.7 mi) north of Pontarlier in the Jura mountains.

History

In the early 12th century, Landry, Lord of Joux, gave land in the upper Doubs valley to Humbert, Archbishop of Besançon, to found an abbey.[1][2] The local summit in the area was at the time called Mont Benoît after a religious hermit named Benoît who resided there. Humbert invited monks to come from Valais and an abbey under St. Columbanus's rule was built by a monk called Nardouin (Norduin) in 1141-1142.[3][4] The town grew up nearby the abbey. Both the abbey and the town were named Montbenoît after the local summit. The abbey later came under the Augustine rule.[4]

In 1947, Montbenoît was proclaimed capital of the Republic of Saugeais by Georges Pourchet, a local hotel owner, who also created the republic on the spot.

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1962180—    
1968205+13.9%
1975182−11.2%
1982163−10.4%
1990238+46.0%
1999219−8.0%
2008365+66.7%

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Montbenoît" Congrès Archéologique de France 118: p. 306
  2. ↑ Landry, Donald J. (1999) The History of the Surname Landry from Clovis to the Present volume I, Donald J. Landry, Metairie, Louisiana, p. 22, OCLC 42748089 citing Suchaux, L. (1878) Galerie Héraldo: Nobiliaire de la Franche-Comté H. Champion, Paris, p. 314, OCLC 18349834
  3. ↑ "Montbenoît Abbey" Structurae an architectural database
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "abbaye d'augustins" Architecture et Patrimoine database in French, accessed 5 May 2009

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Montbenoît.