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Authie, Calvados

Coordinates: 49°12′24″N 0°25′50″W / 49.2067°N 0.4306°W / 49.2067; -0.4306
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Authie
Authie Town Hall
Authie Town Hall
Location of Authie
Map
Authie is located in France
Authie
Authie
Authie is located in Normandy
Authie
Authie
Coordinates: 49°12′24″N 0°25′50″W / 49.2067°N 0.4306°W / 49.2067; -0.4306
CountryFrance
RegionNormandy
DepartmentCalvados
ArrondissementCaen
CantonCaen-2
IntercommunalityCU Caen Mer
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Olivier Simar[1]
Area
1
3.21 km2 (1.24 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
1,676
 • Density520/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
14030 /14280
Elevation60–73 m (197–240 ft)
(avg. 65 m or 213 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Authie (French: [oti] ) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France.

The commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.[3]

Geography

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Authie is located some 6 km (4 mi) north-west of the centre of Caen. Access to the commune is by road D220 from Villons-les-Buissons in the north-east which passes through the centre of the commune and the village and continues to Carpiquet in the south. The D220C also goes south-east from the village to the urban area of Caen. There are also the hamlets of Hameau de Saint-Louet, Franqueville, Fermie du Calvaire, and Cussy in the commune. Apart from the large residential area the commune is entirely farmland.[4]

Toponymy

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The name of the town is attested in the forms Alteium in 1227 and Auteya in 1264.[5]

Albert Dauzat matched Authie with Authie in Somme department (Altegiam 830) on the coastal river Authie (Alteia 723) and considers it primarily as a hydronym but does not provide any further explanation.[6]

According to René Lepelley this toponym is based on the pre-Celtic element alt in an unknown sense and is close to Authou in Pont-Authou.[7]

François de Beaurepaire sees a Gallic (Celtic) element in the alt in Authou.[8]

The Gallic term Attegia was recognized by Xavier Delamarre in Atheist-type names - e.g. Athis in the sense of "cabin or hut".[9]

This analyses to ad- (pre-verb) and tegia meaning "house" (cf. Old Irish teg, old Welsh tig, Welsh Ty, Old Breton tig, and Breton ti all meaning "house").[10]

It is likely that Authie contains the same element tegia preceded by another prefix. From a phonetic point of view there is a palatalization of the intervocalic consonant where [g] becomes [j] and then an Amuïssement or attenuation of [j]>[∅], a recurrent phenomenon in phonetics.

The same author explains that Arthies (Artegiae 680) may come from *Are-tegia which is a possible solution for Authie, knowing that [r] regularly becomes [l] before a consonant.

The name Altavilla is either a medieval romanization of a place named Hauteville as in Hauteville in Manche department and therefore does not relate to Authie. It may be a scribal error for *Alteia Villa or *Villa Alteia which mentions a villa, i.e. a rural area in medieval Latin, in a place called Alteia which is Authie.

History

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In 1832 Authie (466 inhabitants in 1831) absorbed Saint-Louet-près-Authie (9 people)[11] in the west of its territory.

The commune was liberated on 8 June 1944 but was largely destroyed in the bombing.

Administration

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List of Successive Mayors[12]

From To Name
1983 2020 Joël Pizy
2020 2026 Olivier Simar

Twinning

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Authie has twinning associations with:[13]

Demography

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The inhabitants of the commune are known as Althavillais or Althavillaises in French.[14]

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 650—    
1800 382−7.31%
1806 565+6.74%
1821 571+0.07%
1831 466−2.01%
1836 625+6.05%
1841 623−0.06%
1846 630+0.22%
1851 593−1.20%
1856 567−0.89%
1861 500−2.48%
1866 453−1.95%
1872 434−0.71%
1876 425−0.52%
1881 369−2.79%
1886 382+0.69%
1891 394+0.62%
1896 358−1.90%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 361+0.17%
1906 313−2.81%
1911 262−3.49%
1921 266+0.15%
1926 294+2.02%
1931 302+0.54%
1936 348+2.88%
1946 202−5.29%
1954 348+7.04%
1962 414+2.19%
1968 514+3.67%
1975 571+1.51%
1982 645+1.76%
1990 780+2.40%
1999 983+2.60%
2007 1,349+4.04%
2012 1,487+1.97%
2017 1,595+1.41%
Source: EHESS[15] and INSEE[16]

Culture and heritage

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Civil heritage

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The commune has one site that is registered as an historical monument:

  • An Ornamental Garden in the Château of Authie (18th century)[17]
  • The Monument to the Canadians dedicated to the victims of the taking of the village in 1944

Religious heritage

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The Church of Saint Vigor

The commune has two religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments:

  • The Church of Saint Vigor (12th century)[18]
  • A Cemetery Cross (18th century)[19]

The Church contains one item that is registered as an historical object:

  • A Bronze Bell (1704)[20]

See also

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[edit]

References

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  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ Authie in the Competition for Towns and Villages in Bloom Archived December 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in French)
  4. ^ a b Google Maps
  5. ^ Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing, Etymological Dictionary of place names in France, Librairie Guénégaud Paris 6th edition, 1979, p. 39a. (in French)
  6. ^ Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing, op. cit.
  7. ^ René Lepelley, Etymological Dictionary of commune names in Normandy, Charles Corlet éditions PUC 1994, p. 54b - 55a. ISBN 978-2-905461-80-3 (in French)
  8. ^ The names of communes and old parishes in Eure, A. and J. Picard, François de Beaurepaire, preface by Marcel Baudot, 1981, Paris, 221 pages, ISBN 2-7084-0067-3, OCLC 9675154, p. 56 (in French)
  9. ^ Xavier Delamarre, Dictionary of the Gallic language, éditions Errance 2003, p. 59. (in French)
  10. ^ Xavier Delamarre, op. cit. (in French)
  11. ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Saint-Louet-près-Authie, EHESS (in French).
  12. ^ List of Mayors of France (in French)
  13. ^ National Commission for Decentralised cooperation (in French)
  14. ^ Le nom des habitants du 14 - Calvados, habitants.fr
  15. ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Authie, EHESS (in French).
  16. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  17. ^ Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA80000395 Ornamental Garden in the Château of Authie (in French)
  18. ^ Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00111024 Church of Saint Vigor (in French)
  19. ^ Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00111023 Cemetery Cross (in French)
  20. ^ Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM80000272 Bronze bell (in French)