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Rochefort-en-Terre (Municipality, Morbihan, France)

Roc'h-an-Argoed

Flags of Rocejfort-en-Terre - Image by Ivan Sache, 10 July 2022

Presentation of Rochefort-en-Terre
Flags in Rochefort-en-Terre

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Presentation of Rochefort-en-Terre

Rochefort-en-Terre (632 inhabitants in 2021; 122 ha) is a commune in the Morbihan department, the 4th smallest municipality in the department by its area, located 50 km east of Vannes and 30 km north-west of Redon.

Rochefort (Strong Rock) was established on a promontory overlooking the valley of Gueuzon, a main way of communication between inland and coastal Brittany. The castle of Rochefort, built on the remains of Gallo-Roman fortifications, was first mentioned in the early 11th century. The domain of Rochefort, ruling 11 parishes, emerged in the early 12th century after the division of the former domain of Elven, part of the County of Vannes. The successive lords, from Abbon de Rochefort (c. 1100) to Claude II de Rieux-Rochefort (d. 1548 without male heirs) exerted a strong power at the regional scale.
In the aftermath of the battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier, lost in 1488 by the Breton lords, King of France Charles VIII ordered the destruction of the castle of Rochefort as a retaliation against Jean IV, a supporter of the Breton party. Rebuilt, the castle was suppressed in 1594 during the Wars of Religion and in 1793, when the Republicans decided to abandon its defense against the Chouan insurgents.

Monks form the Redon abbey, then one of the most powerful ones in western Europe, established in the early 11th century the St. Michael priory in La Grêle, remembered today by the St. Michael chapel, rebuilt in the beginning of the 20th century. The Notre-Dame de la Tronchaye church was built in he 12th century on the place where a young shepherdess had found a statue of the Virgin hidden in a tree trunk ("tronc") two centuries earlier during the Northmen invasions; at the end of the 15th century, Jean IV de Rieux, Count of Rochefort and Marshal of Brittany, established a chapter of seven canons (a dean and six chaplains) in the church. His son, Claude II, increased on 1 June 1527 the number of canons to 13. Rochefort became a popular place of pilgrimage on the Way of Saint James.
Renamed to La Roche des Trois to honor the three ("trois") patriots killed in 1793 during the attack of the castle, and to Rochefort-des-Trois in 1801, the municipality was eventually renamed to Rochefort-en-Terre (Inland Rochefort), for the sake of differentiation from other places in France called Rochefort. [Municipal website]

The American painter Alfred Partridge Klots (1875-1939) discovered Rochefort in 1903; on 7 June 1907, he acquired the castle, of which nothing remained but the horse stables. For ten years, he completely rebuilt the castle, using stuff from the nearby, ruined castle of Kerallo (16th century). To increase the fame of the village, he invited American and French painters and sculptors to stay in the village. After Klots' death, the tradition was maintained by his son, Trafford Klots (1913-1976). The castle was acquired in 1978 by the General Council of Morbihan, which signed in 1995 a convention with the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore to maintain the tradition initiated by Klots. The convention was pushed by Isabel "Issy" Klots (1917-2013), Trafford's widow, who resided in the castle until her death [see Ouest-France, 12 August 2013].

The Naïa Museum was established in April 2015 in the castle of Rochefort, with the support of the municipality, by a couple of artists, Manu Van H and Patrice "Pit" Hubert, as the Museum of Arts and Imaginary.
The museum was conceived as a tribute to Alfred Klots and to witch Naïa, a marginal but popular woman who lived in the castle's ruins in the late 19th century. [Museum website]

Witch Naïa was met by the writer and photographer Charles Géniaux (1870-1931), who was so impressed that he published a report, with photographs, in the 1903 Almanach of Action Libérale Populaire ("La sorcellerie en Bretagne. Naïa la Sorcière", pp. 125-133 [source]).
Naïa, "one of the last witches in Brittany" was locally known as immortal, since she never either ate or drank anything; a "noted family" of Rochefort reported to have seen her at the same time in two very distant places, although she had never been spotted walking anywhere. Géniaux met twice Naïa, who confirmed him that she never ate, and kindly accepted to be photographed. The writer was amazed by the supernatural voices he had heard around her, as well as the unusual cleverness and instruction of such "countryside witch", who even read newspapers. She accepted to practice an ordeal, appearing to be insensitive to fire. A few days later, Géniaux met a doctor from the neighboring town of Questembert, who detailed the witch's illusionist skills, ventriloquism included.

Ivan Sache, 10 July 2022

Flags in Rochefort-en-Terre

A vertical, forked flag, vertically divided blue-yellow has been reported hoisted at the entrance of the ruins of the castle (photo).
Another example in another place : photo, 2018.

During its medieval festival Rochefort en fête, Rochefort uses vertical flags, vertically divided blue-yellow or yellow-blue, with the municipal coat of arms in the yellow part, skewed to the top (photo)
The arms of Rochefort-en-Terre are "Vair or and azure". These arms are shown on a seal used by Guillaume de Rochefort, Viscount of Donges, in 12181 [source: Donges municipal website]

Square, quartered yellow-blue flags, have also been used during the festival (photo).

Ivan Sache, 10 July 2022