Crépy-en-Valois (Municipality, Oise, France)

Last modified: 2021-06-27 by ivan sache
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Flag of Crépy-en-Valois - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 25 June 2020

• Presentation of Crépy-en-Valois
• Flag of Crépy-en-Valois

See also:

• France
• Oise (Department, France)

Presentation of Crépy-en-Valois

The municipality of Crépy-en-Valois (14,796 inhabitants in 2018; 1,628 ha) is located 60 km north-east of Paris.

Crépy was allegedly established by King Dagobert, who built a fortress and founded the St. Agathe monastery. A Merovigian necropolis was indeed excavated in the 19th century in the neighboring Mermont quarries. There is, however, no mention of Crépy in the Carolingian chartularies, which sheds doubt on the existence of a significant town at the time.
The early Counts of Valois (pagus vadensis, named for its first capital, Vez) might have built in the 9th century a small fortress on the site of the alleged Merovingian fort. In the 11th century, Crépy became the seat of a feudal domain ruled from the "keep", composed of the St. Aubin chapel and of the castle, erected around 995-1020 by Gauthier II the White. Count of Amiens and Valois. In 1006/1008, Gauthier replaced the canons' chapter established in 935-945 by his father, Raoul II, by the St. Arnoul Benedictine abbey. Short before taking the coat, Count Simon transfered the abbey to the Order of Cluny, with permission granted in 1077 by King Philip I.

Crépy was granted a municipal charter in 1184. Incorporated to the Kingdom of France by Philip II August in 1213, Crépy became the capital of the wealthy County of Valois. Crépy peaked in the 12th and 13th centuries thanks to trade and fairs. Tax records dated 1426 and 1450 indicate a population of slightly more than 800 inhabitants at the time. Located far from the main roads, Crépy declined as a commercial center and morphed into an administrative capital, being since the 16th century the seat of the Duchy and of the Bailiwick of Valois.
[Guillaume Riès. 1999. Crépy-en-Valois. Revue archéologique de Picardie, Special Issue 16, 167-170]

Three successive branches of the Valois dynasty reigned over France from 1328 to 1589. Charles, brother of king Philip IV the Fair, was granted the County of Valois as his appanage. His elder son succeeded Charles IV le Bel in 1328, as Philip VI of Valois. He was succeeded by his direct descendants John II (1350-1364), Charles V (1364-1380), Charles VI (1380-1422), Charles VII (1422-1461), Louis XI (1461-1483) and Charles VIII (1483-1498). Louis XII was the single representative oof the Valois-Orléans branch (1498-15156). He was succeeded by the Valois-Angoulême branch, represented by Francis I (1515-1547), Henry II (1547-1559), Francis II (1559-1560), Charles IX (1560-1574) and Nenry III (1574-1589).