Archon, Aisne

Archon

Fortified church of Archon, the gatehouse south facade
Archon

Coordinates: 49°44′32″N 4°07′09″E / 49.7422°N 4.1192°E / 49.7422; 4.1192Coordinates: 49°44′32″N 4°07′09″E / 49.7422°N 4.1192°E / 49.7422; 4.1192
Country France
Region Hauts-de-France
Department Aisne
Arrondissement Laon
Canton Rozoy-sur-Serre
Intercommunality Portes de la Thiérache
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2020) Jean-Luc Villain
Area1 6.37 km2 (2.46 sq mi)
Population (2010)2 87
 • Density 14/km2 (35/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 02021 / 02360
Elevation 146–225 m (479–738 ft)
(avg. 180 m or 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.

Archon is a French commune in the department of Aisne in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Archonais or Archonaises[1]

Geography

Archon is located some 60 km east by south east of Saint-Quentin and 40 km west of Charleville-Mézières. It can be accessed by road D744 from Cuiry-les-Iviers in the north which passes through the heart of the commune and the village then continues south to Rozoy-sur-Serre. The D520 road starts from the village and continues east to Parfondeval. The commune consists entirely of farmland and there are no other villages or hamlets.[2]

A stream rises in the commune and flows south joining other tributaries and feeding the Serre river.[2]

Neighbouring communes and villages[2]

 Morgny-en-Thierache Cuiry-les-Iviers Dohis
Renneval Parfondeval
   Archon  
Chéry-lès-Rozoy Rozoy-sur-Serre Rouvroy-sur-Serre

History

In Greek Archon (ἄρχων, pl. Ἄρχοντες) means chief or lord.

The Archon fortified church and its two towers

Archon was known as Archium in 1124. It has been found in Mousterian flint carvings and Roman pottery. In the 13th century, the lordship was given to the Abbey Saint-Remi of Reims and Saint Vincent of Laon and to the Rozoy Chapter.

The village has beautiful old houses and barns built of Wattle and daub. Archon has a restored private castle – the Ogny Castle – built in the 16th/17th centuries. It is a square building flanked by two towers at opposite corners, a square gate, and two square towers. Former mill at Ogny is now a farm. The church of Saint Martin is fortified. The front is protected by two round towers on each side of the door and connected by a bridge with loopholes and a gatehouse.

Archon was the homeland for:

Archives

The two oldest civil status acts of Archon show baptisms in the church of St. Martin in late October 1660. The first was a girl, Jeanne Lengrene, the second child of Jacques Cury, brother of Simon Cury and Claude Mennesson. There were baptisms from 1660 to 1668.

Starting from 1668 there were marriages. The first is cited on 3 July 1668 – the marriage of Michel Dugard and Marguerite Lengrene, widower and widow, witnessed by Jean Lengrene and Claude Chollet, labourers, and Louis de Labarre.

The last burial was in January 1669. Antoinette Bouche was buried on 23 January but the precise date of death and age are not known. The witnesses were her children Jacques and François Jumelet which signifies that Antoinette was an adult and the wife of a Jumelet.

Death certificates and marriage are sometimes more informative and go back to the beginning of the 17th century and the late 16th century. Thus on 20 February 1670 Jean Robinet aged about 85 years was buried who must have been born around 1585 in the reign of Henry III.

The study of these documents helps to better trace the history of the population of Archon over 400 years and to better understand the economic and demographic changes in the village. This study is ongoing and relies on the analysis of the following data:

a) The evolution of births, marriages and deaths from 1660 to 2010 (there was a very strong population growth in the First Empire then a very sharp drop from 1850 to 1900)

b) The appearance and disappearance of surnames: Grimpret, Cury, Menu, Marchand, Lefevre were present since at least the middle of the 17th century and Vilain since the beginning of the 18th century until today. Lengrene, Mennesson, Foulon, Taute and others have not been seen in Archon for a long time.

c) Appearances and disappearances of activities (e.g. weaver, farmer, blacksmith, schoolmaster, baker)

Marital status

Registers of deeds, 1660-1699, 1700-1749, 1750-1769, 1770-1789, 1790-1800, 1801–1819 (1808 is missing) 1820-1835, 1836–1842 (reconstituted), 1843-1862, 1863–1892 (missing 1873-1882), a gap from 1893 to 1918 (except 1913, which is reconstituted), 1919-1956, 1957-1976. Tables: 1802-1952

Acts found in late 2010: 1789–1791 acts, 1793 births, Year II, Year III Deaths, Births in Year V, Year VIII Deaths, Year X Births, 2 births in 1807, 1808, 2 deaths in 1819, year 1835.

Population, social economics, Census statistics: Year IV (men over 12 years) from 1836 to 1906, 1926, 1931, 1936, 1954, 1962.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Archon[3]

Mayors from 1941
From To Name Party Position
1941 1944 Roger Fleury Named President of the Special Delegation
1944 1946 Paul Vasseur Elected President of the municipal delegation
1946 1953 Roger Fleury
1953 1965 Michel Dufourg
1965 1983 Roger Fleury
1983 1989 Michel Dufourg
1989 2008 Alain Dufourg DVD
2008 2020 Jean-Luc Villain MD

(Not all data is known)

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 87 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the town since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.[Note 1]

Population Change (See database)
1793 1800 1806 1821 1831 1836 1841 1846 1851
329 370 384 398 388 388 389 376 362
1856 1861 1866 1872 1876 1881 1886 1891 1896
323 298 278 258 234 231 221 205 228
1901 1906 1911 1921 1926 1931 1936 1946 1954
230 222 224 175 187 178 162 157 143
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2010 -
154 146 128 118 87 83 92 87 -

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Sites and monuments

The Church of Saint Martin in 1991
The 1820 Sundial of Archon

Notable people linked to the commune

See also

Bibliography

External links

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002 , the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" which allow, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For municipalities with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these municipalities is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force on 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.

References

  1. ↑ Inhabitants of Aisne (French)
  2. 1 2 3 Google Maps
  3. ↑ List of Mayors of France (French)
  4. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00115503 Church of Saint Martin (French)
  5. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM02001517 Statue: Saint Martin (French)
  6. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM02001516 Statue: Virgin and child (French)
  7. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM02002512 Set of 2 Sanctuary Lamps (French)
  8. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM02002511 Baptismal font (French)
  9. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM02002510 Main Altar (French)
  10. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM02002509 Set of 2 Processional Banners (French)
  11. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM02002508 Sacristy Cross: Christ on the Cross (French)
  12. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM02002507 Altar Painting: Calvary, Christ on the Cross (French)
  13. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM02002506 Statue: Saint Martin (French)
  14. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM02002505 Statue: Virgin and child (French)
  15. ↑ "La gloire du monde passe comme l'ombre"
  16. ↑ Legion of Honour ref LH/1828/37 (National Archives) (French)
  17. ↑ Registered in the Inventory of Cultural Heritage of Picardy and the General Inventory of Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture (French)
  18. ↑ Three-yearly review of the Linguistic Society of Picardy, Museum of Picardy, Amiens
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Archon, Aisne.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.