Annonay
Annonay is a commune and largest town in the north of the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is the most populous commune in the Ardèche department although it is not the capital which is the smaller town of Privas. Other communes in the Ardèche department are Aubenas, Guilherand-Granges, and Tournon-sur-Rhône.
Geography
The commune consists of the city of Annonay and the hamlets of Vissenty, Chatinais, and Boucieu. With residential development, these four entities have merged into one today. Further away is the hamlet of Toissieu.Annonay was built over several small hills at the confluence of the rivers Cance and Deûme. Annonay is a crossroads of trade routes: from the Rhône Valley to the region of Saint-Étienne and from Lyon to south of the Massif Central. It is located south of Lyon, south-west of Saint-Rambert-d'Albon, and north-west of Saint-Vallier at the foot of the mountains of Vivarais just west of the river Rhône. Access to the commune is by the D121 from Davezieux in the north-east passing through the commune and the city and continuing to Villevocance in the south-west. There is also the D578 from the city to Quintenas in the south and the D206 to Saint-Marcel-les-Annonay in the north. There are also the D371 and the D370 in the east of the commune.
The geology consists mainly of grey or light orange leucogranite and orthogneiss rich in biotite, sillimanite, and cordierite with alternating bands of felsic and mafic material. The escarpment of Annonay is surrounded by plateaux and gentle hills used for cultivating cherries, apricots, apples, pears, and other crops. A reservoir created by damming the Ternay River north-west of the town provides water for industrial and domestic use. The highest point of the town at is located near a place called "Sagne Ronde"; the lowest point at is the bed of the Cance near the ruins of the "Mill Baru". The Montmiandon overlooking the city, rises to above sea level.
Name
The origin of the name of the town has numerous hypotheses. One of these suggests that Annonay comes from Annoniacum meaning the domain of an "Annonius", a rich Roman who lived there. Another explanation is that Annonay came from the presence of a food store of the praefectus annonae. In any case, the site of the city has been occupied since antiquity. Roman coins and medals were found during the digging of the Rue Malleval in 1851.History
Middle Ages
The first written mention of Annonay dates from 403. A chronicle of archives in Vienne characterized the city as a small town "built by poor unclothed workers lost in the mountains of Haut-Vivarais".A manuscript which has now disappeared, History of Annonay by P. Bartholomew Popon stated that Evance, Bishop of Vienne, had built on the site of Liberty Square a church dedicated to Saint-Mary or Our Lady in 584.
A charter of 790, confirmed in 805, extracted from the cartulary of the Church of Vienne and quoted Annonay as the seat of a rural archpriest.
In the 13th and early 14th centuries, the small town of Annonay was an important step on the road of pilgrimage to the Virgin of Puy-en-Velay. In witness to this hostelries for pilgrims, five monasteries including the Saint-Clair Convent, one Cordelier, and two priories one of which was the Chapel of Trachin.
The family de Roussillon dominated the region. One of its members, Guillaume de Roussillon, participated in the Crusades. From 1288 a charter was signed between the city and the Lord of Annonay. This granted some autonomy to the city: in particular the right to levy taxes.
In 1342 or 1347, Annonay suffered the Black Death which raged in Europe. A large part of the population was decimated. From 1365 two consuls were responsible for the city.
During the 15th century, Annonay affirmed itself as a commercial crossroads: exporting its wine, trading between the valley of the Rhône, the Dauphiné and the mountain by mule, the tannery developed using the waters of the Deume. The city, built on a rocky outcrop located between two rivers, was defended by the castle of Roussillon in the south and two fortified houses: in the north Maleton and in the west Du Peloux. A line of ramparts ringed all. The suburbs grew towards the Champ de Mars along the banks of the Cance and Deume. The relative prosperity however attracted thieves, highwaymen, and mercenaries. During the Hundred Years War the city strengthened its fortifications with watchtowers, such as the so-called Martyrs Tower. The walls were pierced by gates to control the entrance and exit to the city. There are written references to the Deume, Cance, and Champ entrances, to mention only the most important.
In 1487 the city had fourteen churches or chapels for about two thousand inhabitants. At the center of town was the parish Church of Notre Dame to which was attached a college of canons of the order of Saint-Ruf. Until the Wars of Religion clerics represented up to half of the population.
Modern times (16th and 17th centuries)
In 1524 Annonay was attached to the domain of the King of France in the wake of the revolt by the Constable of Bourbon: his property, which included Annonay, was confiscated. The country was then dominated by the Lévis-Ventadour, the Rohan-Soubises etc.Wars of Religion
During this period Annonay had 3,500 inhabitants. The districts of Cance and Deume were neglected by the wealthy in favor of the Place Vielle, Place Grenette, Rue des Forges.Annonay adopted Protestantism before Geneva. From 1528 a Franciscan friar, Etienne Machopolis – who had heard Martin Luther preach in Saxony, spread the new ideas. In 1539 two merchants from Annonay were burned alive for spreading the ideas of Luther. It was the excesses of the clergy that pushed people into the arms of the Reformation. Moreover, in the region Protestants such as the Benay family had developed the culture of silkworms and protected the Italian artisans who came to develop the silk mills.
Annonay, when in the hands of Protestants, was taken for the first time in 1562 by the Catholic troops of Christophe of Saint-Chamond, Lord of Thorrenc and Andance. The city was retaken at the end of 1562 by the Protestants led by Jean de Saint-Romain, his own brother. Saint-Romain and his troops destroyed the Catholic places of worship in Annonay except for the Trachin Chapel which became a Protestant temple. On 10 January 1563 three thousand Catholics commanded by Saint-Chamond dislodged them from Annonay. The city was sacked in five days. The Edict of Amboise restored peace by giving Protestants freedom of worship in bailiwicks such as Annonay. To this misfortune was added another: plague broke out in 1564.
In 1568 the Protestants of Saint-Romain seized Annonay and slaughtered the college of Notre Dame. A few months later, in September, Catholics, under the command of Saint-Chamond, retook the city again. The troops of Saint-Romain reverted to the masters of Annonay on 17 July 1574. The houses of Cance and Bourgville districts were razed and the ramparts ruined, college and various Annonay chapels were completely destroyed except the Trachin Chapel. From 1574 the Protestant Lord Jean de Fay of Virieu was sent by Henry III to negotiate peace between Catholics and Protestants. A compromise was found in the castle of La Condamine: the Protestant lord was responsible for controlling the locations in the region which were disarmed. An edict of pacification was granted in 1577. The city then had a long period of peace but in the short term trade and industry were destroyed. The city, in ruins, had only 300 fires or about 1500 inhabitants. Religious orders were expelled. In 1583, 1584, and 1585, poor harvests caused inflation, food shortages, and famine. Plague wreaked havoc in Upper Vivarais.
With the signing of the Edict of Nantes the city regained prosperity. At the end of the 16th century thirty tanneries were located on the banks of the Deume and Cance, attracted by the quality of their waters and the prosperous farms nearby. The tanneries grew. There were 11 Tanners and 4 Dressers in 1590; there were 20 and 37 respectively in 1704.
17th–18th centuries
Catholicism became the new majority in the capital of Upper Vivarais due to the massive influx of foreign population. Reconstruction of the Church of Notre Dame was undertaken with a constrained budget. Meanwhile, the Trachin Chapel, the only intact religious building, became the parish church. A Protestant church was built in the district of the Place Saint-Ursula. In September 1601 Annonay received a visit by the future Saint Francis de Sales and a little later from the future Saint John Francis Regis. The reconstruction of the city was characterized by the arrival of new religious communities and the creation of educational institutions such as the Convent of Santa Maria. A new hospital, joining the medieval structures of Notre-Dame La Belle and Notre-Dame de l'Aumône was created on 16 March 1686 at the Champ-de-Mars.In 1685 the revocation of the Edict of Nantes affected Annonay. Protestants who were at that time 50% of the population had to choose between exile, abjuration, or to continue practicing their religion in secret. The Protestants were mostly artisans, manufacturers, wine-growers, and traders. A century later a census showed that there were only 7% Protestants mostly from the upper classes.
The paper industry was started in Annonay in the 17th century with the Montgolfier brothers, papermakers originating from Auvergne, installed at Vidalon-lès-Annonay. The Johannots, another Auvergne family, had been settled in Faya since 1634. Attracted to the water quality, the driving force of the rivers, and the abundance of raw materials, they imported technological innovations from Holland: e.g. the Dutch pile.
In the maze of streets and small squares of Annonay, there was progress with the commissioning in 1726 of four public fountains fed by captive water sources.
In 1780 industrial production was booming: 25,000 cow hides and 500,000 sheep skins were processed by the tanneries. Paper mills produced 300 tons of paper. This success did not go smoothly: the employment in great numbers of the best workers by Montgolfier caused a scarcity of labor and demands for wage increases. There was a strike for two months in the Vidalon Workshop in late 1781 after a long period of tension between the employer and his employees, the first lost the best of his workforce through his intransigent attitude at a time when fights between gavots and journeymen were common.
In 1781, the term Bailiage was changed to Sénéchaussée.
On 14 December 1782, thanks to Etienne and Joseph Montgolfier, the first balloon rose above Vidalon-lès-Annonay. It consisted of a large paper bag lined with cloth placed over a fire of wet straw and wool. It remained however a private experience: the first public official flight in a hot air balloon took place on 4 June 1783 at Annonay, or precisely from the Place des Cordeliers – in front of a chosen public: the Members of State particularly of Vivarais. Several other inventions are credited to Joseph Montgolfier: the hydraulic ram, the method of manufacture of Wove paper and filter paper, called joseph paper.
Annonay developed through trade. It benefited from an improved road network. In 1787 Annonay had 130 merchants for about 7,000 inhabitants. Among them: 11 drapers, 11 clothiers, 26 grocers, 3 goldsmiths, 26 shoe merchants, and 28 tailors. At the same time, the Catholic parish of the city was headed by a priest-archpriest, and vicars. The college of canons was composed of the prior and twelve canons. The monastery of the Poor Clares had twelve nuns and two lay sisters, the Convent of Santa Maria had thirty nuns and four lay sisters. Adding to this religious presence was the pastor of the Protestant community.