Editing Rochechouart

{{Infobox French commune
|name                   = Rochechouart
|native name            = {{native name|oc|Rechoard}}
|commune status         = [[Subprefectures in France|Subprefecture]] and [[Communes of France|commune]]
|image                  = Rochechouart chateau.jpg
|caption                = Rochechouart castle
|image coat of arms     = Blason-Rochechouart.svg
|arrondissement         = Rochechouart
|canton                 = Rochechouart
|INSEE                  = 87126
|postal code            = 87600
|mayor                  = Anne Marie Almoster-Rodrigues<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|website=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=2 December 2020|language=fr}}</ref>
|term                   = 2020&ndash;2026
|intercommunality       = CC Porte Océane du Limousin
|coordinates            = {{coord|45.8239|0.8217|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m            = 265
|elevation min m        = 159
|elevation max m        = 313
|area km2               = 53.88
|population             = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date        = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes   = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
}}

'''Rochechouart'''  ({{IPA|fr|ʁɔʃ(ə)ʃwaʁ|lang|Fr-Paris--Rochechouart.ogg}}, {{IPA|fr|ʁɔʃwaʁ|label=locally|generic=yes}}; {{langx|oc|Rechoard}}, earlier {{lang|oc|La Ròcha Choard}}) is a [[communes of France|commune]] in the [[Haute-Vienne]] [[departments of France|department]], [[regions of France|region]] of [[Nouvelle-Aquitaine]], west central France. It is a [[subprefectures in France|subprefecture]] of the department.<ref>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/metadonnees/geographie/commune/87126-rochechouart Commune de Rochechouart (87126)], INSEE</ref>

The name of the town comes from [[Latin]] ''roca cavardi'', which roughly translates as the rock of Cavardus, the lord who had the fortified place built at the beginning of the 11th century. More often than not, natives pronounce it {{IPA|fr|ʁoˈʃwaʁ|}}, not {{IPA|*[ʁɔʃəˈʃwaʁ]}} as is its pronunciation in [[Standard French]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}}

==History==
Aymeric I, who lived around 990, was the first viscount and established the Rochechouartais dynasty. Aymeric IV took part in the [[First Crusade]] at the end of the 11th century at the side of [[Godfrey of Bouillon]], and it was Aymeric VI (1170–1230) who built the present castle, the [[Château de Rochechouart]], the keep and gatehouse of which remain standing.<ref name=Dulery>{{cite book|author=Abbé Duléry|title=Rochechouart: histoire, légendes, archéologie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sXs9AQAAMAAJ|year=1855 |publisher=Imprimerie Ducourtieux et Cie}}</ref>

At the end of the 13th century, Aimeric XI renounced a large part of his privileges and promulgated a [[charter]] of enfranchisement which transformed Rochechouart into a democratic city, and turned its inhabitants from slaves to the state into citizens.  The city was from then on governed by four consuls who chose their own successors, without their lord's intervention.  At the same time the viscount suppressed all direct taxes such as the "[[taille]]" and the "quête" and abolished duties of service to the feudal lord.  He also accorded the inhabitants of Rochechouart the essential conditions for total liberty – they could dispose of their goods, buy or sell, import and export whatever they wanted, build, move about freely within the viscountcy, all without intervention from their lord. This Charter was very advanced for its times, and despite pressure from the other lords in the region, it remained in force until 1789.<ref>{{cite book |title=Histoire de Rochechouart, des origines à la Révolution |author=Docteur Adrien Grézillier |year=1977 |publisher=Dupanier |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XrS2AAAAIAAJ }}</ref> François de Rochechouart in the late 15th century is known for his study on the ''Dialogues'' of [[Pierre Salmon]], the secretary of [[Charles VI of France]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Hedeman, Anne Dawson |title=Of Counselors and Kings: The Three Versions of Pierre Salmon's Dialogues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iMD0LfctPQsC&pg=PA54 |year=2001 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-02614-0 |pages=54–}}</ref> Before the [[French Revolution]], Rochechouart administratively depended on the [[Poitou|Province of Poitou]], the viscounts of Rochechouart being vassals of the [[Count of Poitiers]], and religiously, it was under the control of the diocese of [[Limoges]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2019}}

==Geography==
Rochechouart is situated at the confluence of the rivers [[Grêne]] and [[Vayres (river)|Vayres]] on the Plateau of Limousin, about {{convert|180|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} above sea level. It is about {{convert|9|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} south of [[Saint-Junien]], the second largest town in the department of [[Haute-Vienne]], and {{convert|45|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} west of Limoges, the largest town and capital of the department. To the west lie the communes of [[Pressignac]] and [[Chassenon]] in the department of [[Charente]], to the north lie the communes of [[Saillat-sur-Vienne]] and [[Chaillac-sur-Vienne]], to the east lies [[Saint-Auvent]] and to the south [[Vayres, Haute-Vienne|Vayres]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Philips' Modern School Atlas |year=1973 |publisher=George Philip and Son, Ltd. |isbn=0-540-05278-7 |page=43 }}</ref>

The walled town of Rochechouart is overlooked by the château and houses a museum, the "Espace Meteorite Paul Pellas" which commemorates the meteorite crater. The château was taken over by the community in 1832 and now houses the town hall as well as a modern art collection, the "Musée Départmental d'Art Contemporain".<ref name=RoughGuide>{{cite book|author1=Abram, David |title=The Rough Guide to France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9obU8526SiQC&pg=PA717 |year=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=978-1-84353-056-5 |page=717}}</ref>

==Rochechouart impact structure==
{{see also|Rochechouart impact structure}}
Rochechouart is situated in the [[Rochechouart impact structure]], an impact crater caused by an [[meteorite|asteroid]] that crashed into the Earth's surface about 205 million years ago,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schmieder M., Buchner E., Schwarz W.H., Trieloff M., and Lambert P.|date=2010|title=A Rhaetian 40Ar/39Ar age for the Rochechouart impact structure (France) and implications for the latest Triassic sedimentary record|journal=Meteoritics & Planetary Science|volume=45-8|issue=8 |pages=1225–1242|doi=10.1111/j.1945-5100.2010.01070.x |s2cid=129154084 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cohen B.E., Mark D.F, Lee M.R., and Simpson S.L.|date=2017|title=A new high-precision 40Ar/39Ar age for the Rochechouart impact structure: At least 5 Ma older than the Triassic–Jurassic boundary|journal=Meteoritics & Planetary Science|volume=52-8|issue=8 |pages=1600–1611|doi=10.1111/maps.12880 |s2cid=3521507 |hdl=10023/10787|hdl-access=free}}</ref> in the [[Rhaetian]] period, shortly before the [[Triassic]] [[Jurassic]] boundary characterized by a massive [[Triassic–Jurassic extinction event|extinction event]] in which 80% of the world's species were obliterated.<ref>{{cite news |title=Crater chain points to impact of fragmented comet |author=Steele, Diana |url=http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/980319/craters.shtml |newspaper=University of Chicago Chronicle: 17, 12 |date=1998-03-19 |access-date=2015-09-13}}</ref>

==Population changes==

Inhabitants are known as ''Rochechouartais''.
{{Historical populations
|source = INSEE<ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-87126#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE</ref>
|percentages = pagr
|align = none
|1968 |4059
|1975 |4196
|1982 |4053
|1990 |3985
|1999 |3667
|2007 |3839
|2012 |3794
|2017 |3778
}}

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left">
File:Rechoard 1.jpg
File:Rechoard 2.jpg
File:Rechoard 3.jpg
File:Rechoard 4.jpg
File:Rechoard 5.jpg
File:Rechoard 6.jpg
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[House of Rochechouart]]
*[[Communes of the Haute-Vienne department]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Haute-Vienne communes}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Communes of Haute-Vienne]]
[[Category:Subprefectures in France]]
[[Category:Poitou]]