Saint-Maurice

Saint-Maurice is the name or part of the name of places. It refers to the legendary Saint Maurice.

Canada

Switzerland

Saint-Maurice, Switzerland

Saint-Maurice, or Saint-Maurice-en-Valais, is a municipality and district capital of the district of Saint-Maurice in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Mex merged into the municipality of Saint-Maurice.

It is the site of the Roman outpost of Agaunum and the mediaeval St. Maurice's Abbey, which has become a famous high school in Switzerland (Collège de Saint-Maurice).

Saint-Maurice is located at the entrance a pass leading to the upper part of the Rhône valley. As such, it has a strategic importance, and defence work were built from the 15th century to control this access. The Fortress Saint-Maurice was constructed in the surrounding mountainsides from 1880 through 1995.

History

Saint-Maurice is first mentioned in 200 as Acaun[ensis] [quadragesimae] Gal[liarum]. In respect to Saint Maurice, the name was changed from Acaunum (French: Agaune) to Saint-Maurice in 1003.

Some traces of a Bronze Age settlement were found at the foot of the rocky spur in town. There was a Roman era town at Saint-Maurice, but very little is known about the actual layout of it. There was a customs post at Acaunum, where an import and export tariff of 2.5% was levied. The town probably had a shrine to water nymphs. According to tradition, Saint Maurice and his southern Egyptian companions of the Theban Legion were martyred in Acaunum during the reign of Maximian (286-310). Around 360-370 Theodul, the first Bishop of Valais, built a basilica in Acaunum in their honor. The basilica became a popular pilgrimage site. In 515, the King of Burgundy Sigismund founded the Abbey, which he endowed with rich land.

Saint-Maurice (Lower Canada)

Under the Constitutional Act of 1791, the district of Saint-Maurice was established. Its boundaries, which roughly covered the current Mauricie area except for the city of Trois-Rivières, were reduced when the district of Champlain was created in 1829.

Saint-Maurice was represented simultaneously by two Members at the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada.

Members for Saint-Maurice (1792-1838)

Footnotes

See also

Saint Maurice

Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius) was the leader of the legendary Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century, and one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that group. He was the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms. He is also a highly revered saint in the Coptic Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox churches.

Biography

According to the hagiographical material, Maurice was born in AD 250 in Thebes, an ancient city in Egypt near the site of the 20th-century Aswan Dam. He was brought up in the region of Thebes (Luxor—Egypt) and became a soldier in the Roman army. He was gradually promoted until he became the leader of the Theban legion, formed of 6600 soldiers. Maurice was an acknowledged Christian at a time when the Church was considered to be a threat to the Roman Empire. Yet, he moved easily within the pagan society of his day.

The legion, entirely composed of Christians, had been called from Thebes in Egypt to Gaul to assist Maximian to defeat a revolt by the bagaudae. The Theban Legion was dispatched with orders to clear the St. Bernard Pass across Mt. Blanc. Before going into battle, they were instructed to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods and pay homage to the emperor. Maurice pledged his men’s military allegiance to Rome. He stated that service to God superseded all else. To engage in wanton slaughter was inconceivable to Christian soldiers he said. He and his men refused to worship Roman gods.

Saint-Maurice (provincial electoral district)

Saint-Maurice is a provincial electoral district located in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. It includes part of the city of Shawinigan; it does not, however, include the parish municipality of Saint-Maurice (although it borders on it).

It was created for the 1867 election, and an electoral district of that name existed even earlier: see Saint-Maurice (Lower Canada) and Saint-Maurice (Province of Canada).

In the change from the 2001 to the 2011 electoral map, its territory was unchanged.

Members of the Legislative Assembly / National Assembly

Election results

* Result compared to Action démocratique

* Result compared to UFP

See also

References

External links

Saint-Maurice (district)

The district of Saint-Maurice is a district in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a population of 13,443 (as of 31 December 2014).

Municipalities

It comprises the following municipalities:

Mergers and name changes

On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Mex (VS) merged into the municipality of Saint-Maurice.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the district coat of arms is Per pale Azure and Gules, overall a Cross bottony Argent.

Demographics

Saint-Maurice has a population (as of December 2014) of 13,443. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks French (9,391 or 90.1%) as their first language, Italian is the second most common (232 or 2.2%) and German is the third (206 or 2.0%). There are 2 people who speak Romansh.

As of 2008, the gender distribution of the population was 49.3% male and 50.7% female. The population was made up of 4,667 Swiss men (39.0% of the population) and 1,223 (10.2%) non-Swiss men. There were 4,973 Swiss women (41.6%) and 1,089 (9.1%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the district 4,161 or about 39.9% were born in Saint-Maurice and lived there in 2000. There were 2,565 or 24.6% who were born in the same canton, while 1,720 or 16.5% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,703 or 16.3% were born outside of Switzerland.