Sées

Sées is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.

It lies on the Orne River 3 miles (5 km) from its source and 13 miles (20 km) north-by-northeast of Alençon.

Name

The town's name derives from the Latin (civitas) Sagiensis "city of the Sagii", a Gaulish tribe that turned it into its capital city. The traditional spelling was Séez, which has been retained by the Church; the Diocese of Séez is headed by the Bishop of Séez. However, the spelling Sées was adopted for the town by the civil authorities following Napoléon's successful Italian campaign of 1796–7, one result of which was to bring another (Savoyan) Séez into France.

History

The first bishop of Sées was St Lain, who lived about the fourth century. In the ninth century, Sées was a fortified town and fell a prey to the Normans. At that period Sées had two distinct parts: the Orne: the bishop's borough to the north and the new count's borough (Bourg le Comte) to the south. The counts of Alençon took control in 1356. It was captured and recaptured in the wars between Henry II of England and his sons. In the Hundred Years' War it was one of the first towns of Normandy to fall into the hands of the English, in 1418. Pillaged by the Protestants during the Wars of Religion, Sées attached itself to the Catholic League in 1589, but voluntarily surrendered to Henry IV of France in 1590.