Vieil-Hesdin | |
|---|---|
 The church of Vieil-Hesdin | |
Location of Vieil-Hesdin  | |
  Vieil-Hesdin  Vieil-Hesdin | |
| Coordinates:50°21′30″N2°05′59″E / 50.3583°N 2.0997°E /50.3583; 2.0997 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Hauts-de-France |
| Department | Pas-de-Calais |
| Arrondissement | Montreuil |
| Canton | Auxi-le-Château |
| Intercommunality | CC des 7 Vallées |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Christian Druelle[1] |
Area 1 | 9.82 km2 (3.79 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 343 |
| • Density | 35/km2 (90/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 62850 /62770 |
| Elevation | 31–125 m (102–410 ft) (avg. 37 m or 121 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Vieil-Hesdin (French pronunciation:[vjɛjedɛ̃];Dutch:Oud-Heusden) is acommune in thePas-de-Calaisdepartment in theHauts-de-France region ofFrance.[3]
Vieil-Hesdin is situated 6 kilometres southeast ofHesdin, on the banks of the riverCanche on the D 340 highway.
Once just simply known as Hesdin, this little village was, in theMiddle Ages, a large and prosperous town. Its position in the heart of the county ofArtois, once part of theSpanish Netherlands, led to its downfall.From 1471 until its destruction in 1553, it suffered many sieges and sackings, as a result of fighting between the Kings of France, theHoly Roman Empire,Henry VIII of England and several French nobles.
The end of Hesdin, as it was then known, came at the hands ofCharles V. His 60,000 strong army had already ravagedMetz and razedThérouanne in April 1553 and he ordered the city and the castle completely destroyed. A month later, the wreckers had finished their work. Only the convent and chapel were spared.Some months later, the demolition material was used to found a new city 6 kilometres downstream, at a village then called Maisnil. This new town took the name Hesdin-fert, then Hesdin-fort, eventually becoming Hesdin. The ruined town was known for a while as Hesdin-le-Châtel, then eventually as Vieil-Hesdin (Old-Hesdin).
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 338 | — |
| 1975 | 371 | +1.34% |
| 1982 | 362 | −0.35% |
| 1990 | 364 | +0.07% |
| 1999 | 364 | +0.00% |
| 2007 | 367 | +0.10% |
| 2012 | 375 | +0.43% |
| 2017 | 356 | −1.03% |
| Source: INSEE[4] | ||
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