Matha, Charente-Maritime
Matha is a commune with 2173 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Charente -Maritime in the Poitou -Charentes; it is the capital of the canton of the same name and is part of the Arrondissement of Saint -Jean- d'Angély.
Location
Matha is located about 19 km ( driving distance ) southeast of Saint -Jean- d'Angély and about 23 kilometers north of Cognac in the north of the cultural landscape of the Saintonge. The distance to Saintes is about 37 km to the southwest. The place belongs to the wine region of Fins Bois within the wine growing region of Cognac. A loop antenna of the river which passes through the city to the west and north, granted some protection from enemy attacks.
Demographics
The population has remained in the last 200 years or less stable.
Economy
Wine and cereals ( barley, wheat) have been cultivated in the Middle Ages - usually for their own use; one or two pigs and a few chickens belonging to each farm so. In addition, - for the preparation of tissues, ropes etc. - plant fibers from hemp and flax production, the production of which much water was needed.
The most important source of income in the region is the wine growing and distillation of wine into eau de vie, the raw material for the production of cognac nowadays. Based in Matha distillery Léopold Brugerolle is specialized since 1847 in the production of an almond liqueur ( Feu de Joie Sève ) on the basis of eau de vie; addition also the Pineau des Charentes is produced. Jobs is also available in the furniture manufacturing and in the production of agricultural machinery.
History
Already in the year 866, the then Count of Angoulême, Wulgrin, built a castrum to fend off the Normans. In 1220 the former Queen of England Isabella married Count Hugo of Lusignan X.. In 1242 she handed the rule over Matha to her son from his first marriage, Henry III. , Who translated immediately to France to make his ownership claims. King Louis IX. and Alphonse of Poitiers walked together in the southwest of the country and besieged Matha, which surrendered quickly. In the battle of Taillebourg the British were defeated on 21 July 1242 and pushed back to Saintes, where they were defeated again a day later. The Hundred Years' War Matha changed hands several times.
In 1649, Louis XIV surrendered the city, which had been on the side of the Fronde, in the hands of his faithful vassals Charles de Bourdeilles. A register from 1686 Mare Stay determined for 178 hearths and for the district of Saint - Hérie 161 fireplaces. Main sources of income were the cultivation of wine and grain.
In 1801, the districts of Matha and Mare Stay were joined together in a community; Saint- Hérie and some smaller villages were added in 1818. End of the 19th century, the phylloxera ( phylloxera ) destroyed almost all the vines.
Attractions
Church of Saint- Pierre in Mare Stay
Church Saint- Hérie
Other
- The Matha castle, of which only the gatehouse is because the castle itself fell victim to the French Revolution, was a Renaissance building from the 16th century. The gatehouse is both medieval and early modern Machicolation elements ( rectangular windows with round gables ). He was classified as a monument historique in 1948.
- Formerly many Huguenots were resident in Matha, who were driven all the beginning of the 17th century after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV of France. Before and after that almost all Protestant churches were destroyed. The simple church ( temple ) in the district of Matha dates from the 19th century. In the arch above the portal there is no decorative figures, but only a cross with the inscription surrounding La Parole de Dieu Notre Demeure eternellement ( German: The word of our God endures forever ).