THE ANCIENT PROVINCE OF THE PEECHE 21 



particularly the warlike character of its inhabitants 

 under their chief, Veridiouix, who caused the Roman 

 generals no little work. In the middle of the ninth 

 century the Norsemen invaded The Perche and laid 

 waste the country. 



In 1135 Nogent, at that time built of wood, was 

 destroyed by fire. About 1358 it fell into the hands 

 of the English, but the Treaty of Bretigny on May 8, 

 1360, gave the town back to the French, and in 1361 

 it was turned over once more to its seigneurs. Once 

 or twice after that date the English obtained pos- 

 session of it. It was not until the year 1230 that 

 The Perche came under the French crown. From 

 the end of the sixteenth century up to the time of 

 the French Revolution — a period of about 200 years 

 — the province enjoyed a profound peace, and agri- 

 culture and stock-breeding made much progress.* 



Rotrou and the Counts of The Perche. — The Counts 

 of The Perche were first known under the title of 

 Seigneurs de Belleme. During the Middle Ages the 

 history of the province was characterized by contin- 

 uous strife and bloodshed. During a part of the 

 eleventh century there was internal warfare waged 

 by Robert II of Belleme against the Rotrous, Counts 



•The Abb6 Fret, the best known historian of The Perche of mod- 

 ern times, in his "Antiquit#s et Chroniques Percheronnes" relates that 

 after about two centuries of profound peace an Insurrection took place 

 at Mortagne, the capital of The Perche, on the 23rd of July, 1789, the 

 mob taking possession of all the registers of the excise and burning 

 them in the market place. He then relates how a handful of rioters 

 did terrible things at Nogent, destroying by flre, among other articles 

 In the public square, precious manuscripts and authentic documents, 

 charters and other matter indispensable to the history of the town. 

 He affirms that the origin of Nogent goes back to the greatest an- 

 tiquity, and every other historian of The Perche corroborates that 

 statement. 



