Coutances (kutɑ̃s) is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.
The capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town was given the name of Constantia in 298 during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus. The surrounding region, called in Latin the pagus Constantinus, subsequently became known as the Cotentin Peninsula.
The town was destroyed by the invading Normans in 866; they later established settlements and incorporated the whole peninsula into the Duchy of Normandy in 933.
On 17 July 1944, during the Battle of Normandy during World War II, the city was bombed during the Allied offensive against the occupying Germans.
Coutances has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). The average annual temperature in Coutances is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Coutances was on 5 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 17 January 1985.
Coutances Cathedral is one of the major buildings of Norman architecture and contains a chapel and stained glass dedicated to Saint Marcouf. The bishop of Coutances exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Channel Islands until the Reformation, despite the secular division of Normandy in 1204. The final rupture occurred definitively in 1569.
Coutances houses a well-known botanical garden and an art museum.
Coutances is the location of Jazz sous les pommiers ("Jazz under the apple trees"), an annual jazz festival held since 1982. The festival traditionally takes place during the week of Ascension.
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The Normans (Norman: Normaunds; Normands; Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. The term is also used to denote emigrants from the duchy who conquered other territories such as England and Sicily. The Norse settlements in West Francia followed a series of raids on the French northern coast mainly from Denmark, although some also sailed from Norway and Sweden.
The Cotentin Peninsula (USˌkoʊtɒ̃ˈtæ̃, kɔtɑ̃tɛ̃; Cotentîn kotɑ̃ˈtẽ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its west lie the Gulf of Saint-Malo and the Channel Islands, and to the southwest lies the peninsula of Brittany. The peninsula lies wholly within the department of Manche, in the region of Normandy.
The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a result of the Norman conquest of England, the dukes of Normandy were usually also kings of England, the only exceptions being Dukes Robert Curthose (1087–1106), Geoffrey Plantagenet (1144–1150), and Henry II (1150–1152), who became king of England in 1152.