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Perche
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Perche is a former province of northern France extending over the départements of Orne, Eure, Eure-et-Loir and Sarthe.
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Its boundaries are Normandie on the N. and W., Maine on the S.W., Vendomois and Dunois on the S., Beauce on the E. and Thimerais on the N.E.
The greater part of the district is occupied by a semicircle of heights (from 650 to 1000 ft. in height) stretching from Moulins-la-Marche on the northwest to Montmirail on the south; within the basin formed thereby the shape of which is defined by the Huisne, an affluent of the Sarthe, lie the chief towns of Mortagne-au-Perche, Nogent-le-Rotrou and Bellême.
Stock-raising and dairy-farming are flourishing in the Perche, which is famous for the production of a breed of large and powerful horses, called Percherons. Cider-apples and pears are grown throughout the district.
In the Middle Ages, the Perche constituted a county of which Corbon, Mortagne and Nogent-le-Rotrou were successively the capitals. Under the ancient regime it formed, together with Maine, a government of which Mortagne was the capital.
In the 17th century, a large number of immigrants to New France came from Perche. Many were recuited in the 1640's and 1650's to work for the Church missonaries and the nobles who were establishing estates on the St Lawrence River. While the total number of emigrants were few, Perche had a much higher rate of emigration to New France than most other regions of France. Nearly all French Canadians have some ancestors who came from the villiages of Perche.
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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