Authie () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France.
The commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.Authie in the Competition for Towns and Villages in Bloom
Geography Authie is located some north-west of the centre of Caen. Access to the commune is by road D220 from Villons-les-Buissons in the north-east which passes through the centre of the commune and the village and continues to Carpiquet in the south. The D220C also goes south-east from the village to the urban area of Caen. There are also the hamlets of Hameau de Saint-Louet, Franqueville, Fermie du Calvaire, and Cussy in the commune. Apart from the large residential area the commune is entirely farmland.Google Maps
Toponymy The name of the town is attested in the forms Alteium in 1227 and Auteya in 1264.Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing, Etymological Dictionary of place names in France, Librairie Guénégaud Paris 6th edition, 1979, p. 39a.
Albert Dauzat matched Authie with Authie in Somme department (Altegiam 830) on the coastal river Authie (Alteia 723) and considers it primarily as a hydronym but does not provide any further explanation.Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing, op. cit.
According to René Lepelley this toponym is based on the pre-Celtic element alt in an unknown sense and is close to Authou in Pont-Authou.René Lepelley, Etymological Dictionary of commune names in Normandy, Charles Corlet éditions PUC 1994, p. 54b - 55a.
François de Beaurepaire sees a Gallic (Celtic) element in the alt in Authou.The names of communes and old parishes in Eure, A. and J. Picard, François de Beaurepaire, preface by Marcel Baudot, 1981, Paris, 221 pages, , , p. 56
The Gallic term Attegia was recognized by Xavier Delamarre in Atheist-type names - e.g. Athis in the sense of "cabin or hut".Xavier Delamarre, Dictionary of the Gallic language, éditions Errance 2003, p. 59.
This analyses to ad- (pre-verb) and tegia meaning "house" (cf. Old Irish teg, old Welsh tig, Welsh Ty, Old Breton tig, and Breton ti all meaning "house").Xavier Delamarre, op. cit.
It is likely that Authie contains the same element tegia preceded by another prefix. From a phonetic point of view there is a palatalization of the intervocalic consonant where [g] becomes [j] and then an Amuïssement or attenuation of [j]>[∅], a recurrent phenomenon in phonetics.
The same author explains that Arthies (Artegiae 680) may come from *Are-tegia which is a possible solution for Authie, knowing that [r] regularly becomes [l] before a consonant.
The name Altavilla is either a medieval romanization of a place named Hauteville as in Hauteville in Manche department and therefore does not relate to Authie. It may be a scribal error for *Alteia Villa or *Villa Alteia which mentions a villa, i.e. a rural area in medieval Latin, in a place called Alteia which is Authie.
History In 1832 Authie (466 inhabitants in 1831) absorbed Saint-Louet-près-Authie (9 people) in the west of its territory.
The commune was liberated on 8 June 1944 but was largely destroyed in the bombing.
Administration
List of Successive MayorsList of Mayors of France From To Name 1983 2020 Joël Pizy 2020 2026 Olivier Simar
Twinning
Authie has twinning associations with:National Commission for Decentralised cooperation North Baddesley (United Kingdom) since 1993. It is shared with the commune of Carpiquet.
Demography The inhabitants of the commune are known as Althavillais or Althavillaises in French.Le nom des habitants du 14 - Calvados, habitants.fr
Culture and heritage
Civil heritage The commune has one site that is registered as an historical monument: An Ornamental Garden in the Château of Authie (18th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée The Monument to the Canadians dedicated to the victims of the taking of the village in 1944
Religious heritage
The commune has two religious buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: The Church of Saint Vigor (12th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée A Cemetery Cross (18th century)Ministry of Culture, Mérimée
The Church contains one item that is registered as an historical object: A Bronze Bell (1704)Ministry of Culture, Palissy
See also Communes of the Calvados department
External links Authie on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website Authie on the 1750 Cassini Map
References