Givet

Sister cities

• Finspång Municipality

History

The town's history claims that Saint Hubert lived there in 720 and performed a miracle. The town has changed hands several times since the Roman era before becoming part of France in 1678, and was later invaded by Russians and Germans. During the Nine Years' War in 1696 Givet functioned as a supply depot for the French army and was bombarded by and Anglo-Dutch force under Menno van Coehoorn. During the Napoleonic Wars, the French maintained a camp here for British naval prisoners of war from 1804 to 1814. One of the officer prisoners, Captain Jahleel Brenton, Royal Navy, who had been captured when his ship, H.M. frigate Minerve ran aground off Cherbourg, and Naval Chaplain the Reverend Robert B. Wolfe, also a prisoner, established a school of navigation for the imprisoned British sailors. This was a successful unofficial initiative for teaching navigation that also provided a center for the growth of religious piety in the Royal Navy. An example of student work in the navigation school is preserved in the notebook by British seaman William Carter. British seaman, John Wetherell, a survivor of the British 38-gun frigate that had wrecked near Brest and was burnt by her crew to prevent her capture, was imprisoned at Givet from 1804 to 1814 and left an account of his experiences. In World War II, Givet was occupied by the Germans on May 12, 1940 and liberated by the allies on September 7, 1944. By December 1944, 11,000 American soldiers were billeted in the ancient Charlemont fortress. The German Ardennes Offensive targeted Givet and its crossing of the Meuse. The British, under General Montgomery, organized a last-ditch defense, and on 24 December, the German drive was stopped about from Givet. Givet is also the birthplace of writer Henry Bidou (1873 – 1943),…

Most-observed species

• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,647
• Egyptian Goose

  Alopochen aegyptiaca (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,262
• Box tree moth

  Cydalima perspectalis (Walker, 1859) · Insecta
  814
• Ivy-leaved Toadflax

  Cymbalaria muralis G.Gaertn., B.Mey. & Scherb. · Magnoliopsida
  811
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  744
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  735
• coypu

  Myocastor coypus (Molina, 1782) · Mammalia
  730
• Hedgerow Crane's-bill

  Geranium pyrenaicum Burm.f. · Magnoliopsida
  713

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2008-12-20
  1 km WSW of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
• M 3.3 — 2008-09-13
  3 km SSE of Florennes, Belgium
• M 2.8 — 2008-09-12
  1 km NNW of Court-Saint-Étienne, Belgium
• M 2.7 — 2008-08-09
  1 km SW of Ottignies, Belgium
• M 2.6 — 2008-08-09
  0 km NW of Ottignies, Belgium
• M 2.5 — 2008-08-08
  1 km SSW of Ottignies, Belgium