France: Saint-Malo

France: Saint-Malo: "Panoramic photo by Thomas Humeau.
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Saint-Malo during the Middle Ages was a fortified island at the mouth of the Rance River, controlling not only the estuary but the open sea beyond. The promontory fort of Aleth, south of the modern centre in what is now the Saint-Servan district, commanded approaches to the Rance even before the Romans, but modern Saint-Malo traces its origins to a monastic settlement founded by Saint Aaron andSaint Brendan early in the 6th century. Its name is derived from a man said to have been a follower of Brendan, Saint Malo. Saint-Malo had a tradition of asserting its autonomy in dealings with the French authorities and even with the local Breton authorities. From 1490–1493, Saint-Malo declared itself to be an independentrepublic, taking the motto 'not French, not Breton, but Malouins'. Saint-Malo became notorious as the home of the corsairs, French privateers and sometimes pirates. (In the nineteenth century the city's 'piratical' notoriety was portrayed in Jean Richepin's play Le flibustier and in César Cui's like-named opera derived therefrom.) The corsairs of Saint-Malo not only forced English ships passing up the Channel to pay tribute, but also brought wealth from further afield.Jacques Cartier, who sailed the Saint Lawrence River and visited the sites of Quebec City and Montreal — and is thus credited as the discoverer of Canada, lived in and sailed from Saint-Malo, as did the first colonists to settle the Falklands – hence the islands' French name Îles Malouines, which gave rise to the Spanish name Islas Malvinas. In 1758 the Raid on St Malo saw a British expedition land intending to capture the town. However the British made no attempt on St Malo, and instead occupied the nearby town of St Servan where they destroyed 30 privateers before departing. The commune of Saint-Servan was merged, together with Paramé, and became the commune of Saint-Malo in 1967. Saint Malo was the site of an Anglo-French summit in 1998 which led to a significant agreement regarding European defence policy. For more info, refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Malo"