Hugues Cosnier (French pronunciation: [ygkonje] ) was a French engineer who conceived of the Briare Canal [1] [2] who was born in Tours, 1573, and died in 1629, in Paris. [2]
He proposed to Henri IV the idea of building a canal from the Loire River to the River Seine. It would go from Briare to Montargis and then continue to the Seine via the Loing River. Cosnier began the canal in March 1604. He abandoned the project in 1610 with the death of Henri IV. In 1620, he was invited to continue his work on the canal. His death prevented him continuing the effort. Guillaume Boutheroue completed the canal between 1638 and 1642. [2] [1]
Also in 1603, he received a grant to establish silkworm breeding, sericulture, in Poitou. The endeavor failed. [2]
In 1618, his idea of encircling Paris with canals was accepted, but was never constructed. [2]
The Seine is a 777-kilometre-long (483 mi) river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, 30 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre. It is navigable by ocean-going vessels as far as Rouen, 120 kilometres (75 mi) from the sea. Over 60 percent of its length, as far as Burgundy, is negotiable by large barges and most tour boats, and nearly its whole length is available for recreational boating; excursion boats offer sightseeing tours of the river banks in the capital city, Paris.
Henry IV, also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. He pragmatically balanced the interests of the Catholic and Protestant parties in France as well as among the European states. He was assassinated in 1610 by a Catholic zealot, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII.
Paul Victor Jules Signac was a French Neo-Impressionist painter who, with Georges Seurat, helped develop the artistic technique Pointillism.
Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon, better known as Henri de Saint-Simon, was a French political, economic and socialist theorist and businessman whose thought had a substantial influence on politics, economics, sociology and the philosophy of science. He was a younger relative of the famous memoirist the Duc de Saint-Simon.
Maximilien de Béthune Sully, 1st Prince of Sully, Marquis of Rosny and Nogent, Count of Muret and Villebon, Viscount of Meaux was a nobleman, soldier, statesman, and counselor of King Henry IV of France. Historians emphasize Sully's role in building a strong, centralized administrative system in France using coercion and highly effective new administrative techniques. While not all of his policies were original, he used them well to revitalize France after the European Religious Wars. Most, however, were repealed by later monarchs who preferred absolute power. Historians have also studied his Neostoicism and his ideas about virtue, prudence, and discipline.
The Briare Canal is one of the oldest canals in France. Its construction started in 1604. It was the first summit level canal in Europe that was built using pound locks, connecting the Rhone-Saône and Seine valleys. It is 57 kilometres long and is part of the Bourbonnais route from Saint-Mammès on the Seine to Chalon-sur-Saône on the Saône.
Briare is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France, in the historical region of Puisaye. The composer and organist Henri Nibelle (1883–1967) was born in Briare.
The Canal de Garonne, formerly known as Canal latéral à la Garonne, is a French canal dating from the mid-19th century that connects Toulouse to Castets-en-Dorthe. The remainder of the route to Bordeaux uses the river Garonne. It is the continuation of the Canal du Midi which connects the Mediterranean with Toulouse.
Souppes-sur-Loing is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department at the southern edge of the Île-de-France region in north-central France. The town of Souppes-sur-Loing has 5,390 inhabitants (2017), and is located 86 miles south of Paris. It has a station, Souppes – Château-Landon, on the Transilien suburban railroad line between the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris station and the city of Montargis, and many of the town's residents commute to work in Paris.
The Briare Aqueduct in central France carries the Canal latéral à la Loire over the river Loire on its journey to the Seine. It replaced a river-level crossing from the canal to meet the Briare Canal that was hazardous in times of flood. Between 1896 and 2003 it was the longest navigable aqueduct in the world, until the opening of the Magdeburg Water Bridge.
A summit-level canal, sometimes called a "watershed canal" or just "summit Canal", is an artificial waterway connecting two separate river valleys. The term refers to a canal that rises to cross a summit then falls down the other side.
The Canal latéral à la Loire was constructed between 1827 and 1838 to connect the Canal de Briare at Briare and the Canal du Centre at Digoin, a distance of 196 kilometres (122 mi). It replaced the use of the river Loire, which was unreliable during winter floods and summer droughts. Aqueducts were used to cross the Allier at Le Guétin and the Loire at Digoin. However, because of the extreme length required, an aqueduct was not built to cross the Loire at Briare until 1896, when the Briare aqueduct was constructed.
Rogny-les-Sept-Écluses is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. The name of the commune comes from its impressive seven locks on Briare Canal.
The Canal de l’Aisne à la Marne is a canal in northeastern France which connects the Aisne and the Marne valleys. It runs from the Canal latéral à l'Aisne at Berry-au-Bac to Condé-sur-Marne on the Canal latéral à la Marne, a distance of 58 km. The canal rises 40m through 16 locks via the cathedral city of Reims, which is also a busy commercial port, to a summit level at an altitude of 95.70m. After crossing the watershed through a tunnel 2302m long at Mont-de-Billy, the canal drops down 23.80m through a flight of 8 locks towards the Marne.
The Bourbonnais route is a connection of four canals in France from Saint-Mammès on the Seine to Chalon-sur-Saône on the Saône River: It includes the Canal du Loing, Canal de Briare, Canal latéral à la Loire, and Canal du Centre.
The Canal Henri IV is a section of the Canal de Briare that connects the Loire to the remainder of the Canal de Briare in Briare. It joins the Canal de Briare at the same point as the Canal latéral à la Loire.
Guillaume Boutheroue was a French engineer who completed the Briare Canal, originated by Hugues Cosnier.
Étang de la Gazonne,, is a 29-hectare (72-acre) lake that provides water for the workings of the Canal de Briare.
Émiland Marie Gauthey was a French mathematician, civil engineer and architect. As an engineer for the Estates of Burgundy, he was the creator of a great deal of the region's civil infrastructure, such as the Canal du Centre between Digoin and Chalon-sur-Saône (1784–1793), bridges including those at Navilly (1782–1790) and Gueugnon (1784–1787), and buildings such as the Eglise Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul at Givry and the theatre at Chalon-sur-Saône.
The Puisaye is a natural and historical region of France, now divided between the departments of Loiret, Nièvre and Yonne. Its historical and administrative center is the town of Saint-Fargeau. Its inhabitants are known as Poyaudins.