medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On 08/19/11, Christopher Crockett wrote:
> From: John Dillon <[log in to unmask]>
> > More precisely, E. was bishop of the Châlons that in modern times used to
> be called Châlons-sur-Marne but that since 1998 has been
> Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne).
>
>
> being more or less perpetually Out of the Loop, toponymically speaking, i
> can't really recall having seen this "Châlons-en-Champagne" moniker until
> fairly recently --only in the last year or so, and perhaps (only) on this
> list.
>
>
> for Codgers the place will always be "-sur-Marne," no matter what those Pointy
> Headed Bureaucrats in Paris might call it.
But for those who live there, the change is real. Notice that the Roman Catholic diocese of Châlons (which in Latin is still simply the _dioecesis Catalaunensis_) uses both the old designation and the new at the top of its website:
http://catholique-chalons-en-champagne.cef.fr/
and that the latter's URL incorporates the new designation.
And, of course, the city uses its new name on its website:
http://www.chalons-en-champagne.net/
> one wonders why on earth the name was changed, at this late date in its
> history.
>
> is there more than one "Chalons" in the region?
Not in the region, so far as I know. As a guess, I would say that the specification "-sur-Marne" took hold in order to differentiate this Châlons from the one in Isère. The more recent "-en-Champagne" forces one to voice the "s" in "Châlons" and thus reminds one that, in contradistinction to Chalon-sur-Saône, the name of the capital of Marne is spelled with a final "s". But I would hesitate to claim that as the chief motivator for this change.
According to the city's website, on its page entitled "Quelques mots d'histoire" <http://tinyurl.com/3srtmtj>, "Châlons-en-Champagne" is an older designation that fell into disfavor after the Revolution and that was preferred to "Châlons-sur-Marne" by 78% of local residents polled on this matter in 1987. One might guess that prior to this poll there had been a public relations campaign in favor of a prospective re-designation. One would have to look further to see what rationales were proposed then.
Best,
John Dillon
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