Creances History: The People
The only record, be it ecclesiastical or notary, bearing the name Simeon LeRoy, is the baptism recorded of 1637 in the town of Creances at Sainte-Trinite Catholic Church. Whether Creances is a starting point or ending point for this branch of the LeRoy family can only be determined through the existing archival records of Normandy, which at best, are limited or not fully researched. If Creances is the ancestral home to all who descend from Simeon LeRoy, then a history of this town will be beneficial in understanding the social, political, and religious events of our ancestor's lives.
The Creancais believe in the tradition that they are descended from the crew of a ship that, having navigated from some southern port, along the Atlantic and Channel coasts, was shipwrecked. Historians support the thesis by noting the difference between the physiology of the Creancais and other nearby populations. " Many with brown hair, brown eyes, and an eagle nose, very few blondes; the pigmentation and skin tone is hardly reminiscent of the pale rosy complexion that dominates Lower Normandy. "
The Creancias or Crignois were reputed by local experts to have married only within their community until the beginning of the 20th century, and avoided all exterior contact, excepting commercial relations (but isn't this the case for most villages in the region?). These experts maintain that the Creancais are descended from the crews of one of several southern ships (Spaniards, Portuguese, or Moors) wrecked on the shores. These sailors accompanied by their galley slaves, cultivated the fertile lands of the Ay harbor, and "tamed” several women of the region, maintaining their originality until the present day. The local geography would tend to support this oral tradition: the harbor that separates Creances from St. Germain-sur-Ay is wide; there are three kilometers of "no man's land" between Lessay and Creances, and as much space between Creances and Buisson.
Two more legends lend credence to the tradition. The first attributes the founding of Creances to the wreck in 1123 of two Portuguese ships off the coast of St. Germain-sur-Ay. The survivors were granted a strip of land along the sea, following an agreement between the Lords of Bellee' and Pirou. The second legend gives credit to sailors who escaped from vessels of the Spanish Armada, beached in the Ay estuary, following the famous confrontation against English Navy in 1588.
What credence can be given to these legends? A local historian, the Baron Brix, relates that only one of the Armada's ships, the Calvador, can be decisively identified as having been wrecked on the French coast. This occurred off the coast of Arromanches, on a rocky reef twenty kilometers wide between Port-en-Bessin and the mouth of the Orne River. Local fishermen were able to save only a few sailors. It is unlikely that Creances owes its origin to any Armada crew. The few certain historical facts that exist are worth comparing to the legendary origins of Creances.
The Creancais believe in the tradition that they are descended from the crew of a ship that, having navigated from some southern port, along the Atlantic and Channel coasts, was shipwrecked. Historians support the thesis by noting the difference between the physiology of the Creancais and other nearby populations. " Many with brown hair, brown eyes, and an eagle nose, very few blondes; the pigmentation and skin tone is hardly reminiscent of the pale rosy complexion that dominates Lower Normandy. "
The Creancias or Crignois were reputed by local experts to have married only within their community until the beginning of the 20th century, and avoided all exterior contact, excepting commercial relations (but isn't this the case for most villages in the region?). These experts maintain that the Creancais are descended from the crews of one of several southern ships (Spaniards, Portuguese, or Moors) wrecked on the shores. These sailors accompanied by their galley slaves, cultivated the fertile lands of the Ay harbor, and "tamed” several women of the region, maintaining their originality until the present day. The local geography would tend to support this oral tradition: the harbor that separates Creances from St. Germain-sur-Ay is wide; there are three kilometers of "no man's land" between Lessay and Creances, and as much space between Creances and Buisson.
Two more legends lend credence to the tradition. The first attributes the founding of Creances to the wreck in 1123 of two Portuguese ships off the coast of St. Germain-sur-Ay. The survivors were granted a strip of land along the sea, following an agreement between the Lords of Bellee' and Pirou. The second legend gives credit to sailors who escaped from vessels of the Spanish Armada, beached in the Ay estuary, following the famous confrontation against English Navy in 1588.
What credence can be given to these legends? A local historian, the Baron Brix, relates that only one of the Armada's ships, the Calvador, can be decisively identified as having been wrecked on the French coast. This occurred off the coast of Arromanches, on a rocky reef twenty kilometers wide between Port-en-Bessin and the mouth of the Orne River. Local fishermen were able to save only a few sailors. It is unlikely that Creances owes its origin to any Armada crew. The few certain historical facts that exist are worth comparing to the legendary origins of Creances.
In the archives of the Abbey of Lessay, which were unfortunately destroyed in the 1944 bombings, it was noted that the Creancais had participated in the foundation of the Abbey in 1060, long before 1558 or 1123. Moreover, in 1242, Creances is already referred to as " Crienches " (which continues to be its name in the local parish) a name that is rare in a region with Gaelic origins. The discovery of diverse objects dating back as far as Roman times (tiles, forks, coins, etc.) in fields near the hamlet of Havoque lends another clue. Havoque, in the Norman language, signifies " devastation " or " destruction. " Creances may be derived from the root " KR " meaning " Rock " or, according to other sources from the Saxon word " Crean " or " Fortress." Surprisingly, the Larusse Dictionary gives the meaning as derived from " Crientia, " the name of the home of a Gallo-Roman by the name of Crientus.
The meaning of these names, given our knowledge of the local geology, leads one to think that the village of Creances was once situated approximately at the same place as the current village of Havoque (probably about 400 meters from the village in the direction of Les Salines) and that this first settlement was destroyed. The Coast around Cotentin, and more specifically the western side of the peninsula, was submerged by a tidal wave. More recently shifting sands have rendered other villages uninhabitable. It thus appears plausible that the agent of destruction would have been the tidal wave of 709. The survivors would have drawn back to the more secure "fortress" atop the highest local hill, where the village is currently situated.
The presence of "The Dimpled Stone" in the Creances territory is an argument of great importance for affirming the existence of a very ancient Creances, particularly in measuring where this "stone" has been the object of a culture continuing until the Roman and French eras.
This "stone” is a huge block of sandstone weighing one hundred twenty pounds, dull brown, of a generally rounded form with a slight flattening which contained twelve or thirteen holes about which the size varied from that of a cup and that of a bowl. The "Dimpled Stone” could serve as a table but it had unfortunately been broken for a number of years while paving a courtyard. It appears probable to belong in the category of the "stones from oak cups" described by some pre-historians especially in the Rhone Alps regions. These stones show some cups well shaped, well cut, and well smoothed, which would have been accomplished with the aid of stone rollers through the surface, tapping and turning by several engravers working in relays: they were remounted in the stone- polishing era and were thought to be "Megalithic Monuments" (dating back several thousand years before the birth of Christ.) According to certain historians like Chanoine J. Turner (1923), these "Monuments" could be older than the Dolmens and the Menhirs of the Neolithic Age; they would have been the object of a superstitious culture which would continue until the Roman and French eras.
The "Stones from Oak Cups“, according to the authors, could have been for drinking cups, for bowls to receive blood of victims (which is inadmissible for the cups on vertical walls as existed in the Alps), covering of tombs, celestial maps and sacred mansions. The last interpretation would be the most plausible; in effect, many specialists think that the "Stones from Oak Cups" reproduced the heavenly canopy and could be concerned with gravestones representing the star gods.
Finally, if we examine the physical features of the Creances people, whoever they are, indeed are brown-eyed with chestnut-colored hair, but there is also, and they are numerous, those of average or tall figure, with blue eyes and light hair. The young children, true Creancais, generally have very pale blonde hair; yet have the same dark eyes. The pre-dominate Creancais would be more Nordic or Celtic than Latin.
Without wishing to show proof of certain chauvinism, we think that the legends previously cited are only pleasant whims. Indeed, the Creancais are, since long ago, farmers who wish to sell their crops themselves regularly in the markets of many cities and market towns of Normandy. If the Creancais have during a long time formed an ethnic island in the Department of Manche, there is no need to account for their peculiar origins. Only the fact that Creances is itself geographically isolated and remained for a long time under the control of the Abbey of Lessay, suffices for understanding that the Creancais have kept together a set of customs, of particular manners (from the middle ages life in the French countryside strongly resembled that of Creances). Add that certain customs are often considered as Creancais: they are in reality a product of all the population. Also carrying of shawls by women, the methods of dress are hardly the same customs as the Creancais; we have seen them in Spain, but also in Belgium. It is necessary, sadly, to abandon this Iberian fanciful history. Let us leave the domain of legend which, without discussion, for the later history of written texts.
The meaning of these names, given our knowledge of the local geology, leads one to think that the village of Creances was once situated approximately at the same place as the current village of Havoque (probably about 400 meters from the village in the direction of Les Salines) and that this first settlement was destroyed. The Coast around Cotentin, and more specifically the western side of the peninsula, was submerged by a tidal wave. More recently shifting sands have rendered other villages uninhabitable. It thus appears plausible that the agent of destruction would have been the tidal wave of 709. The survivors would have drawn back to the more secure "fortress" atop the highest local hill, where the village is currently situated.
The presence of "The Dimpled Stone" in the Creances territory is an argument of great importance for affirming the existence of a very ancient Creances, particularly in measuring where this "stone" has been the object of a culture continuing until the Roman and French eras.
This "stone” is a huge block of sandstone weighing one hundred twenty pounds, dull brown, of a generally rounded form with a slight flattening which contained twelve or thirteen holes about which the size varied from that of a cup and that of a bowl. The "Dimpled Stone” could serve as a table but it had unfortunately been broken for a number of years while paving a courtyard. It appears probable to belong in the category of the "stones from oak cups" described by some pre-historians especially in the Rhone Alps regions. These stones show some cups well shaped, well cut, and well smoothed, which would have been accomplished with the aid of stone rollers through the surface, tapping and turning by several engravers working in relays: they were remounted in the stone- polishing era and were thought to be "Megalithic Monuments" (dating back several thousand years before the birth of Christ.) According to certain historians like Chanoine J. Turner (1923), these "Monuments" could be older than the Dolmens and the Menhirs of the Neolithic Age; they would have been the object of a superstitious culture which would continue until the Roman and French eras.
The "Stones from Oak Cups“, according to the authors, could have been for drinking cups, for bowls to receive blood of victims (which is inadmissible for the cups on vertical walls as existed in the Alps), covering of tombs, celestial maps and sacred mansions. The last interpretation would be the most plausible; in effect, many specialists think that the "Stones from Oak Cups" reproduced the heavenly canopy and could be concerned with gravestones representing the star gods.
Finally, if we examine the physical features of the Creances people, whoever they are, indeed are brown-eyed with chestnut-colored hair, but there is also, and they are numerous, those of average or tall figure, with blue eyes and light hair. The young children, true Creancais, generally have very pale blonde hair; yet have the same dark eyes. The pre-dominate Creancais would be more Nordic or Celtic than Latin.
Without wishing to show proof of certain chauvinism, we think that the legends previously cited are only pleasant whims. Indeed, the Creancais are, since long ago, farmers who wish to sell their crops themselves regularly in the markets of many cities and market towns of Normandy. If the Creancais have during a long time formed an ethnic island in the Department of Manche, there is no need to account for their peculiar origins. Only the fact that Creances is itself geographically isolated and remained for a long time under the control of the Abbey of Lessay, suffices for understanding that the Creancais have kept together a set of customs, of particular manners (from the middle ages life in the French countryside strongly resembled that of Creances). Add that certain customs are often considered as Creancais: they are in reality a product of all the population. Also carrying of shawls by women, the methods of dress are hardly the same customs as the Creancais; we have seen them in Spain, but also in Belgium. It is necessary, sadly, to abandon this Iberian fanciful history. Let us leave the domain of legend which, without discussion, for the later history of written texts.