What is Maine (province)?
[[File:Carte maine.svg|thumb|right|300px|{{center|Map of Maine.}}]] '''Maine''' is one of the traditional [[:wikt:provinces|provinces]] of France. It's [[:wikt:capital|capital]] was the city of [[Le Mans]]. The area is now divided into the [[:wikt:departments|departments]] of [[Sarthe]] and [[Mayenne]]. ==History== The [[Carolingian Empire|Carolingians]] called Maine ''pagis cenomannicus'' after the Cenomani tribe that [[Julius Caesar]] had defeated.<ref>Richard Ewing Barton, ''Lordship in the County of Maine, c. 890-1160'' (Woodbridge; Rochester, NY: The Boydell Press, 2004), p. 21</ref> [[Pepin the Short]] gave the duchy of Maine to his half-brother Grifo.<ref name=Neveux52>François Neveux, ''The Normans; The Conquests that Changed the Face of Europe'', trans. Howard Curtis (London: Constable & Robinson Ltd., 2008), p. 52</ref> In the last half of the 9th century, Maine took on greater importance because of [[:wikt:invasions|invasions]] from [[Normandy]] and [[Brittany]]. In 924 King [[Rudolph of France]] gave Maine to [[Rollo]] of Normandy.<ref>''The Normans in Europe'', trans. Elisabeth van Houts (Manchester; New York: Manchester University Press, 2000), p. 16</ref> Because it was next to [[Anjou]] on the south and [[Normandy]] on the north, these two [[:wikt:duchies|duchies]] often fought over Maine. [[William I of England|William, Duke of Normandy]] invaded Maine in 1063 and he controlled the county by the beginning of 1064. Norman control of Maine helped make the southern border of Normandy safe against Anjou. This was a [[:wikt:factor|factor]] which allowed Duke William to launch his successful [[Norman conquest|invasion of England]] in 1066. In 1069 the citizens of Le Mans revolted against the Normans. Soon some of the [[Manceaux]] barons joined the revolt. The Normans were expelled in 1070, and young [[Hugh V of Maine|Hugh V]] was made the Count of Maine. After Norman attacks in 1073, 1088, 1098 and 1099, [[Elias I, Count of Maine|Elias I]] succeeded his cousin Hugh V, who sold Maine to him in 1092