Costumes Nationaux by Lepage Medvey, Editions Hyperion, 1939.
Dieppe is a French town in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region. It is a sub-prefecture of the arrondissement of the same name and the chief town (chef-lieu) of two cantons.
Dieppe was settled by Normans around the year 900, about 150 years before William the Conqueror conquered England. The English word deep for “deep” and “Dieppe” have the same Germanic origin. It refers to the natural harbour entrance of the town, which has always been ideal for maritime trade.
Dieppe Castle – Château de Dieppe
The town was completely destroyed twice: the first time in 1195 by the Capetian Philip II. August, the second time in 1694 by a Dutch-English fleet under Admiral Berkeley, who wanted to destroy the positions of the French corsairs operating in the English Channel. It is to the rebuilding after the bombardment of 1694, which caused a conflagration, that Dieppe owes its baroque appearance.
From the 16th century onwards, Dieppe was a starting point for French voyages of discovery. Jehan Ango, the discoverer of Brazil and Sumatra, was born in Dieppe in 1480 or 1481 and also died there in 1551.
