|
In its earliest days, the site was known as the "Herbauges" due to the luxuriant vegetation. When Caesar conquered France, he delegated the Alouettes legion to camp on the hill of the "blé en herbe" (wheat in grass), which became known as the Mont des Alouettes.
In 1130, the "spiritual", agricultural, and commercial capital was established in the abbey de la Grainetière, founded by Benedictine monks from Saintonge. Abbé Prévost lived there, six centuries later, and it was here that he wrote several pages of his famous love story, "Manon Lescaut". During the Middle Ages the English, the large companies of Du Guesclin, and catholic and protestant armies came and went, bringing massacres and fire in their wake. In the XVIIIth century, Les Herbiers was the home of illustrious sailors, Admiral Henri-François des Herbiers de L'Etenduère and Admiral Barrin, Lord of La Limouzinière, but also a renowned scientific, Jean-Baptiste Laurent d'Hillerin.
The Revolution brought dark times for the Pays des Herbiers. In the Chateau of Les Herbiers, the Vendée generals chose Charette as the supreme leader of the great Catholic and Royal Army. Two months later, on 3 February 1794, the infernal regiment of General Amey invaded the Bocage and set fire to the town.
The town slowly recovered and at the start of the XXth century it took off with the development of industries (textiles, furniture). In 1964, the Petit-Bourg des Herbiers, Ardelay, and the town of les Herbiers fused. Since then, the large market town has expanded and grown, with a great quality of life that can count on sustained economic development.
