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The first written proof of the existence of Honfleur is from Richard III, Duke of Normandy, in 1027. It is also found in the middle of the twelfth century, the city was an important transit port for goods, from Rouen to England.

Located at the mouth of the Seine, one of the main rivers of France and in contact with the sea and resting on a hinterland relatively rich, Honfleur enjoyed a strategic position which proved from the Hundred Years War. Charles V is fortifying the town to prohibit the Seine estuary to the English with support from the port of Harfleur, located just across the other side of the estuary, thereby locking the entrance of the Seine to the enemy ships. Honfleur, however, was taken and occupied by the King of England in 1357 and again from 1419 to 1450. Outside this period, the port served as a starting point to many French expeditions departing ransack the English coasts, including the partial destruction of the town of Sandwich, in Kent County in the 1450s after the British had left Normandy following the defeat of Formigny [1].

After the end of the Hundred Years War and until the late eighteenth century, Honfleur is experiencing a boom due to shipbuilding, trade and maritime expeditions. However, serious problems will explode during the wars of religion in the second half of the sixteenth century. The city was taken by Henry IV in early 1590 [2].

At the same time the city will also participate in the movement of large discoveries, including the departure in 1503 of Binot Paulmier Gonneville of Honfleur to the coast of Brazil. The Honfleur Jean Denis visit Labrador and Newfoundland which will take possession on behalf of the King of France in 1506. These numerous expeditions will port one of the first of France to the Americas and in particular the French colonies of the New Continent, where the repeated journeys of Samuel de Champlain from here, one of which lead to the founding of the Quebec City in 1608. Honfleur was also a pirate town and one of his son, Jean Doublet shine in the race war.

From this period, trade in Honfleur thriving with the multiplication of relations with Canada, Louisiana, the Caribbean, the African coast and the Azores, making the city one of the five major slave ports of France. This period saw the city grow with the dismantling of part of its fortifications became obsolete at the behest of Colbert. Abraham Duquesne, transformed the haven of home, single-port stranding in a real wet dock to be completed in 1684, which is now nicknamed the Old Basin, and contributes to the current reputation of the city. Part of the richness of the city is also assured by Great Fishing on the banks of Newfoundland, the cod fishery and the fur trade. Other marine Honfleur are illustrated in the wars of the French Revolution and Empire, he is the Captain Morel-Beaulieu and cons admirals Hamelin and Motard.

The loss of French colonies in America, competition with the port of Le Havre, the wars of the French Revolution and First Empire, including the continental blockade, causing the ruin of Honfleur, who never recovered partially during the nineteenth century with the resumption of trade in wood from northern Europe. This growth was however limited by the silting of the port, which nevertheless managed to work today. However, it is no longer present a schedule to the port of Rouen, which is the outer harbor, in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Pays d'Auge.
(wikipedia)