 Off Rochefort, from the island of Île-d'Aix where he had spent several days hoping to flee to America, Napoleon Bonaparte surrendered to Captain F. L. Maitland aboard HMS "Bellerophon", on 17 July 1815, ending the "Hundred Days".Rochefort is a notable example of 17th-century "ville nouvelle" or new town, which means its design and building resulted from a political decree.The reason for building Rochefort was to a large extent that royal power could hardly depend on rebellious Protestant La Rochelle, which Cardinal Richelieu had to besiege a few decades earlier.