Loudun is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Vienne

Vienne

Vienne is the northernmost département of the Poitou-Charentes region of France, named after the river Vienne.- Viennese history :Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou,...

 department in the Poitou-Charentes

Poitou-Charentes

Poitou-Charentes is an administrative region in central western France comprising four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne. The regional capital is Poitiers.-Politics:The regional council is composed of 56 members...

 region

Régions of France

France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

 in western France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

It is located 30 km (18.6 mi) south of the town of Chinon

Chinon

Chinon is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France well known for Château de Chinon.In the Middle Ages, Chinon developed especially during the reign of Henry II . The castle was rebuilt and extended, becoming one of his favorite residences...

 and 25 km to the east of the town Thouars

Thouars

Thouars is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in western France.It is on the River Thouet. Its inhabitants are known as Thouarsais.-History:...

. The area south of Loudun is the place of origin of a significant portion of the Acadians, one of the early founding people of New France in Canada.

Demographics

Sights

An ancient town, Loudun contains numerous old streets, and buildings and monuments of which five are Government-listed monuments. It is also the location of a vicus

Vicus (Rome)

In ancient Rome, the vicus was a neighborhood. During the Republican era, the four regiones of the city of Rome were subdivided into vici. In the 1st century BC, Augustus reorganized the city for administrative purposes into 14 regions, comprising 265 vici. Each vicus had its own board of...

 type archaeological site.

Loudun possessions

Loudun was the site of hysteria concerning the supposed mass possession of nuns by the Devil in 1634.

Personalities

Loudun is the birthplace of:

• Jean Salmon Macrin
  Jean Salmon Macrin
  Jean Salmon Macrin was a Neo-Latin poet of French nationality. His poetry sold massively well, and was thought of as quite influential during his lifetime; however his fame did not live on, and his poetry was never republished after the 16th century.Macrin was born in Loudun, and retained an...
  
   (1490–1557), Neo-Latin poet
  Poet
  A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
  
  
• Théophraste Renaudot
  Théophraste Renaudot
  Théophraste Renaudot was a French physician, philanthropist, and journalist.Born in Loudun, Renaudot received a doctorate of medicine from the University of Montpellier in 1606. He returned to Loudon where he met Cardinal Richelieu and Père Joseph. In the 1610s, Richelieu became more powerful and...
  
   (1586–1653), medical practitioner, inventor of French written press, journalist, philanthropist
• Ismaël Bullialdus
  Ismaël Bullialdus
  Ismaël Bullialdus was a French astronomer.Bullialdus was born Ismaël Boulliau in Loudun, Vienne, France, the first surviving son to Calvinists Susanna Motet and Ismaël Boulliau, a notary by profession and amateur astronomer. At age twenty-one he converted to Catholicism, and by twenty-six was...
  
   (1604–1694), astronomer
  Astronomer
  An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
  
  
• Jean-Charles Cornay
  Jean-Charles Cornay
  Jean-Charles Cornay was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in Vietnam. He was born in Loudun, Vienne, France, and was executed in Ha Tay, Vietnam, during the persecutions of Emperor Minh Mạng....
  
  , martyr.
• Marie Besnard
  Marie Besnard
  Marie Besnard , also known as 'The Good Lady of Loudun', was an accused serial poisoner in the mid 20th century.Besnard was first charged with multiple murder on July 21, 1949, under her given name, Marie Joséphine Philippine Davaillaud...
  
  , accused of poisoning in the '50s in what was a very mediatized trial; her story was the subject of a successful TV movie and of several books
• René Monory
  René Monory
  René Monory was a French centre-right politician.-Biography:René Monory was born in Loudun and began his career as the owner of a garage. He was the founder of the Poitiers Futuroscope.Monory first became a Senator in 1968...
  
  , mayor of Loudun, senator of Vienne, president of the French Senate, Minister of Education, president of the Vienne General Council, fonder of the Futuroscope
  Futuroscope
  Futuroscope, or Parc du Futuroscope is a French theme park based upon multimedia, cinematographic futuroscope and audio-visual techniques...
  
   park of Poitiers
  Poitiers
  Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
  
  
• Nicolas Ghesquière
  Nicolas Ghesquière
  Nicolas Ghesquière is a fashion designer and is currently creative director for the house of Balenciaga owned by the Gucci Group . He grew up in Loudun, Vienne....
  
   (born 1972), creative director of the French fashion house Balenciaga
  Balenciaga
  Balenciaga is a fashion house founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Basque designer, born in the Basque Country, Spain. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior. His bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet ultra-modern...
  
   was born in 1972 in Comines, Nord-Pas-de-Calais but was always raised in Loudun where his parents own a golf course.

Loudun is the place of death of:

• Urbain Grandier
  Urbain Grandier
  Urbain Grandier was a French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft, following the events of the so-called "Loudun Possessions." The circumstances of Father Grandier's trial and execution have attracted the attention of writers Alexandre Dumas, père and...
  
   (18 August 1634), French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft.
• André Andrejew
  André Andrejew
  André Andrejew was one of the most important art directors of the international cinema of the twentieth century. He had a distinctive, innovative style. His décors were both expressive and realistic...
  
  (16 March 1967), French-Russian classic film production designer, built decors for movies produced in Germany, France, England and the US.

External links

• Tourisme Loudun (in French)