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Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne, and the seat of one of its ''arrondissements''. Its inhabitants are called ''Melunais''.

History

Meledunum began as a Gaulish town; Caesar noted Melun as "a town of the Senones, situated on an island in the Seine"; at the island there was a wooden bridge, which his men repaired. Roman Meledunum was a ''mutatio'' where fresh horses were kept available for official couriers on the Roman road south-southeast of Paris, where it forded the Seine. Around 500 A.D, Clovis I granted Melun to a Gallo-Roman magnate, Aurelianus, who had fought for Clovis several times and apparently influenced his conversion to Christianity.

The Normans sacked it in 845. The castle of Melun became a royal residence of the Capetian kings. Hugh Capet (See also: House of Capet) gave Melun to Bouchard, his favorite. In the reign of Hugh's son, Robert II of France, Eudes, the count of Champagne, bought the city, but the king took it back for Bouchard in 999. The chatelain Gautier and his wife, who had sold the city, were hanged; Eudes escaped. Robert died there in July 1031.

Robert of Melun (c. 1100 – 27 February 1167) was an English scholastic Christian theologian who taught in France, and later became Bishop of Hereford in England. He studied under Peter Abelard in Paris before teaching there and at Melun, which gave him his surname.

In July 1415, Melun was besieged by King Henry V of England, who had recently signed the Treaty of Troyes with King Charles VI of France. The town was in the hands of the Dauphin, later Charles VII of France, who had been dispossessed by the treaty. The defenders were led by Arnaud Guillaume, seigneur de Barbazan, and fought off the besiegers for fourteen weeks before capitulating. The town was liberated by Joan of Arc on 17 April 1430.

Counts of Melun

* Aurelianus (c. 500)
*Donatus (?-834)
*Bouchard I (956/967–1005), also Count of Vendôme and Count of Paris

Viscounts of Melun

The early viscounts of Melun were listed by 17th and 18th century genealogists, notably Père Anselme. Based on closer reading of the original documents, Adolphe Duchalais constructed this list of viscounts in 1844:

*Salo (c. 993; possibly legendary)
*Joscelin I (c. 998)
*William (possibly c. 1000)
*Ursio (c. 1067–1085)
* William the Carpenter (c. 1094)
*Hilduin, Garin, Ursio II, Jean (unknown dates, possibly not viscounts)
*Adam (c. 1138–1141; married Mahaut, daughter of his predecessor)
*Joscelin II (c. 1156)

The title eventually became an honorary peerage. Such viscounts include Honoré Armand de Villars and Claude Louis Hector de Villars.

Population

Climate

Transport

Melun is served by the Gare de Melun, which is an interchange station on Paris RER line D, on the Transilien R suburban rail line, and on several national rail lines.

Main sights

The Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame, Melun was the original home of the Melun Diptych.

The nearby château of Vaux-le-Vicomte is considered a smaller predecessor of Palace of Versailles.

The officers' school of the French Gendarmerie is located in Melun.

Notable people

Melun is the birthplace of:
* Morgan Ciprès, pair skater
* Jérémie Bela, footballer
* Willy Boly, footballer
* Pierre Certon (c.1510-1520-1572), composer of the Renaissance (probably born in Melun)
* Jacques Amyot (1513–1593), writer
* Chimène Badi (1982–), singer
* Samir Beloufa (1979–), professional footballer
* Raphaël Desroses, basketball player
* Khamis Digol, footballer
* Stéphane Dondon, basketball player
* Grégory Guilvert, racing driver
* Judah of Melun (13th century), French rabbi and ''tosafist''
* Yvan Kibundu, footballer
* Godson Kyeremeh, footballer
* Edmé-François Mallet (1713–1755), theologian and encyclopédiste
* Steven Mouyokolo, footballer
* Granddi Ngoyi, footballer
* Yrétha Silété, figure skater
* Oumar Solet, footballer
* Bertrand Grospellier (1981–), poker player
* William the Carpenter, viscount of Melun in the 11th century
* Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, politician and former Minister of Transport

Education

A campus of the École nationale de l'aviation civile (French civil aviation university) is located in Melun.

Public high schools/sixth form colleges:Liste des établissements scolaires
." Melun. Consulté le 29 août 2016.
* Lycée Léonard de Vinci
* Lycée Jacques-Amyot
* Lycée Georges Sand

There is one private high school/sixth form college:
* Lycée Saint Aspais

Twin towns – sister cities

Melun is twinned with:
* Crema, Italy
* Spelthorne, England, United Kingdom
* Vaihingen (Stuttgart), Germany

See also

*Communes of the Seine-et-Marne department'', Neue Folge, Volume VII, Tafels 55 & 56.

External links

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Tourist office website




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{{Authority control

Communes of Seine-et-Marne
Prefectures in France
Senones