Loudun

Loudun
Porte du Martray in Loudun
Coat of arms
Loudun
Location within Poitou-Charentes region Loudun
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes
Department	Vienne
Arrondissement	Châtellerault
Canton	Loudun
Intercommunality	Pays Loudunais
Government
• Mayor (2014–2019)	Joël Dazas
Area1	43.77 km2 (16.90 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	7,588
• Density	170/km2 (450/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	86137 / 86200
Elevation	47–120 m (154–394 ft) (avg. 90 m or 300 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Loudun (/luːˈdʌn/; French pronunciation: ​[lu.dœ̃]) is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.

It is located 30 km (19 mi) south of the town of Chinon and 25 km to the east of the town Thouars. 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

Historical population of Loudun

Year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2009
Population	6214	7094	8035	8120	7854	7704	7588	7146

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 type archaeological site.

Loudun possessions

Main article: Loudun possessions

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

Loudun in art

• Aldous Huxley's 1952 non-fiction novel The Devils of Loudun was based on the Loudun possessions.
• John Whiting's 1961 theatre play The Devils (play), commissioned by Sir Peter Hall for the Royal Shakespeare Company, was based on Aldous Huxley's novel.
• Krzysztof Penderecki's 1969 opera The Devils of Loudun (Die Teufel von Loudun), which premiered at the Hamburg State Opera, was based on Huxley's novel and Whiting's play.
• Ken Russell's 1971 film The Devils was based on Huxley's novel and Whiting's play.

Personalities

Loudun is the birthplace of:

• Jean Salmon Macrin (1490–1557), Neo-Latin poet
• Théophraste Renaudot (1586–1653), medical practitioner, inventor of French written press, journalist, philanthropist
• Ismaël Bullialdus (1604–1694), astronomer
• Jean-Charles Cornay, martyr.
• Marie Besnard, 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, mayor of Loudun, senator of Vienne, president of the French Senate, Minister of Education, president of the Vienne General Council, fonder of the Futuroscope park of Poitiers
• Nicolas Ghesquière (born 1972), creative director of the French fashion house Balenciaga 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 (18 August 1634), French Catholic priest who was burned at the stake after being convicted of witchcraft.
• André Andrejew (16 March 1967), French-Russian classic film production designer, built decors for movies produced in Germany, France, England and the US.

Twin towns

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso Audun le Tiche, France Shippagan, Canada Leuze, Belgique Burgos, Espagne

See also

• Lugus
• Communes of the Vienne department

References

• INSEE

External links

• http://www.ville-loudun.Fr