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 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.Gallic War vii. 58, 60. 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.Meledunum appears in the Antonine Itinerary almost halfway between Lutetia (Paris) and Condate (Rennes) ('Meledunum"). 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.
The Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1848.
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:Adolphe Duchalais, "Charte inedité de l’an 1138, relative à l’histoire des viscomtes de Melun" (Bibliothèque de l’école des chartes vol. 6 no. 6, 1845).
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: Jacques Amyot (1513–1593), writer Chimène Badi (1982–), singer Jérémie Bela (born 1993), footballer Samir Beloufa (1979–), professional footballer Willy Boly (born 1991), footballer Pierre Certon (c.1510-1520-1572), composer of Renaissance music (probably born in Melun) Morgan Ciprès (born 1991), pair skater Raphaël Desroses (born 1980), basketball player Jean-Baptiste Djebbari (born 1982), politician and former *Minister of Transport Khamis Digol (born 1998), footballer Stéphane Dondon (born 1977), basketball player Bertrand Grospellier (born 1981), poker player Grégory Guilvert (born 1982), racing driver Judah of Melun (13th century), French *rabbi and *tosafist Yvan Kibundu (born 1989), footballer Godson Kyeremeh (born 2000), footballer Edmé-François Mallet (1713–1755), theologian and *encyclopédiste Steven Mouyokolo (born 1987), footballer Granddi Ngoyi (born 1988), footballer Flavien Prat (born 1992), jockey Yrétha Silété (born 1994), figure skater Oumar Solet (born 2000), footballer William the Carpenter, viscount of Melun in the 11th century Werenoi (1994–2025), rapper of Cameroonian descent
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 George-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, UK Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany
See also Communes of the Seine-et-Marne department
References
Sources Initial text from the "Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2001" Compiled by John R. Carpenter. The Viscounts and Counts of Melun are listed in Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln, Neue Folge, Volume VII, Tafels 55 & 56.
External links
Tourist office website 1999 Land Use, from IAURIF (Institute for Urban Planning and Development of the Paris-Île-de-France région)