Melun (French pronunciation: [məlœ̃] ) 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 41 kilometres (25+1⁄2 miles) 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.
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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.
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:
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.
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
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:
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