France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
A mere village in the beginning of the 19th century, its population rapidly increased from 1850 until 1962, when it had 29,467 inhabitants. Since then its population declined by about 30%.
Its vicinity was the scene of the decisive victory gained in 1712 by
Marshal Villars
Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Prince de Martigues, Marquis then Duc de Villars, Vicomte de Melun (, 8 May 1653 – 17 June 1734) was a French military commander and an illustrious general of Louis XIV of France. He was one of only six Marshal ...
over the allies commanded by
Prince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy–Carignano, (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736) better known as Prince Eugene, was a Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...
; and the battlefield is marked by a monolithic monument inscribed with the verses of
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
: "'" ("See in Denain bold Villars/Fighting the eagle of the Caesars").
Denain was an important centre in the industrial revolution, first for coal-mining from 1720, and steelworks from around 1839. The closure of the large Usinor steelworks at Denain was announced in 1978, and the works finally closed in 1988.
Émile Zola
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...
is thought to have conducted research into the working of the mine and mining communities by visiting Denain before writing Germinal. A primary school, a park and a road in Denain bear the name of the novelist.
Former mayor Patrick Roy was also a deputy and became famous for the support for heavy metal music he expressed at the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
on various occasions.
Population
Heraldry
The arms of Denain are
blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visua ...
Battle of Denain
The Battle of Denain was fought on 24 July 1712 as part of the War of the Spanish Succession. It resulted in a French victory, under Marshal Villars, against Dutch and Austrian forces, under Prince Eugene of Savoy.
It was the war's last batt ...