Montbrison (; frp, Montbréson) is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

and a

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Counties of Albania, Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several Districts of Albania, district ...

of the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Montbrison was the historical capital of the counts of Forez, and today it is the principal city in the

Forez Forez is a former province of France, corresponding approximately to the central part of the modern Loire ''département'' and a part of the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme ''départements''. The final "z" in Forez () is not pronounced in the Loire ...

. The commune gives its name to the popular blue cheese '' Fourme de Montbrison'', which has been made in the region for centuries. It received

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

status in 1972.

History

The town of Montbrison was founded in the area around the lords' castles in the

region, of which Montbrison would later become the capital. The earliest recorded reference to the town dates to 870CE. The town was fortified following the attacks by the English army at the start of the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...

. During the

Religious Wars A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

, Montbrison was captured and pillaged by the Protestant forces of François de Beaumont in 1562, with the town's garrison thrown from the ramparts onto spikes placed by the attackers. The Convent of the Visitation was founded in 1643 during a period of severe

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

. The town suffered a series of poor harvests as well as an outbreak of the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

between the years 1648–1653. The

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

Convent was founded in 1654, followed by the Hospital to house the poor in 1659. The Ursuline Convent closed in 1851.

Key dates

*1892 - execution of

Ravachol François Claudius Koenigstein, also known as Ravachol, (14 October 1859 – 11 July 1892) was a French anarchist. He was born on 14 October 1859, at Saint-Chamond, Loire and died by being guillotined on 11 July 1892, at Montbrison, Loire, Montb ...

, a noted anarchist *1909 - electrical power reaches the town *1940 - (June) the Forez region is occupied by German troops, with Montbrison falling into the 'free' zone. The forces withdrew at the start of July *1944 - (August) Montbrison liberated *1954 - Water treatment plant built *1968 - ''Jacquou le Croquant'' broadcast on television *1972 - local cheese Fourme de Montbrison receives

status

Population

Twin towns

Montbrison is twinned with: *

Sežana Sežana (; it, Sesana) is a town in the Slovenian Littoral region of Slovenia, near the border with Italy. It is the seat of the Municipality of Sežana. Sežana is located on the Karst Plateau, from Trieste, Italy, and from Ljubljana, the cap ...

, Slovenia *

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese ...

, Germany

Personalities

Christophe Agou Christophe Agou (1969 – September 2015) was a French documentary photographer and street photographer who lived in New York City. His work has been published in books and is held in public collections. He was a member of the In-Public street ph ...

(1969–), photographer *

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

(1925–2016), composer and conductor *

Guillaume Cizeron Guillaume Cizeron (born 12 November 1994) is a French ice dancer. With his partner, Gabriella Papadakis, he is the 2022 Olympic champion, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist, a five-time World champion ( 2015–2016, 2018–2019, 2022), a five-tim ...

(1994–),

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

Three-time world champion (

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

–

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

) and four-time European champion (

–

) * Philippe Delaye (1975–), footballer *

Estienne Du Tronchet Estienne Du Tronchet (1510/15–1578/84) was a letter-writer and translator in Renaissance France. Life Du Tronchet was born in Montbrison (Forez) between 1510 and 1515. Orphaned as a child, he was raised by an uncle, Jean Thevenon, who was a merc ...

(c.1510–c.1580), writer *

Victor de Laprade Pierre Martin Victor Richard de Laprade (13 January 181213 December 1883), known as Victor de Laprade, was a French poet and critic. Biography He was born at Montbrison, Loire, of a modest provincial family. After completing his studies at Lyon, ...

(1812–1882) poet *

Mickey 3D Mickey 3D is a French rock group from Montbrison, Loire; it was founded in 1997 when Mickaël Furnon alias ''Mickey'' and Aurélien Joanin alias ''Jojo'' parted from the local group 3Dk. They have fronted for the group Louise Attaque, which ha ...

, pop group * Sarah Mikovski, singer-songwriter * Marie-Anne Pierette Paulze (1758–1836), wife of Antoine

Lavoisier Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier ( , ; ; 26 August 17438 May 1794),
CNRS (

Michael Portier Bishop Michael Portier (September 7, 1795, Montbrison, France – May 14, 1859, Mobile, Alabama) was a Roman Catholic bishop in the United States and the first Bishop of Mobile. He immigrated to the US in 1817, being ordained there. He lat ...

, Bishop of Mobile, Alabama *

, anarchist *

Muriel Robin Muriel Robin (born 2 August 1955) is a French actress and comedian. She won an International Emmy Award for Best Actress in 2007 and received a nomination for a César Award in 2001 and six nominations for a Molière Award. Early years Muriel ...

(1955), actress * Yves Triantafyllos (1948–), footballer

References

External links

Official town site
Communes of Loire (department) Subprefectures in France Segusiavi Forez {{Loire-geo-stub