Les Ponts-de-Cé () is a commune in the

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-et ...

department in western

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 ...

. Les Ponts-de-Cé is a suburb of

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

History

In September 1432, during 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 ...

, the

routiers Routiers () were mercenary soldiers of the Middle Ages. Their particular distinction from other paid soldiers of the time was that they were organised into bands (''rutta'' or ''routes''). The term is first used in the 12th century but is parti ...

Rodrigo de Villandrando Rodrigo de Villandrando (died c. 1457) was a Spanish routier from Castile and mercenary military leader in Gascony during the final phase of the Hundred Years' War. He was famous for his pillaging and was consequently known as the Emperor of Pi ...

, in the pay of Georges de la Trémoille, held Les Ponts-de-Cé against the assaults of Jean de Bueil. On 7 August 1620, the Battle of Ponts-de-Cé definitively ended a civil war, waged by

Marie de Médicis Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...

. Her troops were defeated by her son, the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crow ...

. This short rebellion, subdued easily by the King's troops, is known in France under the name of " Drôlerie des Ponts-de-Cé" (Les Ponts-de-Cé's joke).

Names

In the past, Les Ponts-de-Cé had known many different names, which are : * Castro-Seio (889) * Pon Sigei (1009) * In Saiaco (1036) * Saiacus (1090) * Seium (1104) * Pons Sagei (1115) * Pons Sagii (1148) * Pons Saeii (1291) * Le Pont de Sae (1293) * Les Ponts de See (1529) Indeed, the city has the characteristic of being spanned by many bridges which connect the various zones and roads of the city between them. This is also why the

meaning could be translated by "Cé's bridges".

History

Names

Population

See also