Sedan () is a commune in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

department and

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administr ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

of north-eastern

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 ...

. It is also the

chef-lieu An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

(administrative centre) of the

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...

of the same name.

Location

The town is situated about 200 km from Paris, 85 km north-east of

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

, and 10 km south of the border with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. The historic centre occupies a peninsula formed by a bend in the river

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

Sedan station Sedan station is a Train station, railway station serving the town of Sedan, Ardennes, Sedan, Ardennes (department), Ardennes department, northeastern France. It is situated on the Mohon–Thionville railway. The station is served by regional trains ...

has rail connections to Charleville-Mézières, Reims and Longwy. The

A34 autoroute Autoroute A34 is a toll free motorway in northeastern France, approximately long. It is an upgrade of the N43 and N51. It links Sedan with Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French departme ...

links Sedan with Charleville-Mézières and Reims.

History

Sedan was founded in 1424. In the 16th century Sédan was an asylum for

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

refugees from the

Wars of Religion 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 ...

. Until 1651, the Principality of Sedan belonged to the La Tour d'Auvergne family. It was at that time a sovereign principality. Their representative, Marshal Turenne, was born at Sedan on 11 September 1611. With help from the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, it defeated France at the

Battle of La Marfée The Battle of La Marfée, also known as the Battle of Sedan, took place on 6 July 1641, during the 1635 to 1659 Franco-Spanish War, a connected conflict of the Thirty Years War. It was fought near Sedan, France, on 6 July 1641, between a Frenc ...

. Immediately after its victory, Sedan was besieged and its prince, Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, duc de Bouillon, submitted to France. It was annexed to France in return for sparing the prince's life after he became involved in a conspiracy against France. Sedan was the birthplace of

Jacques MacDonald Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, a general who served in the Napoleonic Wars. During the Franco-Prussian War, on 2 September 1870, French emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

was taken prisoner with 100,000 of his soldiers at the First Battle of Sedan. Due to this victory, which made the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...

possible, 2 September was declared Sedan Day ('' Sedantag'') and a national German holiday in 1871. It remained a holiday until 1919. Sedan was occupied by the Germans for four years during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. On 13 November 1917, the German

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the w ...

paraded the 13th Infantry Division over the course of " d'Alsace-Lorraine". From May 12 to 15, 1940, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, German troops

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

neutral

and crossed the river

by winning the Second Battle of Sedan. The battle allowed them to win the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wor ...

by bypassing the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the Minister of the Armed Forces (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, F ...

, which was the French fortification system, and entrapping the Allied Forces that were advancing east into Belgium, as part of the Allied Dyle Plan strategy.

Points of interest

Castle

Today Sedan is known for its

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, which is claimed to be the largest fortified medieval castle in Europe with a total area of on seven levels. Construction started in 1424 and the castle's defences were constantly improved over the ages. It is the only remaining part of the once enormous fortifications in and around the town. File:Sedan 4juni2006 064.jpg, Sedan Castle File:Sedan Castle 20060212 panorama.jpg, Central courtyard of the castle File:Mémorial 1917-18 450.JPG, War memorial at the castle's Turenne gate

Other points of interest

* Jardin botanique de Sedan * in May

Population

Economy

A centre of cloth production, begun under the patronage of

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

, supported the town until the late nineteenth century.

Sport

CS Sedan Ardennes Club Sportif Sedan Ardennes, commonly referred to as CS Sedan or simply Sedan (), is a French association football club based in Sedan. The club was formed in 1919 and plays its home matches at the Stade Louis Dugauguez located within the ci ...

is based in the town.

Notable people

Charles Baudin Charles Baudin (21 July 1784 – 7 June 1854), was a French admiral, whose naval service extended from the First Empire through the early days of the Second Empire. Biography From 1800, Baudin served as a midshipman on ''Géographe'' and too ...

(1792–1854),

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

Frédéric Brillant Frédéric Brillant (born 26 June 1985) is a French former footballer who is currently an assistant coach for D.C. United in Major League Soccer. He has played most of his career with clubs in Belgium and in the United States. Career Belgiu ...

(born 1985), professional football player * Élise Bussaglia (born 1985), professional football player * Pierre Cartier (born 1932), mathematician * Jean de Collas (1678–1753), architect *

Yves Congar Yves Marie-Joseph Congar (; 13 April 1904 – 22 June 1995) was a French Dominican friar, priest, and theologian. He is perhaps best known for his influence at the Second Vatican Council and for reviving theological interest in the Holy Spiri ...

(1904–1995), French Dominican theologian and cardinal * Michel Fourniret (1942–2021), serial killer * Frederick V (1596-1632), Count Palatine and Elector of the Palatinate from 1610 to 1623 and King of Bohemia (as ''Frederick I'') from 1619 to 1620 * René Guyon (1876–1963), jurist * Benjamin Lemaire (born 1985), writer and film director * Marie-Jeanne Larrivée Lemière (1733 - 1786),

dramatic soprano A dramatic soprano is a type of operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually (but not always) mean less agility than lighter voices but a ...

* Étienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald (1765–1840), Marshal of France *

Yannick Noah Yannick Noah (; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer. Noah won the French Open in 1983, and is currently the captain of both France's Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup teams. During his nearly two-decade ...

(born 1960), former professional

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

player *

Vicomte de Turenne Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne , was a French general and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the ...

(1611–1675),

Marshal of France Marshal of France (french: Maréchal de France, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished ( ...

Twin towns

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, since 1991 *🇺🇸

Sedan, Kansas Sedan is the county seat of and the largest city in Chautauqua County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,000. History Sedan was founded in 1871. The city was named in commemoration of the 1870 Ba ...

Notes

External links

Sedan city council website

Article on the Battle of Sedan at 'Battlefields Europe'
{{Authority control 1424 establishments in Europe 1420s establishments in France Communes of Ardennes (department) Populated places established in the 1420s Subprefectures in France Champagne (province) Ardennes communes articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Vauban fortifications in France