Coordinates: 48°32′26″N, 2°39′36″E

Commune of Melun
Location
Location (in red) within Paris inner and outer suburbs
Coordinates	48°32′26″N, 2°39′36″E
Administration
Country	France
Region	Île-de-France
Department	Seine-et-Marne (préfecture)
Arrondissement	Melun
Canton	Chief town of 2 cantons: Melun-Nord, Melun-Sud
Intercommunality	Communauté d'agglomération Melun-Val de Seine
Mayor	Gérard Millet (UMP) (2002-2008)
Statistics
Altitude	37 m–102 m (avg. 54 m)
Land area¹	8.04 km²
Population² (Jan. 1, 2005 estimate) (March 8, 1999 census)	37,800 35,695
- Density	4,701/km² (2005)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	77288/ 77000
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Melun is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 41.4 km. (25.7 miles) from the center of Paris. Melun is the préfecture (capital) of the Seine-et-Marne département, as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Melun.

Its inhabitants are called Melunais.

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

The Normans sacked it in 845. The castle of Melun became a royal residence of the Capetian kings. Hugh 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, and the king took it back for the viscount in 999. Le Chatelain and his wife, who had sold the city, were hanged. Robert died there in July 1031.

Melun, ancient family (or household)

1. The first of this household is Josselin I. by name, viscount of Melun, who reigned among the great lords in the court of kings Hugh Capet, and Robert. In 998, he gave the village of Noisy-le-Sec to the monastery of Saint-Maur-des-Fossez, where he took upon himself the monk's habit, and where he died March 19, (no year given: probably 998/999).

On February 26, 999 Josselin I De Melun's grandson Manasses supported by Eudes, Count of Chartres and the mayor of Melun took control claiming the important riverside castle and village. They did not hold it long. King Robert, along with Bouchard for Herve, laid siege in 999 and forced those fighting against hereditary rights to pay with their lives. The mayor and Eudes were hanged with many others, but there is no further mention of Manasses.

2. Herve, viscount of Melun. He was still living in 1030 by report of the author of Miracles of Saint Liesne, and who was the father of Ursion, who follows.

3. Ursion I. He had Guillaume I. who follows; and Manasses who took the side of Le Chatelain of Cambray against the bishop of this city.

4. Guillaume I., of name, Viscount of Melun. "He was named "Carpenter" because no weapon (opponents weapons that is) could be found that could resist the power of his strikes. The heaviness of his (weapons) resulted in him being feared in combats. Carpenters must have been among the most well built people at the time ..."

This is the report of Pierre, monk of S. Remi of Reims. This historian, who knew Guillaume count of Melun, assures in the fourth book of his history of the conquest of the Holy Land, speaking of the retreat of the Christian army after the taking of Antioch in 1098, that this lord was of royal lineage, and was cousin of Hugues of France, count of Vermandois, brother of king Phillipe I. In 1084, this king confirmed the privileges accorded by his predecessors to the abbey of Holy Father of Melun, and to the prayer of the viscount. The name of his wife and the time of his death are not well known. He was the father of Ursion II De Melun.

Robert, monk of Saint Remy de Reims, in his history of the Holy Land, Book 4, wrote that the house of Melun came from royal origins^[3]. He gathered^[4] "titles and monuments" of that great house, intended for a genealogical history more complete than could be given here. The first of that ancient house, whose memory is preserved to the present day, is…"

Transport

Melun is served by Melun station, which is an interchange station on Paris RER line D, on the Transilien Paris – Lyon suburban rail line, and on several national rail lines.

Sights

The nearby chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte is considered a smaller predecessor of Palace of Versailles.

Miscellaneous

The officers' school of the French Gendarmerie is located in Melun.

Births

Melun was the birthplace of:

• Pierre Certon (c.1510-1520-1572), composer of the Renaissance (probably born in Melun)
• Jacques Amyot (1513-1593), writer
• Chimène Badi (1982-), singer

Twin towns

Melun is twinned with:

• Ouidah, Benin
• Spelthorne, England
• Crema, Italy
• Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany

Notes and references

1. ^ Gallic War vii. 58, 60.
2. ^ Meledunum appears in the Antonine Itinerary almost halfway between Lutetia (Paris) and Condate (Rennes) ('Meledunum").
3. ^ See du Bouchet, History of Courtenay, pp 194ff.
4. ^ Cabinee de M. de Clairembault.

• Initial text from the "Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2001" Compiled by John R. Carpenter.
• The Viscounts and Counts of Melun are listed in ES (Detlev Schwennicke, "Europäische Stammtafeln," Neue Folge) Volume VII, Tafels 55 & 56.

See also

• Communes of the Seine-et-Marne department

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Melun

• City council website (in French)
• Tourist office website (in French)
• 1999 Land Use, from IAURIF (Institute for Urban Planning and Development of the Paris-Île-de-France région (English)
• French Ministry of Culture list for Melun (French)
• Map of Melun on Michelin (English)

Préfectures of Départements of France

Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain) • Laon (Aisne) • Moulins (Allier) • Digne-les-Bains (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) • Gap (Hautes-Alpes) • Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) • Privas (Ardèche) • Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes) • Foix (Ariège) • Troyes (Aube) • Carcassonne (Aude) • Rodez (Aveyron) • Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) • Caen (Calvados) • Aurillac (Cantal) • Angoulême (Charente) • La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) • Bourges (Cher) • Tulle (Corrèze) • Ajaccio (Corse-du-Sud) • Bastia (Haute-Corse) • Dijon (Côte-d'Or) • Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor) • Guéret (Creuse) • Périgueux (Dordogne) • Besançon (Doubs) • Valence (Drôme) • Évreux (Eure) • Chartres (Eure-et-Loir) • Quimper (Finistère) • Nîmes (Gard) • Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) • Auch (Gers) • Bordeaux (Gironde) • Montpellier (Hérault) • Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) • Châteauroux (Indre) • Tours (Indre-et-Loire) • Grenoble (Isère) • Lons-le-Saunier (Jura) • Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) • Blois (Loir-et-Cher) • Saint-Étienne (Loire) • Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) • Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) - Orléans (Loiret) • Cahors (Lot) • Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) • Mende (Lozère) • Angers (Maine-et-Loire) • Saint-Lô (Manche) • Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne) • Chaumont (Haute-Marne) - Laval (Mayenne) • Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) • Bar-le-Duc (Meuse) • Vannes (Morbihan) • Metz (Moselle) • Nevers (Nièvre) • Lille (Nord) • Beauvais (Oise) • Alençon (Orne) • Calais (Pas-de-Calais) • Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) • Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) • Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) • Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) • Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) • Colmar (Haut-Rhin) • Lyon (Rhône) • Vesoul (Haute-Saône) • Mâcon (Saône-et-Loire) • Le Mans (Sarthe) • Chambéry (Savoie) • Annecy (Haute-Savoie) • Paris (Paris) • Rouen (Seine-Maritime) • Melun (Seine-et-Marne) • Versailles (Yvelines) • Niort (Deux-Sèvres) • Amiens (Somme) • Albi (Tarn) • Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne) • Toulon (Var) • Avignon (Vaucluse) • La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée) • Poitiers (Vienne) • Limoges (Haute-Vienne) • Épinal (Vosges) • Auxerre (Yonne) • Belfort (Territoire de Belfort) - Évry (Essonne) - Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) • Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) • Créteil (Val-de-Marne) • Cergy (Val-d'Oise) Overseas departments Cayenne (French Guiana) • Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe) • Fort-de-France (Martinique) • Saint-Denis (Réunion)

Communes in the aire urbaine ("metropolitan area") of Paris
Population over 2 million	City of Paris
Population over 75,000	Argenteuil · Asnières-sur-Seine · Aulnay-sous-Bois · Boulogne-Billancourt · Champigny-sur-Marne · Colombes · Courbevoie · Créteil · Montreuil · Nanterre · Rueil-Malmaison · Saint-Denis · Saint-Maur-des-Fossés · Versailles · Vitry-sur-Seine
Population over 50,000	Antony · Aubervilliers · Le Blanc-Mesnil · Bondy · Cergy · Clichy · Drancy · Évry · Fontenay-sous-Bois · Issy-les-Moulineaux · Ivry-sur-Seine · Levallois-Perret · Maisons-Alfort · Neuilly-sur-Seine · Noisy-le-Grand · Pantin · Sarcelles · Sartrouville · Sevran · Villejuif
Population over 25,000	Alfortville · Athis-Mons · Bagneux · Bagnolet · Bezons · Bobigny · Bois-Colombes · Brunoy · Cachan · Champs-sur-Marne · Charenton-le-Pont · Châtenay-Malabry · Châtillon · Chatou · Chelles · Le Chesnay · Choisy-le-Roi · Clamart · Clichy-sous-Bois · Conflans-Sainte-Honorine · Corbeil-Essonnes · La Courneuve · Draveil · Élancourt · Épinay-sur-Seine · Ermont · Franconville · Fresnes · Gagny · La Garenne-Colombes  · Garges-lès-Gonesse · Gennevilliers · Gonesse · Goussainville · Grigny · Guyancourt · L'Haÿ-les-Roses · Herblay · Houilles · Le Kremlin-Bicêtre · Livry-Gargan · Malakoff · Mantes-la-Jolie · Massy · Meaux · Melun · Meudon · Montfermeil · Montigny-le-Bretonneux · Montrouge · Les Mureaux · Neuilly-sur-Marne · Nogent-sur-Marne · Noisy-le-Sec · Palaiseau · Le Perreux-sur-Marne · Pierrefitte-sur-Seine · Plaisir · Poissy · Pontault-Combault · Pontoise · Puteaux · Ris-Orangis · Rosny-sous-Bois · Saint-Cloud · Saint-Germain-en-Laye · Saint-Ouen · Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois · Sannois · Savigny-sur-Orge · Savigny-le-Temple · Stains · Sucy-en-Brie · Suresnes · Taverny · Thiais · Trappes · Tremblay-en-France · Vanves · Vigneux-sur-Seine · Villemomble · Villeneuve-Saint-Georges · Villepinte · Villiers-le-Bel · Villiers-sur-Marne · Vincennes · Viry-Châtillon · Yerres
Population under 25,000	1,460 other communes

Donate to Wikimedia