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Sedan, Ardennes

Sedan
Sedan in mid-September 2007
Sedan in mid-September 2007
Coat of arms of Sedan
Coat of arms
Sedan is located in France
Sedan
Sedan
Coordinates: 49°42′09″N 4°56′28″E / 49.70250°N 4.9411°E / 49.70250; 4.9411Coordinates: 49°42′09″N 4°56′28″E / 49.70250°N 4.9411°E / 49.70250; 4.9411
Country France
Region Grand Est
Department Ardennes
Arrondissement Sedan
Canton 3 cantons
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Didier Herbillon
Area1 16.28 km2 (6.29 sq mi)
Population (2008)2 19,219
 • Density 1,200/km2 (3,100/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 08409 / 08200
Elevation 149–301 m (489–988 ft)
(avg. 157 m or 515 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Sedan (French pronunciation: ​[sə.dɑ̃]) is a commune in France, a sub-prefecture of the Ardennes department in northern France.

The historic centre is built on a peninsula formed by an arc of the Meuse River. It is around 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the Belgian border.

Sedan was founded in 1424. In the sixteenth century Sédan was an asylum for Protestant refugees from the Wars of Religion.

Until 1651, the Principality of Sedan belonged to the La Tour d'Auvergne family. It was at that time a sovereign principality. Their most illustrious representative, Marshal Turenne, was born at Sedan on 11 September 1611. With help from the Holy Roman Empire, it managed to defeat France at the Battle of La Marfée, though immediately afterwards it was besieged and its prince, Frédéric Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, duc de Bouillon, submitted to France. Only a year after that submission, it was annexed to France in return for sparing his life after he became involved in a conspiracy against France.

This town was also the birthplace of Jacques MacDonald, a general who served in the Napoleonic Wars.


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