Limoges

views updated

Limoges City on the River Vienne; capital of Haute-Vienne department, w central France. A Roman settlement, it was later a tribal capital of the Gauls. In 1199, Richard I (the Lionheart) died in battle on the city outskirts. In 1370, Edward the Black Prince sacked the city. Its enamel industry culminated in the 16th-century craftsmanship of Léonard Limousin, but was devastated by the Thirty Years' War. In the late 18th century, porcelain manufacturing flourished once more. Since 1945, the exploitation of its uranium mines encouraged economic expansion. Pop. (1999) 137,502.

More From encyclopedia.com