Orléans

views updated

Orléans City on the River Loire, n central France; capital of Loiret department. Besieged by the English during the Hundred Years' War, it was relieved by Joan of Arc in 1429. During the 16th-century Wars of Religion, the city was besieged by Catholic forces and held by them until the Edict of Nantes. Industries: tobacco, textiles, fruit and vegetables, chemicals. Pop. (1999) 113,126.

More From encyclopedia.com