Vendôme is a commune of north-central France. It is 22 miles (35 kilometers) northwest of the city of Blois by rail, lies on the Loir River, which here divides into numerous arms intersecting the town. Population (1999): 17,707. The commune is an administrative division of France. ... Blois is a city in France, the préfecture (capital) city of the Loir_et_Cher département, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours. ... Loir is a river in western France. ...

Administration

Vendôme is the capital of the arrondissement of Vendôme in the Loir-et-Cher département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. It has a tribunal of first instance. Loir-et-Cher is a département in north-central France named after its two principal rivers. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... Subprefecture is an administrative level that is below prefecture or province. ...

Sights

On the south it is overlooked by an eminence on which stand ruins of the castle of the counts of Vendôme. The abbey-church of the Trinity has a fine facade in the florid Gothic style. The belfry, surmounted by a stone steeple, stands isolated in front of the church; it belongs to the middle of the 12th century, and is one of the finest examples of Transition architecture. Abbey buildings of various periods lie round the church. The church of La Madeleine (15th century) is surmounted by a stone spire, an indifferent imitation of that of the abbey. The fine tower of St. Martin (16th century) represents the vanished church of that name. Gothic architecture characterizes any of the styles of European architecture, particularly associated with cathedrals and other churches, in use throughout Europe during the high and late medieval period, from the 12th century onwards. ... This page is about bell towers. ... In telecommunication, a transition is the change from one signal state to another signal state. ...

The town hall occupies the old gate of St. George; its river front is composed of two large crenelated and machicolated towers, connected by a pavilion. The ancient hospital of St Jacques afterwards became a college of the Oratorians, and now serves as a lycée for boys; the charming chapel, in the most florid Gothic style, is preserved. The town has a well-known archaeological and scientific society, and possesses a library with more than three hundred manuscripts, and a museum, mostly archaeological, in front of which stands a statue of the poet Pierre de Ronsard. There is also a statue of Marshal Rochambeau, born at Vendôme in 1725. Some interesting houses of the 15th and 16th centuries survive. The Oratory of Saint Philip Neri is a congregation of Roman Catholic priests and lay-brothers who live together in community bound together by no formal vows but only with the bond of charity. ... Pierre de Ronsard, commonly referred to as Ronsard (September 11, 1524 - December, 1585), was a French poet and prince of poets (as his own generation in France called him). ... Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (July 1, 1725 - May 10, 1807), French soldier, was born at Vendôme (Loir-et-Cher). ...

History

Vendôme (in Latin: Vindocinum) appears originally to have been a Gallic oppidum, replaced later by a feudal castle, around which the modern town arose. Christianity was introduced by Saint Bienheure in the 5th century, and the important abbey of the Trinity (which claimed to possess a tear shed by Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus) was founded about 1030. When the reign of the Capetian dynasty began, Vendôme formed the chief town of a countship belonging to Bouchard, called "the Venerable", who died in the monastery of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in 1007. Latin is the language that was originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Gallia (in English Gaul) is the Latin name for the region of western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... To the Romans, an oppidum was the main settlement in any administrative area. ... The neutrality and accuracy of this article are disputed. ... Lazarus raised from the grave by Jesus, painting by the Swedish artist Karl Isakson (c. ... The direct Capetian Dynasty followed the Carolingian rulers of France from 987 to 1328. ...

The succession passed by various marriages to the houses of Nevers, Preuilly and Montoire. Bouchard VII, count of Vendôme and Castres (died circa 1374), left as his heiress his sister Catherine, the wife of John of Bourbon, count of la Marche. The countship of Vendôme was raised to the rank of a duchy and a peerage of France for Charles of Bourbon (1515); his son Anthony of Bourbon, king of Navarre, was the father of Henry IV, who gave the duchy of Vendôme in 1598 to his illegitimate son Caesar (1594 - 1665). Caesar, duke of Vendôme, took part in the disturbances which went on in France under the government of Cardinal Richelieu and of Cardinal Mazarin, and had as his sons Louis, duke of Vendôme (1612-1669), who married a niece of Mazarin, and Francis, duke of Beaufort. The last of his family in the male line was Louis XIV's famous general, Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme (1645-1712). This article or section should include material from France: Wars of Religion _ Bourbon Dynasty The House of Bourbon dates from at least the beginning of the 13th century, when the estate of Bourbon was ruled by a Lord, vassal of France. ... The status of Peer of France was held by the greatest and highest-ranking of the French nobility. ... Antoine de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme (22 April 1518 _ 17 November 1562). ... This is a list of the kings of Navarre. ... Henry IV (French: Henri IV) (December 13, 1553 – May 14, 1610), called the Great (French: le Grand), was the first of the Bourbon kings of France, reigning from 1589 until 1610. ... Cardinal Richelieu was the French chief minister from 1624 until his death. ... Cardinal Jules Mazarin, French diplomat and statesman Jules Mazarin, born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino; but best known as Cardinal Mazarin (July 14, 1602 – March 9, 1661) served as the France from 1642, until his death. ... François de Vendôme, the Duc de Beaufort (January 16, 1616 - 25 June 1669) was the illegitimate grandson of Henri IV of France. ... Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638 – September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ... Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme (1654 - June 11, 1712), marshal of France, was the son of Louis, 2nd duke of Vendôme, and the great-grandson of Henry IV and Gabrielle dEstrée. ...

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica ( 1911) in many ways represents the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ...