Vendôme

Sister cities

• Gevelsberg
• Hampton

History

Vendôme (in ) appears originally to have been a Gallic , replaced later by a feudal castle, around which the modern town arose. Christianity was introduced by 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 House of Capet began, Vendôme formed the chief town of a county belonging to Bouchard, called "the Venerable", who died in the monastery of in 1007. The succession passed by various marriages to the houses of , and . Bouchard VI, Count of Vendôme and Castres (died ), left as his heiress his sister Catherine, the wife of John of Bourbon, count of La Marche. The county of Vendôme was raised to the rank of a duchy and a peerage of France for Charles of Bourbon (1515); his son , king of Navarre, was the father of Henry IV, who gave the duchy of Vendôme in 1598 to his illegitimate son César de Bourbon (1594–1665). , Duke of Vendôme, took part in the disturbances which went on in France under the government of and of ; he was the father of Louis, Duke of Vendôme, who married a niece of Mazarin, and . The last of his family in the male line was Louis XIV's famous general, (1645–1712). , King of Brittany, died undefeated in Vendôme in 851, after conquering the counties of and . The , leader of 6,000 French troops in the American Revolutionary War, was born in Vendôme. Place Vendôme in Paris had been the site of the , a mansion which belonged to , the illegitimate son of Henry IV and his mistress .

Geography

Vendôme is located northwest of the city of Blois and 40 minutes from Paris by TGV train (Vendôme-Villiers-sur-Loir TGV station). The town lies on the river Loir, which here divides into numerous arms intersecting the town.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  557
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  526
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  477
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  468
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  444
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  399
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  359
• Eurasian Blackcap

  Sylvia atricapilla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  264

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2016-05-02
  6 km SE of L'Île-Bouchard, France
• M 2.5 — 2008-09-18
  1 km W of Ambillou, France
• M 3 — 2008-06-07
  3 km ENE of Cangey, France
• M 3 — 2007-12-17
  3 km W of Chaumont-sur-Loire, France
• M 3.4 — 2007-12-17
  3 km W of Chaumont-sur-Loire, France
• M 3.4 — 2007-08-30
  9 km NNE of Châtillon-sur-Indre, France