fjt_01411 - ORLÉANAIS - Nobility and towns Pierre-Étienne Hudault, maire d’Orléans 1742

ORLÉANAIS - Gentry and towns

Founded on the ruins of the Gallic city of Cenabum, the city takes the name of the emperor Aurélien, Aurelianum. The city was a bishopric from the 4th century then capital of a Frankish kingdom in the 6th century. Forming a county under the Carolingians, the Orleans region then became the territorial base of Capetian power. Endowed with a university since 1309, it was then besieged by the English but delivered by Joan of Arc in May 1429. The city then entered history several times during the Wars of Religion, the Fronde or in 1870 when it is occupied by von der Tann.