Arnay-le-Duc

Geography

Climate

History

• Arnay-le-Duc was the location of the worship of the Celtic god Abilus, who was associated with the goddess Damona.
• Battle of Arnay-le-Duc' on 27 June 1570: During the French Wars of Religion the Catholic armies of Artus de Cossé-Brissac were beaten by the Protestant armies of Gaspard II de Coligny. This was the first military engagement of Henry of Navarre, the future Henri IV. Jean de La Taille was wounded.
• The arrest of the fleeing aunts of King Louis XVI occurred here in February to March 1791.
• During the revolutionary period of the National Convention, the town took the name of Arnay-sur-Arroux. It was the capital of the district of Arnay-sur-Arroux from 1790 to 1795.
• On 3 December 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, a military engagement took place here.

Administration

Twinning

• Wörrstadt.

Demography

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

• A House at Place Carnot
• The Maugars House at Rue du Collège
• A House at 24 Rue Saint-Honoré
• The Hospice of Saint-Pierre at Rue Saint-Jacques. The Hospice contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
• *A Soup Turreen
• *Many Plates and Dishes
• *A Mortar bowl
• *7 Pharmacy pots
• *A Sideboard
• *A Painting: Virgin and child
• The Hospital of Saint-Pierre at Rue Saint-Jacques The Hospital contains a very large number of items that are registered as historical objects.
• The Tower of Motte-Forte
• The Château of the Princes de Condé

Religious heritage

• The former Capuchin Convent The Convent, which is now the local hospital, contains four Paintings which are registered as historical objects.
• The former Priory of the Order of Saint-Benedict is outside the walls in the Saint-Jacques district.
• The Church of Saint-Laurent was originally created as a fortified chapel for the Château de la Motte-Forte. In 1092 the chapel was donated to the town by the nobleman Gérard d'Arnay and from that time on served as the town's church. The church has particularly attractive stained glass windows. The church as it is known today was created during the 15th and 16th century. The loft and steeple were added during the 18th century. The Church contains many items that are registered as historical objects:
• *Statues
• *A Group Sculpture: Virgin of Pity
• *6 Candlesticks and an Altar Cross
• *Paintings
• *The War Memorial
• *Monumental Paintings
• *The Furniture in the Church
• The Convent of the Ursulines of Arnay-le-Duc was sold as national property on 7 December 1793 and is currently the Town Hall.

Flowery Commune

Notable people linked to the commune

• Bonaventure des Périers, a French storyteller, may have been born in 1510 in Arnay-le-Duc and died there in 1543.
• Pierrette-Claudine Quarré d'Aligny de Jully, a nun in the convent of the Ursulines.
• Louise Thérèze Quarré d'Aligny de Jully, a nun in the convent of the Ursulines, sister of Pierette-Claudine.
• Jean Baptiste Fondard, born in Arnay-le-Duc on 31 October 1733 who, after a long career in the royal army, was elected on 3 September 1791 to be Lieutenant Colonel 2nd in command of the 2nd battalion of volunteers Côte-d'Or and died 11 June 1792 in the Battle of La Glisuelle.
• Charles Théveneau de Morande, pamphleteer, spy, controversial French journalist, born 9 November 1741 in Arnay-le-Duc and died there in 1805.
• General Baron Claude Testot-Ferry, veteran of the republican, Imperial, and Royal armies, Commander of the Legion of Honour, born in Arnay-le-Duc on 20 May 1773 and died in Châtillon-sur-Seine on 25 August 1856. A commemorative plaque was unveiled on 16 September 2007 at his birthplace at a meeting organized in his memory by the town and the Napoleonic Remembrance chaired by Alain Pigeard.
• François Auguste Dubois, born in Arnay-le-Duc in 1814 and died in Paris in 1888, MP for Côte-d'Or between 1871 and 1888.
• Claude Guyot, born at Chassenay on 28 February 1890, his parents were farmers. He followed a sound education that made him a Bachelor of Arts and Associate of Grammar. A teacher of Latin and Greek at a high school in Dijon, he was promoted to be an Officer of the Legion of Honour for National Education. Married to Jeanne Vollot, daughter of a former mayor of Arnay-le-Duc, he had another link with the commune: his paternal grandfather was Republican mayor of Maligny. At its meeting of 27 December 1926, the municipal council of the city of Arnay-le-Duc elected Claude Guyot as Mayor and he remained until his death on 30 April 1965. Mobilized in 1939 then demobilised in 1940, he was dismissed in 1942 and the city council of Arnay-le-Duc was dissolved by ministerial order published in the Official Journal dated 8 March 1942. On 17 September 1944, Claude Guyot recovered his seat as mayor of Arnay-le-Duc and reappeared in the joy of liberation. During his absence Claude Guyot resisted the call from General de Gaulle and created, in November 1943, the first Departmental Committee for the Liberation of Côte d'Or which at Liberation earned him the Presidency of the Regional Committee and, in 1947, the Medal of the Resistance. A historian, he has published several books.
• Denis Barberet, physician, scientist.
• Jules Poillot, MP under the French Third Republic.
• Pierre Meunier, deputy mayor of the commune, born in Dijon on 15 August 1908, made a career in public finance and became financial controller of the Ministries of Public Health and of Labour. He made the acquaintance of Jean Moulin in the cabinet of Pierre Cot, the Air Minister in 1936. On 27 May 1943 he was appointed Secretary General of the National Council of the Resistance chaired by Jean Moulin. After the arrest of Jean Moulin he continued the clandestine struggle alongside Georges Bidault who chaired the CNR. In 1945-46 Pierre Meunier Chief of Staff for Maurice Thorez, Minister of State in charge of public functions. In this capacity he developed the status of civil servants. Pierre Meunier filled many elective mandates: Member of the Consultative Assembly, he was elected General Counsel for Arnay-le-Duc in 1945, MP for Côte-d'Or from 1946 to 1958, vice-president of the National Assembly, regional adviser on Burgundy from 1976 to 1979. He was mayor of Arnay-le-Duc from 1971 to 1983.
• Jean Nasica, born in Prato in Corsica, the son of a soldier. He became a doctor and arrived by mistake in Arnay-le-Duc, where he settled as a general practitioner. In 1939 war broke out but Nasica, nicknamed "The Doc", continued to be the "doctor of the poor" but he incited hatred towards the German invaders. Later the Germans and Vichy Regime became interested in him and he participated in the creation of the maquis Rene Laforge. He eventually died during a shootout between resistance and German soldiers. Many monuments are dedicated to him. In 2008, a fictional documentary was made. It was the culmination of two years of work between students of the Pierre Meunier school and the Claude Guyot College.
• Albert Albrier,, writer.
• Tristan Maya,, writer, poet, literary critic, novelist, member of the Academy of Morvan.
• François Deroye, aviator
• Paul Lacoste, surgeon, professor of anatomy, and painter.

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