Nantes
Nantes names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Nantes the 7th largest city of France
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the 7th largest city of France, capital of the department of Loire-Inférieure, on the right bank of the tidal Loire (here 2,000 yards wide, and joined by the navigable Erdre and Sèvre-Nantaise), 35 miles from the sea, and 248 S. W. of Paris. The natural beauties of the site have been much improved by art, and, the old town having been demolished 1865-1870, Nantes is one of the handsomest cities in France, with its noble river, quays, bridges, shady boulevards, squares, and statues. The unfinished cathedral (1434-1852) contains Colomb's splendid monument (1507) to the last Duke and Duchess of Brittany, and another (1879) to General Lamoricière. The ducal castle, founded in 938, and rebuilt in 1466, was the occasional residence of Charles VIII. and most of his successors, the prison of Cardinal de Retz and Fouquet, and the place where on April 15, 1598, Henry IV. signed the famous Edict of Nantes. Other notable buildings are the splendid Church of St. Nicholas (1854), the court house (1853), the theater (1787), and the new postoffice (1884), besides a museum, a picture gallery, and a library of 50,000 volumes. The harbor has been extensively improved in recent years. The chief industries are sugar making, shipbuilding, and manufactories of copper and iron. The chief exports are hardware, cereals, and preserved provisions; the chief imports sugar, iron, cocoa, and wines. The Portus Nannetum of the Romans, and the former capital of Brittany-a rank it disputed with Rennes-Nantes has witnessed the marriage of Anne of Brittany to Louis XII. (1499), the embarkation of the Young Pretender (1745), the fall of the Vendéan leader Cathélineau (1793), and the arrest of the Duchess of Berri (1832). Fouché was a native. Pop. about 175,000.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
nants, a city of France. It is situated on the northern bank of the Loire, about forty miles from the Atlantic. A ship canal enables vessels of large size to reach the wharves. It is a well built city. Five miles of quays line the banks of the river. The city is laid out in squares. There are a number of notable public edifices, including the cathedral, the Church of St. Nicolas, the ducal castle, the law courts, city hall, an exchange, a museum of natural history, a picture gallery, a public library containing 100,000 volumes, and a hospital. There are important manufactures of woolen cloths, ship machinery, sails, cordage, ship biscuit, chemicals, glue, and machinery. There are also glass works and sugar refineries. Sardines are canned here in large quantities. The city carries on a considerable trade with the foreign possessions of France. Historically, Nantes is a place of importance. In 445 it marked the utmost westward limit of the Huns, and successfully withstood a siege of sixty days. It was taken by the Normans during their invasion of France. During the attempts of the English to conquer France Nantes was taken and retaken a number of times, suffering severely from fire. The famous Edict of Nantes was issued by Henry IV April 30, 1598. Until its repeal in 1685 it secured the Protestant Huguenots freedom of worship. Population (1906), 133,247, the ninth city in France. See Huguenots
Nantes EDICT OF. See EDICT OF
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
EDICT OF. See EDICT OF
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The Loire that Collier's called "2,000 yards wide" at Nantes in 1921 no longer runs through the city centre as it did: several arms of the river and the mouth of the Erdre were filled in during the 1920s and 1930s, turning the Île Feydeau into an inland block and the old channels into boulevards. The department Collier's names as Loire-Inférieure was renamed Loire-Atlantique in 1957, and Nantes, "the former capital of Brittany," now sits outside the administrative region of Brittany in Pays de la Loire, a placement locals still contest. The shipbuilding both accounts list as a chief industry has gone, the last big Nantes yard closing in the 1980s while ocean-going traffic shifted downriver to Saint-Nazaire; the city centre was heavily bombed in 1943 and the cathedral roof burned in 1972. Aiton's 133,247 residents of 1906 have grown to roughly 320,000 in the commune, with a metropolitan area near a million, and a modern tramway returned to the streets in 1985.
Written for this edition, 2026.