Talk:Bagne of Toulon

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What exactly does "bagne" mean? Is it a French word for something? Or is it just a place-name or something? The word seems to be unique to this institution, especially considering inmates were known as "bagnards". It seems to be unique, but that's weird, because then why have "of Toulon" put on the end of it? Kind of like calling it the "Metropolitan Opera House of New York", right? VolatileChemical (talk) 04:00, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Bagne was the word used for a penal colony- it comes from the Italian word for bath, and was the name of a prison in Rome, which had formerly been a Roman bath.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth century there were bagnes in Brest and Toulon in France, in Anvers (Antwerp), and in Cayenne, French Guyana. The last one was known as Devil's Island. That's why the reference to the Bagne of Toulon. SiefkinDR (talk) 17:09, 15 May 2008 (UTC)