Castillon-la-Bataille

Castillon-la-Bataille

Train station

Coat of arms
Castillon-la-Bataille

Coordinates: 44°51′14″N 0°02′35″W / 44.854°N 0.043°WCoordinates: 44°51′14″N 0°02′35″W / 44.854°N 0.043°W
Country France
Region Aquitaine
Department Gironde
Arrondissement Libourne
Canton Castillon-la-Bataille
Intercommunality Castillon Pujols
Government
  Mayor (20082014) Michel Holmière
Area1 5.68 km2 (2.19 sq mi)
Population (2008)2 3,362
  Density 590/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 33108 / 33350
Elevation 2–104 m (6.6–341.2 ft)
(avg. 27 m or 89 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Castillon-la-Bataille is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.

This area was the site of the last battle of the Hundred Years' War, the Battle of Castillon, fought July 17, 1453. Castillon (-la-Bataille) along the Dordogne river, under whose walls was fought, in 1453, the battle in which valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, (“The Frenchman’s only scourge, Their kingdom’s terror, and black Nemisis.”), hemmed in by a French force greatly superior to his own, was slain at the age of nearly 80 years, gallantly fighting, along with his son, the Lord Lisle, whom his father in vain counselled to depart out of the field, seeing that all was lost, - a real incident, which has furnished Shakespeare with a fine scene. The result of Talbot’s defeat and death was the capture of Bordeaux from the English, and their final expulsion from Guienne. Near La Mothe-Montraval, on the right bank of the Dordogne, a tumulus is pointed out under the name of Talbot’s tomb; but it is known that his body was removed by his friends to England.

Source: Murray’s Hand-Book for Travellers in France, published London, John Murray, Albemarle Street,1870. Eleventh Edition. p. 238, 239.

On November 27, 1953, the name of the town was changed from Castillon-sur-Dordogne to its current name.

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
19623,096    
19683,102+0.2%
19753,166+2.1%
19823,207+1.3%
19903,020−5.8%
19993,113+3.1%
20083,362+8.0%

See also

References

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