Alençon

Alençon stands on the southern edge of Normandy, near the frontier with Maine. Its castle was the seat of a county held by a branch of the French royal house, and its great twin-towered gatehouse recalls the fortifications raised during the Hundred Years' War. The town also became famous for the delicate needle lace made by its craftspeople.

In 1415 the county was raised to a duchy in reward for Count John I's loyalty to the French king. The Alençon-Valois line ended with Charles IV in 1525; his widow Marguerite of Angoulême retained the duchy for her lifetime. Later, in 1665, Colbert founded a royal lace manufactory at Alençon to challenge imports of Venetian needle lace. The local point d'Alençon became a celebrated French luxury craft.