Loudun

Loudun lies in western France, south of Chinon and east of Thouars. In 1616 the Treaty of Loudun was negotiated and signed there, temporarily settling a struggle over the French government involving the Prince of Condé and the queen mother's favourite Concino Concini.

The town later became associated with accusations that Ursuline nuns were possessed. The priest Urbain Grandier was convicted of witchcraft and executed in 1634. The affair became one of the most notorious episodes in Loudun's early modern history.