Nancy

Nancy, city in north-east France, capital of the Meurthe-et-Moselle Department, on the Meurthe River in Lorraine. It is an industrial centre in a region producing quantities of iron ore; manufactured goods include chemicals, clothing, printed materials, and processed food. Points of interest in Nancy include many fine examples of 18th-century architecture; the Place Stanislas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983, is lined with buildings dating from this period. The ducal palace, built in the 16th century, today houses a historical museum. In the 15th-century church of the Cordeliers are the tombs of several of the Dukes of Lorraine. The city is the seat of the universities of Nancy I and II (founded 1572, reorganized 1970).

Nancy grew up around a castle of the Dukes of Lorraine, who made it their capital in the 12th century. Near Nancy, in 1477, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, was defeated and killed by Swiss forces while trying to capture the city. From 1633 to 1697 the city was held by the French, but in the latter year was given back to Leopold, Duke of Lorraine. The duchy of Lorraine was granted in 1737 to Stanislas I Leszczyński, who had lost the throne of Poland as a result of the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1735); he held court in Nancy and made the city one of the most splendid in Europe.

After the death of Stanislas in 1766, the city came under French control. Nancy was occupied by the Germans for several years following the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), and it suffered considerable damage in World War I. Population 105,400 (2005 estimate).