# Hennebont

Hennebont (French pronunciation:; Breton: Henbont) is a commune in the Morbihan department in the region of Brittany in north-western France.

## Geography

Hennebont is situated about ten miles from the mouth of the River Blavet, which divides it into two parts: the Ville Close, the medieval walled town, and the 17th century Ville Neuve on the left bank and the oldest site: the Vieille Ville on the right. The old walled town (Ville Close) still has traces of its medieval ramparts dating from the 13th to 15th centuries as well as a large fortified 15th century gatehouse complete with double-doors with drawbridge slots, known as the Porte du Broërec.

## History
### Breton War of Succession

Hennebont is famed for its resistance, under Joanna of Flanders, the widow of Jean de Montfort, to the armies of Philip of Valois and Charles of Blois when besieged in 1342 during the War of the Breton Succession. A century before Joan of Arc, Jeanne dressed herself in armor and led the resistance to the besiegers. She personally led an attack on the enemy camp, setting fire to it and earned the nickname "Jeanne la Flamme" ("Joan the Fiery").

#### The other Jeanne of Hennebont

Hennebont is also the final home of Jeanne de Clisson, the Lioness of Brittany.

### World War II

In August 1944, during the Allied invasion of Brittany, a large section of the old walled town, especially the ramparts, towers and medieval buildings, sustained major damage during the bombing of German positions entrenched in the downtown area.

## Points of interest

* Parc botanique de Kerbihan

## Demographics

Inhabitants of Hennebont are called Hennebontais. In 2008, 5.45% of the children of Hennebont attended bilingual primary schools.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1793 | 5,338 | — |
| 1800 | 4,847 | −1.37% |
| 1806 | 4,678 | −0.59% |
| 1821 | 4,887 | +0.29% |
| 1831 | 4,477 | −0.87% |
| 1836 | 4,749 | +1.19% |
| 1841 | 4,552 | −0.84% |
| 1846 | 4,668 | +0.50% |
| 1851 | 4,710 | +0.18% |
| 1856 | 4,755 | +0.19% |
| 1861 | 4,675 | −0.34% |
| 1866 | 5,112 | +1.80% |
| 1872 | 5,498 | +1.22% |
| 1876 | 6,050 | +2.42% |
| 1881 | 5,988 | −0.21% |
| 1886 | 6,519 | +1.71% |
| 1891 | 6,972 | +1.35% |
| 1896 | 8,074 | +2.98% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1901 | 8,702 | +1.51% |
| 1906 | 9,121 | +0.94% |
| 1911 | 8,605 | −1.16% |
| 1921 | 8,682 | +0.09% |
| 1926 | 8,297 | −0.90% |
| 1931 | 8,148 | −0.36% |
| 1936 | 8,690 | +1.30% |
| 1946 | 8,217 | −0.56% |
| 1954 | 11,279 | +4.04% |
| 1962 | 11,690 | +0.45% |
| 1968 | 11,799 | +0.15% |
| 1975 | 12,273 | +0.56% |
| 1982 | 12,963 | +0.78% |
| 1990 | 13,624 | +0.62% |
| 1999 | 13,412 | −0.17% |
| 2009 | 15,079 | +1.18% |
| 2014 | 15,582 | +0.66% |
| 2020 | 15,873 | +0.31% |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. :
Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968-2020) :

## Twin towns

Hennebont is twinned with:
* Kronach, Bavaria, Germany
* Mourdiah, Mali
* Mumbles, Wales, United Kingdom

## Notable people

* Prince Pierre, Duke of Valentinois, was born at the Château de Kerscamp, Hennebont
* Warren Barguil, professional cyclist
* Anthony Le Tallec, footballer
* Jeanne de Clisson, Corsair died in Hennebont