uare, a uniformity due to the reconstruction of the town after
fires in 1723 and 1870. The chateau, the most remarkable building in the
town, was built in great part by Jean, count of Dunois, and his
descendants. Founded in the 10th century, and rebuilt in the 12th and
15th centuries, it consists of a principal wing with a fine staircase of
the 16th century, and, at right angles, a smaller wing adjoined by a
chapel. To the left of the courtyard thus formed rises a lofty keep of
the 12th century. The fine apartments and huge kitchens of the chateau
are in keeping with its imposing exterior. The church of La Madeleine
dates from the 12th century; the buildings of the abbey to which it
belonged are occupied by the subprefecture, the law court and the
hospital. The medieval churches of St Valerien and St Jean and the
ruined chapel of Notre-Dame du Champde, of which the facade in the
Renaissance style now forms the entrance to the cemetery, are other
notable buildings. The public institutions include a tribunal of first
instance and a communal college. Flour-milling, tanning and
leather-dressing, and the manufacture of blankets, silver jewelry, nails
and machinery are the prominent industries. Trade is in cattle, grain,
wool and hemp. Chateaudun (_Castrodunum_), which dates from the
Gallo-Roman period, was in the middle ages the capital of the countship
of Dunois.

CHATEAU-GONTIER, a town of western France, capital of an arrondissement
in the department of Mayenne, on the Mayenne, 18 m. S. by E. of Laval by
road. Pop. (1906) 6871. Of its churches, that of St Jean, a relic of the
castle, dates from the 11th century. Chateau-Gontier is the seat of a
subprefect and has a tribunal of first instance, a communal college for
boys and a small museum. It carries on wool- and cotton-spinning, the
manufacture of serge, flannel and oil, and is an agricultural market.
There are chalybeate springs close to the town. Chateau-Gontier owes its
origin and its name to a castle erected in the first half of the 11th
century by Gunther, the steward of Fulk Nerra of Anjou, on the site of a
farm belonging to the monks of St Aubin d'Angers. On the extinction of
the family, the lordship was assigned by Louis XI. to Philippe de
Comines. The town suffered severely during the wars of the League. In
1793 it was occupied by the Vendeans.

CHATEAUNEUF, LA BELLE, the name popularly given to RENEE DE RIEUX,
daughter of Jean de Rieux, seigneur de