CHATELLERAULT, a town of western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Vienne, 19 m. N.N.E. of Poitiers on the Orleans railway. Pop. (1931) 13,527. It is situated on the right bank of the Vienne and is connected with the suburb of Chateauneuf by a stone bridge of the 16th and I 7th centuries. Chatellerault (or Chatelherault : Castellum Airaldi) derives its name from a fortress built in the loth century by Airaud, viscount of its territory. In 1515 it was made a duchy in favour of Francois de Bourbon, but was soon reunited to the crown. In 1S48 it was bestowed on James Hamilton, and earl of Arran (see HAMILTON). The manufacture of cutlery dates from the 14th century and is carried on in villages along the banks of the Clain. The most important industrial establishment is the national small-arms factory, established in 1819.