ETAMPES, a town of northern France, capital of an arron dissement in the department of Seine-et-Oise, on the Orleans rail way, 35 m. S. by W. of Paris. Pop. (1931) 9,456. Etampes (Lat. Stampae) existed at the beginning of the 7th century and in the early middle ages belonged to the crown domain. During the middle ages it was the scene of several councils, the most notable of which took place in 1130 and resulted in the recognition of Innocent II. as the legitimate pope. In 1652, during the war of the Fronde it suffered severely at the hands of the royal troops under Turenne. The lordship of Etampes, in what is now the department of Seine-et-Oise in France, belonged to the royal domain, but was detached from it on several occasions in favour of princes, or kings' favourites. St. Louis gave it to his mother Blanche of Castile, and then to his wife Marguerite of Provence. Louis, the brother of Philip the Fair, became Lord of Etampes in 1317 and count in 1327; he was succeeded by his son and grandson. Francis I. raised the countship of Etampes to the rank of a duchy for his mistress Anne de Pisseleu D'Heilly. The new duchy passed to Diane de Poitiers (1553), to Catherine of Lorraine, duchess of Montpensier (1578), to Marguerite of Valois and to Gabrielle d'Estrees (1598) . The latter transmitted it to her son, Cesar of Vendome, and his descendants held it till 1712. It then passed to the families of Bourbon-Conti and of Orleans.
Etampes stretches between the railway on the north and the Chalouette, a tributary of the Juine, on the south. The Tour Guinette is a ruined keep built by Louis VI. in the 12th century. Notre-Dame du Fort (I ith and 12th centuries), the chief church, is irregular in plan, with a fine Romanesque tower and spire, and a crenellated wall. The interior contains ancient paintings. St. Basile (12th and 16th centuries) preserves a Romanesque door way, and St. Martin (s 2th and 13th centuries) a 16th century leaning tower. Two houses named after Anne de Pisseleu (see above), mistress of Francis I., and Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II., are graceful examples of Renaissance architecture. There are a subprefecture and a tribunal of first instance. Flour milling, printing and manufacture of hosiery are carried on.