COGNAC  , a

town of south-western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Charente, on the left bank of the river Charente, 32 M . W. of Angouleme on the Ouest-Etat railway, between Angouleme and Saintes . Pop . (1906) 18,389 . The streets of the old town—which borders the river—are narrow and tortuous, but the newer parts are well provided with open spaces . The chief of these is the beautiful Pare Francois Ier overlooking the Charente . In one of the squares there is a statue of Francis I., who was born here . The chief building is a church of the 12th century dedicated to St Leger, which preserves a fine Romanesque facade and a tower of the 15th century . A castle of the 15th and 16th centuries, once the residence of the counts of Angouleme, now a storehouse for brandy, and a medieval gate stand in the older part of the town . Cognac is the seat of a subprefect and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a council of trade arbitrators, a chamber of commerce, and consulates of the United States, Spain and Portugal . Its most important industry is the distillation of the brandy (q.v.) to which the town gives its name . Large quantities are carried, by way of the river, to the neighbouring port of Tonnay-Charente .

The

industries subsidiary to the brandy trade, such as the making of cases and bottles, occupy many hands . Ironware is also manufactured, and a considerable trade is maintained in grain and cattle . In 1526 Cognac gave its name to a treaty concluded against Charles V. by Francis I., the pope, Venice and Milan . Its possession was contested during the wars of religion, and in 1570 it became one of the Huguenot strongholds . In 1651 it successfully sustained a siege against Louis II., prince of Conde, leader of the Fronde . See Le Pays du Cognac, by L . Ravaz, for a description of the district and its viticulture .