The chief city of Normandy and a major political, ecclesiastical, and commercial center.
Rouen was the capital of the Duchy of Normandy and one of the most important cities in medieval France. As a major river port on the Seine, it was central to Norman economic and administrative power from the ninth century onward.
Rouen is especially remembered as the site of Joan of Arc's trial and execution in 1431 and as the place where William the Conqueror died in 1087.
Under Norman ducal rule and later under English Lancastrian control during the Hundred Years' War, Rouen served as the effective capital of northern France in English hands. Henry V's siege of Rouen in 1418–1419 lasted months before the city surrendered.
The ecclesiastical trial of Joan of Arc at Rouen in 1430–1431 — conducted under English political control and presided over by Bishop Pierre Cauchon — resulted in her condemnation and execution by burning on 30 May 1431. A rehabilitation inquiry in 1456 overturned the conviction.