LE BLANC

le blanc, a town of central france, capital of an arrondissement, in the department of indre, 44 m. w.s.w, of chateauroux on the orleans railway between argenton and poitiers. pop. (1906) 4719. the creuse divides it into a lower and an upper town. the church of st genitour dates from the 12th, 13th and 15th centuries, and there is an old castle restored in modern times. it is the seat of a subprefect, and has a tribunal of first instance and a communal college. wool-spinning, and the manufacture of linen goods and edge-tools are among the industries. there is trade in horses and in the agricultural and other products of the surrounding region. le blanc, which is identified with the roman _oblincum_, was in the middle ages a lordship belonging to the house of naillac and a frontier fortress of the province of berry.