Rennes, a prosperous town in Brittany, capital of the department of Ille-et-Vilaine, situated at the junction of the Ille and the Vilaine; consists of a high and low town, separated by the river Vilaine, mostly rebuilt since the disastrous fire in 1720; has handsome buildings, a cathedral, &c.; is the seat of an archbishop, a military centre, and manufactures sail-cloth, linen, shoes, hats, &c.; where the court-martial was held which condemned Captain Dreyfus on a second trial in 1899.
Population (circa 1900) given as 65,000.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Rennell, James * Rennie, John