a town of France, capital of an arrondissement of the same name, in the department of Vienne, on the right bank of the Vienne, here crossed by a handsome stone bridge, which connects it with a suburb on the opposite side of the river, 24 miles N.N.E. of Poitiers. Pop. (1851) 11,959. It stands in a fertile valley, and has several fine promenades, but is ill-built and dirty. It has tribunals of primary instance and commerce, a fine Gothic church, public fountain, communal college, exchange, hospital, society of agriculture, and a theatre. It is one of the chief seats of the manufacture of cutlery in France; and has a royal manufactory of swords and bayonets, established in 1820. It has a large trade in wines, dried fruits, slates, iron, corn, hemp, timber, &c. James Hamilton, second Earl of Arran, was created Duke of Chatellerault in 1548 by Henri II.; and the title is still in the family.