Sedan is a commune in France, a sub-prefecture of the Ardennes department in northern France. The historic centre is built on a peninsula formed by an arc of the Meuse River. It is around 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the Belgian border, and around 200 kilometres (124 mi) from Paris. Sedan was founded in 1424. In the sixteenth century Sedan was an asylum for Protestant refugees from the Wars of Religion.Until 1651, the Principality of Sedan belonged to the La Tour d'Auvergne family. It was at that time a sovereign principality. Their most illustrious representative, Marshal Turenne, was born at Sedan on 11 September 1611.