bagne

French convict prison. They replaced the galleys 1748 and were used until the middle of the 19th century. Since the galleys had naturally been stationed at the naval ports and arsenals, the bagnes were established in the same localities.

About 1852 the last three – in Brest, Rochefort, and Toulon – were closed, and convicts were deported to Cayenne, French Guiana. The miseries of prisoners in the bagnes, like those of galley slaves, have often been described by writers of fiction, including Victor Hugo in Les Misérables 1862.