Duchy of Lorraine

Coordinates: 48°41′N 6°11′E / 48.69°N 6.18°E / 48.69; 6.18
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Lorraine (province)
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Duchy of Lorraine
Duché de Lorraine (
Luxembourgish
)
959–1766
Motto: Un pour tout ou Une pour toutes (
Roman Catholicism
Demonym(s)Lorrainian
GovernmentDuchy
Duke 
• 959–978
Frederick I of Bar
• 1737–1766
Stanisław Leszczyński
History 
• 
France
1766
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Lotharingia
Lorraine and Barrois
Today part of
Part of a series on
Lorraine
Flag of Lorraine since the 13th century
History
Culture
Religion
Law
Administrative divisions
Lorraine in the EU
Related topics

The Duchy of Lorraine (French: Lorraine [lɔʁɛn] ⓘ; German: Lothringen [ˈloːtʁɪŋən] ⓘ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy.

It was founded in 959 following the division of

kings of France, but was ruled by the dukes of the House of Lorraine
after 1473.

In 1737, the duchy was given to

Poland, who had lost his throne as a result of the War of the Polish Succession, with the understanding that it would fall to the French crown on his death. When Stanisław died on 23 February 1766, Lorraine was annexed by France and reorganized as the province of Lorraine and Barrois
.

History

Portrait of the last Duke of Lorraine Francis Stephen on silver coin 10 paoli as he inherited Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Lotharingia

Main article: Lotharingia

Lorraine's predecessor, Lotharingia, was an independent Carolingian kingdom under the rule of King Lothair II (855–869). Its territory had originally been a part of Middle Francia, created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun, when the Carolingian empire was divided between the three sons of Louis the Pious. Middle Francia was allotted to Emperor Lothair I, therefore called Lotharii Regnum. On his death in 855, it was further divided into three parts, of which his son Lothair II took the northern one. His realm then comprised a larger territory stretching from the County of Burgundy in the south to the North Sea. In French, this area became known as Lorraine, while in German, it was eventually known as Lothringen. In the Alemannic language once spoken in Lorraine, the -ingen suffix signified a property;[citation needed] thus, in a figurative sense, "Lotharingen" can be translated as "Land belonging to Lothair", or more simplified *Lothair's realm*.

As Lothair II had died without heirs, his territory was divided by the 870 Treaty of Meerssen between East and West Francia and finally came under East Frankish rule as a whole by the 880 Treaty of Ribemont. After the East Frankish Carolingians became extinct with the death of Louis the Child in 911, Lotharingia once again attached itself to West Francia, but was conquered by the German king Henry the Fowler in 925. Stuck in the conflict with his rival Hugh the Great, in 942 King Louis IV of France renounced all claims to Lotharingia.

Duchy of Upper Lorraine

In 953, the German king

Lower Lorraine; this division became permanent following his death in 965. The Upper Duchy was further "up" the river system, that is, it was inland and to the south. Upper Lorraine was first denominated as the Duchy of the Moselle, both in charters and narrative sources, and its duke was the dux Mosellanorum. The usage of Lotharingia Superioris and Lorraine in official documents begins later, around the fifteenth century. The first duke and deputy of Bruno was Frederick I of Bar, son-in-law of Bruno's sister Hedwig of Saxony
.

Lower Lorraine disintegrated into several smaller territories and only the title of a "

Toul
.

The border between the

Protestant Imperial princes around Maurice, Elector of Saxony ceded the Three Bishoprics to King Henry II of France
in turn for his support.

Due to the weakening of Imperial authority during the 1618–1648

Treaty of Ryswick ending the Nine Years' War and Charles' son Leopold (1679–1729), became duke and was known as 'Leopold the Good;' in the 1701–1714 War of the Spanish Succession, parts of Lorraine, including the capital Nancy, were again occupied by France, but Leopold continued to reign at the Château de Lunéville
.

In 1737, after the

Medici ruler had recently died without issue. France also promised to support Maria Theresa as heir to the Habsburg possessions under the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. Leszczyński received Lorraine with the understanding that it would fall to the French crown on his death. The title of Duke of Lorraine was given to Stanisław, but also retained by Francis Stephen, and it figures prominently in the titles of his successors (as a non-claimant family name), the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. When Stanisław died on 23 February 1766, Lorraine was annexed by France and reorganized as a province
by the French government.

Territorial evolution of (Upper) Lorraine
  • A map of the territories of Upper and Lower Lorraine circa 1000 AD
    Lotharingia divided, around 1000 AD
      Alsace, ceded to
    Suebia
    (Swabia) in 925
      Upper Lorraine after 928
      Lower Lorraine after 977
  • Lorraine as it was 1618–1648
    Lorraine as it was 1618–1648
  • Map of the Duchy of Lorraine (1756), showing its somewhat dispersed communes by region of France and Germany, for the latter the English and German term for the region is Saarland.
    Map of the Duchy of Lorraine (1756), showing its somewhat dispersed communes by region of France and Germany, for the latter the English and German term for the region is Saarland.
  • Map of the Duchy of Lorraine (1756) within the modern region.
    Map of the Duchy of Lorraine (1756) within the modern region.
Symbols and coats of arms of Lorraine

Culture

Two regional languages survive in the region.

Alsatian language
, although the two are often confused. Neither has any form of official recognition.

Lorrain is a Romance dialect spoken by a minority in the southern part of the region.

The duchy produced a number of important painters, including Claude Lorrain, Georges de La Tour and Jean LeClerc.

Like most of

Alsatian, Catalan, Basque and Flemish
), Lorrain and Lorraine Franconian were largely replaced by French with the advent of mandatory public schooling in the 19th and 20th centuries.

See also

References

  1. Augustin Calmet
    (1745). "Sur les sceaux,armoiries, couleurs, devises, cris de guerre, titres des Ducs de Lorraine". Histoire de Lorraine. Leseur..
  2. ^ Siebmacher, Johann (1703). Erneuertes und vermehrtes Wappenbuch... Nürnberg: Adolph Johann Helmers. pp. Part I Table 6.

Further reading

  • Herrick, Linda & Wendy Uncapher. Alsace-Lorraine: The Atlantic Bridge to Germany. Janesville, WI: 2003.
  • Hughes, S. P. (2005) "Bilingualism in North-East France with specific reference to Rhenish Franconian spoken by Moselle Cross-border (or frontier) workers."[1]
  • Putnam, Ruth. Alsace and Lorraine: From Cæsar to Kaiser, 58 B.C.-1871 A.D. New York: 1915.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Duchy of Lorraine.

48°41′N 6°11′E / 48.69°N 6.18°E / 48.69; 6.18

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