Florimont
Encyclopedia
Florimont is a commune
in the Territoire de Belfort
department in Franche-Comté
in northeastern France
.
and about 21 km southeast the city Belfort (as the crow flies). The village extends in the transient area between the flat country of the Belfort Gap
and the northern foothills of the Juras
, in the Coeuvatte valley at the north foothills of Florimont, close to the border with Switzerland
.
The village that in 1999 had a population of 394, had 398 in 1803. The area is relatively large: 18.19 km ² and extends over a dozen kilometers from north to south. Florimont, which was an important manor in the Middle Ages
, incorporated into its territory the disappeared villages of Normanvillars and Saint-Andre-d'Essert.
This village, of which there only remains the farm of Saint-André, one kilometer from Faverois
, should not be confused with the city of Essert
, near Belfort
, although the origin of the name is undoubtedly the same: a cultivable ground reclaimed from the forest. In the seventeenth century Saint-André had a church which would have already existed sometime between 1274 and at least 1466, when a priest officiated there. It was restored in 1606 but was threatened with ruin in 1749. By the end of the eighteenth century all that remained there were four Anabaptist
families, and the church disappeared. The hamlet belongs to the parish of Faverois. In texts written in German, Essert is germanized as Schert.
Normanvillars
Normanvillars was a Mennonite
settlement on the border of the Sundgau
(southern Alsace
) and the Territory of Belfort in a forest area called by that name. It was about 10-15 miles (16-25 km) northeast of Montbeliard
, southeast of Belfort, and north of Delle. The settlement was established between 1747 and 1780 by Mennonite families coming from the Swiss Jura to the south and a few Amish
families coming from the Montbeliard area to the southwest. By 1791, according to a military census, 23 of the 97 families in the commune of Florimont were Mennonite. By the end of the eighteenth century this rather extended settlement was divided into two organized congregations, both meeting in homes, the one to the north called La Maie (later Belfort), the one in the south called Florimont. The first meetinghouse at Normanvillars, the Chapelle des Fermes, was erected in 1849 after many members had emigrated. The beginning of emigration to North America
was in 1819. A number of families settled in Putnam County, Ohio
, others in western Waterloo County, Ontario
.
It is probable that Normanvillars disappeared at the same time as Saint-André d'Essert, in the second half of the fifteenth century, victim of the instability which reigned then in the countryside. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the Mennonites, famous for being experienced farmers, took possession again of the places and formed a locality dependent on the seigniory of Florimont. Nowadays, the hamlet is summarized as being a few farms spread over a vast clearing in the middle of which is a chappel known as the Chappel of the Mennonites and a cemetery.
in Doubs to Augst
and Kembs
in Haut-Rhin
. After the creation of the county of Ferrette
in the eleventh century, the feudal castle and the fortifications of the village were built which very quickly took up importance. In the thirteenth century, the stronghold, which also covered Courcelles
, Suarce
, Chavanatte
, Lepuix-Neuf
and partly Faverois
, Grosne
, Boron
, Réchésy
, was held by the Blumenberg family, a German name that can translate as Mountain of the flowers. The grounds of Florimont were on several occasions the object of contention between the bishop of Basle and the count of Ferrette. By the fifteenth century, the economic importance of the city is not negligible as it holds a weekly market and two annual fairs, one at All Saints' Day and the other on the Tuesday of Easter.
In 1583 a fire destroyed the castle which was rebuilt. During the Thirty Years' War
, around 1632, the Swedish troops, which devastated the countryside around Belfort
, plundered the city and the castle, not being concerned with its ruins.
During the French Revolution
, the population of Florimont expressed their attachment to their lord, Xavier de Ferrette, while addressing a letter of protest to the Directory
, when he was put on the list of émigrés and, as a result, considered a traitor to the country. That did not prevent the family's goods from being confiscated.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Territoire de Belfort
Territoire de Belfort
The Territoire de Belfort is a department in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France.-Administration:Its departmental code is 90, and its prefecture is Belfort...
department in Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
in northeastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Geography
Florimont, at 384 m, lies 5 km east of DelleDelle
Delle is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.Delle is the last French town on the railway line from Belfort to Berne, in Switzerland....
and about 21 km southeast the city Belfort (as the crow flies). The village extends in the transient area between the flat country of the Belfort Gap
Belfort Gap
The Belfort Gap is a plateau located between the northern end of the Jura Mountains and the southernmost part of the Vosges mountains. Its altitude varies between 345 meters at its lowest and a little more than 400 meters in the area of the watershed between the catchment areas of the Rhine and...
and the northern foothills of the Juras
Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains are a small mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of the watershed of each...
, in the Coeuvatte valley at the north foothills of Florimont, close to the border with Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
The village that in 1999 had a population of 394, had 398 in 1803. The area is relatively large: 18.19 km ² and extends over a dozen kilometers from north to south. Florimont, which was an important manor in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, incorporated into its territory the disappeared villages of Normanvillars and Saint-Andre-d'Essert.
Placenames and hamlets
Saint-André-d'EssertThis village, of which there only remains the farm of Saint-André, one kilometer from Faverois
Faverois
Faverois is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.-References:*...
, should not be confused with the city of Essert
Essert
-In France:*Essert, Territoire de Belfort*Essert-Romand, in the Haute-Savoie département-In Switzerland:*Essert, Switzerland, in the Canton of Fribourg*Essert-Pittet, in the Canton of Vaud*Essert-sous-Champvent, in the Canton of Vaud...
, near Belfort
Belfort
Belfort is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France and is the prefecture of the department. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap or Burgundian Gate .-...
, although the origin of the name is undoubtedly the same: a cultivable ground reclaimed from the forest. In the seventeenth century Saint-André had a church which would have already existed sometime between 1274 and at least 1466, when a priest officiated there. It was restored in 1606 but was threatened with ruin in 1749. By the end of the eighteenth century all that remained there were four Anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
families, and the church disappeared. The hamlet belongs to the parish of Faverois. In texts written in German, Essert is germanized as Schert.
Normanvillars
Normanvillars was a Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
settlement on the border of the Sundgau
Sundgau
Sundgau is a geographical territory on the eastern edge of France that was once a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. The name Sundgau derives from Alemannic German, which means "South County" ....
(southern Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
) and the Territory of Belfort in a forest area called by that name. It was about 10-15 miles (16-25 km) northeast of Montbeliard
Montbéliard
Montbéliard is a city in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department.-History:...
, southeast of Belfort, and north of Delle. The settlement was established between 1747 and 1780 by Mennonite families coming from the Swiss Jura to the south and a few Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
families coming from the Montbeliard area to the southwest. By 1791, according to a military census, 23 of the 97 families in the commune of Florimont were Mennonite. By the end of the eighteenth century this rather extended settlement was divided into two organized congregations, both meeting in homes, the one to the north called La Maie (later Belfort), the one in the south called Florimont. The first meetinghouse at Normanvillars, the Chapelle des Fermes, was erected in 1849 after many members had emigrated. The beginning of emigration to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
was in 1819. A number of families settled in Putnam County, Ohio
Putnam County, Ohio
Putnam County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 34,499. The name is in honor of Israel Putnam, who was a hero in the French and Indian War and a general in the American Revolutionary War. Its county seat is...
, others in western Waterloo County, Ontario
Waterloo County, Ontario
Waterloo County, created in 1853 and dissolved in 1973, was the forerunner of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It consisted of five townships: Woolwich, Wellesley, Wilmot, Waterloo, and North Dumfries...
.
It is probable that Normanvillars disappeared at the same time as Saint-André d'Essert, in the second half of the fifteenth century, victim of the instability which reigned then in the countryside. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the Mennonites, famous for being experienced farmers, took possession again of the places and formed a locality dependent on the seigniory of Florimont. Nowadays, the hamlet is summarized as being a few farms spread over a vast clearing in the middle of which is a chappel known as the Chappel of the Mennonites and a cemetery.
History
The site of Florimont has been occupied since the Roman period, probably by a lookout tower charged with supervising the movement of troops on their way connecting MandeureMandeure
Mandeure is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-History:Mandeure was a Roman town called Epomanduodurum. It reached its apogee in the 2nd century. The Roman theater was one of the largest in Gaul, measuring 142 m with four levels of seats that could seat...
in Doubs to Augst
Augst
Augst is a municipality in the district of Liestal in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland.It was known as Augusta Raurica in roman times-History:...
and Kembs
Kembs
Kembs is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
in Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin
Haut-Rhin is a département of the Alsace region of France, named after the Rhine river. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departements of Alsace, although is still densely populated compared to the rest of France.-Subdivisions:The department...
. After the creation of the county of Ferrette
Ferrette
Ferrette is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is situated close to the Swiss border. Its main attraction is the Château de Ferrette.-County of Ferrette:...
in the eleventh century, the feudal castle and the fortifications of the village were built which very quickly took up importance. In the thirteenth century, the stronghold, which also covered Courcelles
Courcelles, Territoire de Belfort
Courcelles is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.-References:*...
, Suarce
Suarce
Suarce is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.-References:*...
, Chavanatte
Chavanatte
Chavanatte is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.-References:*...
, Lepuix-Neuf
Lepuix-Neuf
Lepuix-Neuf is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.-References:*...
and partly Faverois
Faverois
Faverois is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.-References:*...
, Grosne
Grosne
Grosne is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.-References:*...
, Boron
Boron
Boron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a metalloid. Because boron is not produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust. However, boron is concentrated on Earth by the...
, Réchésy
Réchésy
Réchésy is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France.-References:*...
, was held by the Blumenberg family, a German name that can translate as Mountain of the flowers. The grounds of Florimont were on several occasions the object of contention between the bishop of Basle and the count of Ferrette. By the fifteenth century, the economic importance of the city is not negligible as it holds a weekly market and two annual fairs, one at All Saints' Day and the other on the Tuesday of Easter.
In 1583 a fire destroyed the castle which was rebuilt. During the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, around 1632, the Swedish troops, which devastated the countryside around Belfort
Belfort
Belfort is a commune in the Territoire de Belfort department in Franche-Comté in northeastern France and is the prefecture of the department. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône – the Belfort Gap or Burgundian Gate .-...
, plundered the city and the castle, not being concerned with its ruins.
During the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, the population of Florimont expressed their attachment to their lord, Xavier de Ferrette, while addressing a letter of protest to the Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
, when he was put on the list of émigrés and, as a result, considered a traitor to the country. That did not prevent the family's goods from being confiscated.