Fouchy
Encyclopedia
Fouchy is a commune
in the Bas-Rhin
department in Alsace
in north-eastern France
.
It shares its latitude with the southern suburbs of Paris, being located in the south-western corner of the department.
The name Fouchy may derive from a German
patois
and relate to a noun or adjective, 'Fosche' or 'fossé' describing a large ditch or river bed. (The village is traversed by the River Giessen.) In the local Alsace dialect
residents are called Fouchottes, a word that is disconcertingly similar to the French word for a fork (fourchette)
(fourchette).
Long before Alsace became officially francophone
the village was called Groba, which then mutated to Grube. The ancient Germanic name of Grube was revived after 1871
when Alsace
found itself incorporated within the German Empire
and again during the German occupation
between 1940 and 1944.
. The ridge is traversed by the 608 meter high Fouchy which connects the two valleys.
From outside the village, it is dominated by the spire of the church, and this is the focus from which Fouchy's streets radiate. One route runs to the bottom of the valley, and leads out of the village towards Saint-Dié: scattered farms comprise a few hamlets some of the larger ones being La Combre, Berlicombelle, Noirceux, Rouhu, Schlingoutte and Schnarupt. To the west, along the departmental road D39, is the village of Urbeis while three kilometres to the east, the same road leads to Villé
.
in Sélestat
. Originally the settlement would have been located in a clearing, supported by a few fields cleared from the surrounding woodlands. Some value would have come to the convent from the economic potential of the woodlands, but the valley had also a considerable strategic importance. Linking Alsace to Lorraine
along the route through Villé and Urbeis, the route had commercial significance in that it provided an alternative route for the important trade in salt
from nearby deposits in the eastern part of Lorraine. The salt trade otherwise was dependent of the state of Steige
Pass, which would have presented challenges during the cold wet weather that is still a frequent feature of the weather in this region. The convent exploited the Fouchy route, charging a toll for merchandise conveyed along it.
Until the late Medieval period, the valley, part of a route between Alsace and Lorraine, played an intriguing role as an interface between the two very different worlds of the residual Gallo-Roman heritage
on the one hand and the Germanic sphere
on the other. This is one reason why lives in the valley have been regularly shaken by crimes and betrayals which have, on occasion, sent their shock waves across Europe. But probably it is only since a little before 1150 that a small group of men came to clear the forest and create a permanent settlement in what, then, they would have called Groba. For the next two hundred years the wealth of Fouchy lands and the surrounding forests offered tempting prizes to local property holders. An example is provided by a legal case which the Convent of St Faith
found itself in opposition to the Abbey of Honcourt
and the Villé priest, Father Huno. Honcourt Abbey provided religious instruction to populations subject to the Convent of St faith, in return for which they expected payment. However, in a judgment of 1169/70 the court rejected the claim of Honcourt Abbey
and Father Huno on the Fouchy tithe, which thereby remained payable in full to Convent of St Faith
. Later on 1170 he court's judgment was upheld in favour of the convent by the Pope, on the grounds that the parish of Fouchy was considered to be a part of the property of the Convent of St Faith which was thereby entitled to exercise within the parish all rights concerning tithe
s, along with fees for baptisms and burials. Just over a century later, in 1309, we find a papal bull requiring the Abbey of Ebersmunster
to restore assets alienated from the church at Fouchy. Suffering of a different sort is recorded around 1313 when the citizens of Fouchy were touched by plague, and between 1348 and 1349 they were attacked by the Black Death
which ravaged western Europe at this time. These were also years during which Fouchy experienced a particularly high and unwelcome level of attention from passing armies and other pillaging hoards, leaving behind them desolation and misery.
, while retaining its ecclesiastical relationship with the convent at Sélestat. Later, in 1489, the district passed into the control of the cathedral chapter
of Strasbourg
.
The influence of the Convent of St Faith diminished progressively after 1217 when Sélestat was granted the rights and status of a free city
. Increasingly the convent found itself competing with a growing mercantile class in the young city, and in the process conceding its traditional rights and possessions to the increasingly assertive middle class. That is the context in which, following the population collapse caused by the black death, "Grube et Breytenowe" (Fouchy and Breitenau) were ceded to the lords of Frankenbourg, and came to form a part of Ban County. Fouchy now would share its destiny with the neighboring settlements of Neuve-Église
, Hirtzelbach, Dieffenbach-au-Val
and Neubois
. In the same year, the Ban county along with the Castle of Frankenbourg were purchased by the Bishop of Strasbourg
, John of Lichtenberg. Fouchy thus became an episcopal possession of Strasbourg while continuing to depend for its spiritual sustenance on the Convent of St Faith in Sélestat.
However, during the fifteenth century the spiritual influence exercised by the convent diminished, and in 1464 it was the abbott from Honcourt
who appointed the Fouchy rector. In its turn, the power of Honcourt declined and in 1594 Honcourt Abbey
came under the control of Andlau Abbey
.
and his men. Hagenbach was a Burgundian
knight in command of the Ninth Regiment of Charles the Bold. In 1474 Hagenbach would, according to some sources, be executed for war crimes: his reputation was for corruption and brutality. In 1470 he turned up in the valley of Villé
, accompanied by a band estimated at 5,000 horsemen, en route towards the Pass of Steige
. The first night he spent at Villé, which he took over along with the Castle of Ortenburg: the next day he established his headquarters at Châtenois
, committing numerous atrocities in the process. He then marched on Colmar
where he encountered fierce resistance. He therefore turned his attentions to Breisach
where he would be killed. Charles the Bold himself would be killed in battle at Nancy
less than three years later, leaving behind him a disputed succession which would sow the seeds for the end of the Burgundian Kingdom. Alsace had been part of the empire since Ottonian times, and as the fifteenth century drew to a close the directing influence of the Holy Roman Empire
became more visible with the emperor Frederick III
and his Habsburg
dynasty exercising increased levels of central control from Vienna
.
Life in the valley became relatively peaceful until 1493 when new troubles erupted: this time the source of the problem was closer to home. There was an uprising of peasant farmers from the areas of Sélestat
, Dambach
, Stotzheim
, Châtenois
, Scherwiller
and Dieffenthal
. They were inspired by a former mayor of Sélestat called Jean Uhlmann. Other rebel leaders were Jacques Hanser from Blienschwiller
and Nicolas Ziegler from Stotzheim
. Ulhmann soon gave up and sought refuge in Basel
where he was arrested, convicted and put to death, his body subsequently being quartered. As he died he declared to his judges, "sooner or later, the people's alliance will win". Nicholas Zielger met a similar fate at Sélestat: it is not known what became of Jacques Hanser. Other leading protagonists were captured and punished: some had their fingers cut off while others were banished or fined. The Peasants' uprising of 1493 failed miserably thanks to measures implemented by the emperor's son, the future Emperor Maximilian, when he found himself in Colmar on the way home from Burgundy.
The idea of greater independence and social justice for impoverished peasants had certainly not permanently disappeared, however. Such notions continued to be advocated by committed reformers and found a receptive audience among the people, putting pressure on landowners. In 1524 the 'Peasants' War'
broke out. In 1525 the inhabitants of Fouchy undoubtedly participated on the fighting, and some undoubtedly were lost on the Battle of Scherwiller
. In any event, there is evidence of a savage population reduction.
broke out, advances in weapons technology and in military organisation had made warfare significantly more lethal, even, than it had been in the Medieval period, not merely for soldiers but also for any civilian populations that found themselves in the wrong place. Located on a principal communications route, Fouchy was one of several villages in the valley that suffered badly during the Thirty Years War: villagers were frequently forced to seek safety in the forest and many houses were destroyed. Of the fifty-eight houses in the village in 1618, only twenty-five were habitable thirty years later. By 1648 many of the propertied families in the village had simply disappeared: the overall population had declined to 364 by 1660, from a prewar level of 1,050. The valley was ruined economically: climate deterioration experienced in northern Europe during the first half of the seventeenth century will have done nothing to help the survivors at harvest time. Recovery would come to Fouchy only slowly.
, across the Vosges Mountains
as well as from more distant places. By 1801 the population would be back up to 696 as the village was rebuilt around the church. Today the year 17.. inscribed on several of the older houses in the centre of the village bears silent testimony to a century of peace and reconstruction. These houses are generally of traditional Vosgien stone built construction with a house on one end and a stable at the other, and a barn in the middle. A long corridor from the front leads to a large kitchen at the rear. The stone used is the local sand stone, and the walls are coated with plaster.
: Mass
continued to be celebrated, but the priests avoided drawing attention to themselves and major damage was avoided by means of a ruse in which the parishioners collaborated. To escape the attentions of fanatical 'patriots', the fine 18th century presbytery
was quietly converted into an inn, complete with its own 'dance room'. Revolutionary fanatics did nevertheless attack rural crosses, though the extent of resulting destruction is hard to assess two centuries later since many crosses appear to have been erected in the nineteenth century and it is no longer clear how far these replace pre-revolutionary forerunners.
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 Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.- History :...
department in 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...
in north-eastern 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...
.
It shares its latitude with the southern suburbs of Paris, being located in the south-western corner of the department.
Nomenclatures
Residents are called Fouchyssois.The name Fouchy may derive from a German
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
patois
Patois
Patois is any language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. It can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects, and other forms of native or local speech, but not commonly to jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant...
and relate to a noun or adjective, 'Fosche' or 'fossé' describing a large ditch or river bed. (The village is traversed by the River Giessen.) In the local Alsace dialect
Welche
Welche is a Gallo-Romance dialect of Lorrain spoken in Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin in the western Alsace in France. The varieties of this dialect are the variety of Bruche, the variety of Villé, the variety of Lièpvre, the variety of Kaysersberg and the variety of Orbey...
residents are called Fouchottes, a word that is disconcertingly similar to the French word for a fork (fourchette)
Fork
As a piece of cutlery or kitchenware, a fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines on one end. The fork, as an eating utensil, has been a feature primarily of the West, whereas in East Asia chopsticks have been more prevalent...
(fourchette).
Long before Alsace became officially francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
the village was called Groba, which then mutated to Grube. The ancient Germanic name of Grube was revived after 1871
Treaty of Frankfurt (1871)
The Treaty of Frankfurt was a peace treaty signed in Frankfurt on 10 May 1871, at the end of the Franco-Prussian War.- Summary :The treaty did the following:...
when 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...
found itself incorporated within the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
and again during the German occupation
Military history of France during World War II
The military history of France during World War II covers the period from 1939 until 1940, which witnessed French military participation under the French Third Republic , and the period from 1940 until 1945, which was marked by mainland and overseas military administration and influence struggles...
between 1940 and 1944.
Geography
Located on the left bank of the little River Giessen, Fouchy occupies a site of 787 hectares embraced on one side by the river and faced on its north side by wooded hills culminating in the peaks of the Guichat and Rougerain, respectively 623 meters and 650 meters above sea level. The altitude of the village itself is very varied, but 300 meters is a reasonable average (median) value. The southern part of the village rests on the dividing ridge between the valleys of the Giessen and of the River Liepvrette: this ridge rises from 690 meters in the east to 830 meters at the Schnarupt peak, dominating the hamlet of Hingie in the adjacent commune of Rombach-le-FrancRombach-le-Franc
Rombach-le-Franc is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
. The ridge is traversed by the 608 meter high Fouchy which connects the two valleys.
From outside the village, it is dominated by the spire of the church, and this is the focus from which Fouchy's streets radiate. One route runs to the bottom of the valley, and leads out of the village towards Saint-Dié: scattered farms comprise a few hamlets some of the larger ones being La Combre, Berlicombelle, Noirceux, Rouhu, Schlingoutte and Schnarupt. To the west, along the departmental road D39, is the village of Urbeis while three kilometres to the east, the same road leads to Villé
Villé
Villé is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
.
Early records
The village of Fouchy (Groba) is first documented around 1150, at which time the village was part of the patrimony of the Convent of St FaithSt Faith
Saint Faith is a saint who is said to have been a girl or young woman of Agen in Aquitaine. Her legend recounts how she was arrested during persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire and refused to make pagan sacrifices even under torture. Saint Faith was tortured to death with a red-hot brazier...
in Sélestat
Sélestat
Sélestat is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.In 2006, Sélestat had a total population of 19,459. The Communauté de communes de Sélestat et environs had a total population of 35,397.-Geography:...
. Originally the settlement would have been located in a clearing, supported by a few fields cleared from the surrounding woodlands. Some value would have come to the convent from the economic potential of the woodlands, but the valley had also a considerable strategic importance. Linking Alsace to Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
along the route through Villé and Urbeis, the route had commercial significance in that it provided an alternative route for the important trade in salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
from nearby deposits in the eastern part of Lorraine. The salt trade otherwise was dependent of the state of Steige
Steige
Steige is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
Pass, which would have presented challenges during the cold wet weather that is still a frequent feature of the weather in this region. The convent exploited the Fouchy route, charging a toll for merchandise conveyed along it.
Until the late Medieval period, the valley, part of a route between Alsace and Lorraine, played an intriguing role as an interface between the two very different worlds of the residual Gallo-Roman heritage
Gallo-Roman culture
The term Gallo-Roman describes the Romanized culture of Gaul under the rule of the Roman Empire. This was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman mores and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context...
on the one hand and the Germanic sphere
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
on the other. This is one reason why lives in the valley have been regularly shaken by crimes and betrayals which have, on occasion, sent their shock waves across Europe. But probably it is only since a little before 1150 that a small group of men came to clear the forest and create a permanent settlement in what, then, they would have called Groba. For the next two hundred years the wealth of Fouchy lands and the surrounding forests offered tempting prizes to local property holders. An example is provided by a legal case which the Convent of St Faith
St Faith
Saint Faith is a saint who is said to have been a girl or young woman of Agen in Aquitaine. Her legend recounts how she was arrested during persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire and refused to make pagan sacrifices even under torture. Saint Faith was tortured to death with a red-hot brazier...
found itself in opposition to the Abbey of Honcourt
Honcourt Abbey
Honcourt Abbey or Hugshofen Abbey was a Benedictine abbey located near the village of Saint-Martin, Bas-Rhin, founded in the year 1000 and dissolved in or very shortly after 1525.-History:The abbey was sited next to the Klosterwald in the village of Saint-Martin...
and the Villé priest, Father Huno. Honcourt Abbey provided religious instruction to populations subject to the Convent of St faith, in return for which they expected payment. However, in a judgment of 1169/70 the court rejected the claim of Honcourt Abbey
Honcourt Abbey
Honcourt Abbey or Hugshofen Abbey was a Benedictine abbey located near the village of Saint-Martin, Bas-Rhin, founded in the year 1000 and dissolved in or very shortly after 1525.-History:The abbey was sited next to the Klosterwald in the village of Saint-Martin...
and Father Huno on the Fouchy tithe, which thereby remained payable in full to Convent of St Faith
St Faith
Saint Faith is a saint who is said to have been a girl or young woman of Agen in Aquitaine. Her legend recounts how she was arrested during persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire and refused to make pagan sacrifices even under torture. Saint Faith was tortured to death with a red-hot brazier...
. Later on 1170 he court's judgment was upheld in favour of the convent by the Pope, on the grounds that the parish of Fouchy was considered to be a part of the property of the Convent of St Faith which was thereby entitled to exercise within the parish all rights concerning tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s, along with fees for baptisms and burials. Just over a century later, in 1309, we find a papal bull requiring the Abbey of Ebersmunster
Ebersmunster
Ebersmunster is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is famous for its 1727 baroque church, a work by Vorarlberg architect Peter Thumb.-References:*...
to restore assets alienated from the church at Fouchy. Suffering of a different sort is recorded around 1313 when the citizens of Fouchy were touched by plague, and between 1348 and 1349 they were attacked by the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
which ravaged western Europe at this time. These were also years during which Fouchy experienced a particularly high and unwelcome level of attention from passing armies and other pillaging hoards, leaving behind them desolation and misery.
Late Medieval
In 1359 Fouchy was incorporated within the a Ban countyBan (medieval)
The ban was a political and territorial institution in the Frankish kingdoms, meaning a grant of power to command men. Following its civil, military or religious meanings, it ended up as a metonym for territory where such a grant applied...
, while retaining its ecclesiastical relationship with the convent at Sélestat. Later, in 1489, the district passed into the control of the cathedral chapter
Cathedral chapter
In accordance with canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese in his stead. These councils are made up of canons and dignitaries; in the Roman Catholic church their...
of Strasbourg
Strasbourg Cathedral
Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, France. Although considerable parts of it are still in Romanesque architecture, it is widely consideredSusan Bernstein: , The Johns Hopkins University Press to be among the finest...
.
The influence of the Convent of St Faith diminished progressively after 1217 when Sélestat was granted the rights and status of a free city
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...
. Increasingly the convent found itself competing with a growing mercantile class in the young city, and in the process conceding its traditional rights and possessions to the increasingly assertive middle class. That is the context in which, following the population collapse caused by the black death, "Grube et Breytenowe" (Fouchy and Breitenau) were ceded to the lords of Frankenbourg, and came to form a part of Ban County. Fouchy now would share its destiny with the neighboring settlements of Neuve-Église
Neuve-Église
Neuve-Église is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
, Hirtzelbach, Dieffenbach-au-Val
Dieffenbach-au-Val
Dieffenbach-au-Val is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
and Neubois
Neubois
Neubois is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
. In the same year, the Ban county along with the Castle of Frankenbourg were purchased by the Bishop of Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
, John of Lichtenberg. Fouchy thus became an episcopal possession of Strasbourg while continuing to depend for its spiritual sustenance on the Convent of St Faith in Sélestat.
However, during the fifteenth century the spiritual influence exercised by the convent diminished, and in 1464 it was the abbott from Honcourt
Honcourt Abbey
Honcourt Abbey or Hugshofen Abbey was a Benedictine abbey located near the village of Saint-Martin, Bas-Rhin, founded in the year 1000 and dissolved in or very shortly after 1525.-History:The abbey was sited next to the Klosterwald in the village of Saint-Martin...
who appointed the Fouchy rector. In its turn, the power of Honcourt declined and in 1594 Honcourt Abbey
Honcourt Abbey
Honcourt Abbey or Hugshofen Abbey was a Benedictine abbey located near the village of Saint-Martin, Bas-Rhin, founded in the year 1000 and dissolved in or very shortly after 1525.-History:The abbey was sited next to the Klosterwald in the village of Saint-Martin...
came under the control of Andlau Abbey
Andlau Abbey
Andlau Abbey was a women's collegiate foundation for secular canonesses located at Andlau in Alsace, eastern France.-History:...
.
The ravages of the Middle Ages
Because of its position on a stratiegic route between Lorraine and Alsace, Fouchy periodically encountered by transiting armies and pillagers. It was overrun by the Armagnacs in 1444-1445 and endured twenty -five years later the presence of Peter of HagenbachPeter von Hagenbach
Peter von Hagenbach was a Bourguignon knight from Alsace and Germanic military and civil commander....
and his men. Hagenbach was a Burgundian
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...
knight in command of the Ninth Regiment of Charles the Bold. In 1474 Hagenbach would, according to some sources, be executed for war crimes: his reputation was for corruption and brutality. In 1470 he turned up in the valley of Villé
Villé
Villé is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
, accompanied by a band estimated at 5,000 horsemen, en route towards the Pass of Steige
Steige
Steige is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
. The first night he spent at Villé, which he took over along with the Castle of Ortenburg: the next day he established his headquarters at Châtenois
Châtenois, Bas-Rhin
Châtenois is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
, committing numerous atrocities in the process. He then marched on Colmar
Colmar
Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....
where he encountered fierce resistance. He therefore turned his attentions to Breisach
Neuf-Brisach
Neuf-Brisach is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.The town's name means New Breisach, referring to the German town Breisach, located on the other side of the Rhine....
where he would be killed. Charles the Bold himself would be killed in battle at Nancy
Battle of Nancy
The Battle of Nancy was the final and decisive battle of the Burgundian Wars, fought outside the walls of Nancy on 5 January 1477 between Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and René II, Duke of Lorraine...
less than three years later, leaving behind him a disputed succession which would sow the seeds for the end of the Burgundian Kingdom. Alsace had been part of the empire since Ottonian times, and as the fifteenth century drew to a close the directing influence of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
became more visible with the emperor Frederick III
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick the Peaceful KG was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452...
and his Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
dynasty exercising increased levels of central control from Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
Life in the valley became relatively peaceful until 1493 when new troubles erupted: this time the source of the problem was closer to home. There was an uprising of peasant farmers from the areas of Sélestat
Sélestat
Sélestat is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.In 2006, Sélestat had a total population of 19,459. The Communauté de communes de Sélestat et environs had a total population of 35,397.-Geography:...
, Dambach
Dambach, Bas-Rhin
Dambach is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
, Stotzheim
Stotzheim
Stotzheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
, Châtenois
Châtenois, Bas-Rhin
Châtenois is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
, Scherwiller
Scherwiller
Scherwiller is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.The ruined castle of Ramstein is located in Scherwiller.-References:*...
and Dieffenthal
Dieffenthal
Dieffenthal is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
. They were inspired by a former mayor of Sélestat called Jean Uhlmann. Other rebel leaders were Jacques Hanser from Blienschwiller
Blienschwiller
Blienschwiller is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
and Nicolas Ziegler from Stotzheim
Stotzheim
Stotzheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
. Ulhmann soon gave up and sought refuge in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
where he was arrested, convicted and put to death, his body subsequently being quartered. As he died he declared to his judges, "sooner or later, the people's alliance will win". Nicholas Zielger met a similar fate at Sélestat: it is not known what became of Jacques Hanser. Other leading protagonists were captured and punished: some had their fingers cut off while others were banished or fined. The Peasants' uprising of 1493 failed miserably thanks to measures implemented by the emperor's son, the future Emperor Maximilian, when he found himself in Colmar on the way home from Burgundy.
The idea of greater independence and social justice for impoverished peasants had certainly not permanently disappeared, however. Such notions continued to be advocated by committed reformers and found a receptive audience among the people, putting pressure on landowners. In 1524 the 'Peasants' War'
German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt was a widespread popular revolt in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe, 1524–1526. At its height in the spring and summer of 1525, the conflict involved an estimated 300,000 peasants: contemporary estimates put the dead at 100,000...
broke out. In 1525 the inhabitants of Fouchy undoubtedly participated on the fighting, and some undoubtedly were lost on the Battle of Scherwiller
Scherwiller
Scherwiller is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.The ruined castle of Ramstein is located in Scherwiller.-References:*...
. In any event, there is evidence of a savage population reduction.
Fouchy in the Thirty Years War
By 1618 when warThirty 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....
broke out, advances in weapons technology and in military organisation had made warfare significantly more lethal, even, than it had been in the Medieval period, not merely for soldiers but also for any civilian populations that found themselves in the wrong place. Located on a principal communications route, Fouchy was one of several villages in the valley that suffered badly during the Thirty Years War: villagers were frequently forced to seek safety in the forest and many houses were destroyed. Of the fifty-eight houses in the village in 1618, only twenty-five were habitable thirty years later. By 1648 many of the propertied families in the village had simply disappeared: the overall population had declined to 364 by 1660, from a prewar level of 1,050. The valley was ruined economically: climate deterioration experienced in northern Europe during the first half of the seventeenth century will have done nothing to help the survivors at harvest time. Recovery would come to Fouchy only slowly.
Repopulation
The Treaty of Westphalia confirmed the conquest of Alsace by France, and in due course the French state addressed the challenge of rebuilding population levels in its new eastern territories. In about November 1662 the government issued an order encouraging former owners of abandoned lands to return and reclaim their former properties, and in addition encouraging newcomers to colonise the abandoned territories in the region. The only condition imposed on newcomers wishing to settle in the villages was that they must be Roman Catholics. Powerful incentives for newcomers included the offer of a five year exemption from taxation. The policy succeeded, with immigrants arriving from nearby parts of LorraineLorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
, across the Vosges Mountains
Vosges mountains
For the department of France of the same name, see Vosges.The Vosges are a range of low mountains in eastern France, near its border with Germany. They extend along the west side of the Rhine valley in a northnortheast direction, mainly from Belfort to Saverne...
as well as from more distant places. By 1801 the population would be back up to 696 as the village was rebuilt around the church. Today the year 17.. inscribed on several of the older houses in the centre of the village bears silent testimony to a century of peace and reconstruction. These houses are generally of traditional Vosgien stone built construction with a house on one end and a stable at the other, and a barn in the middle. A long corridor from the front leads to a large kitchen at the rear. The stone used is the local sand stone, and the walls are coated with plaster.
Revolutionary Fouchy
The parish was spared the worst excesses of the revolutionFrench 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...
: Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
continued to be celebrated, but the priests avoided drawing attention to themselves and major damage was avoided by means of a ruse in which the parishioners collaborated. To escape the attentions of fanatical 'patriots', the fine 18th century presbytery
Rectory
A rectory is the residence, or former residence, of a rector, most often a Christian cleric, but in some cases an academic rector or other person with that title...
was quietly converted into an inn, complete with its own 'dance room'. Revolutionary fanatics did nevertheless attack rural crosses, though the extent of resulting destruction is hard to assess two centuries later since many crosses appear to have been erected in the nineteenth century and it is no longer clear how far these replace pre-revolutionary forerunners.