Langres
Encyclopedia
Langres is a commune in north-eastern France
. It is a subprefecture
of the Haute-Marne
département in the Champagne-Ardenne
region.
tribe the Lingones
, it was called Andematunnum, then Lingones, and now Langres.
The town is built on a limestone
promontory of the same name. This stronghold was originally occupied by the Gauls
, and, at a later date the Romans fortified the town belonging to the Celtic tribe the Lingones; Andemantunum the strategic cross-roads of twelve Roman road
s. The 1st century Triumphal Gate and the many artefacts exhibited in the museums are witnesses to the Gallo-Roman town.
After the period of invasions, the town prospered in the Middle Ages
due, in part, to the growing political influence of its bishop
s. The diocese covered Champagne
, the Duchy of Burgundy
and Franche-Comté
, and the bishops gained the right to coin money in the 9th century and to name the military governor of the city in 927. The Bishop of Langres was a duke and peer of France
. The troubled 14th and 15th centuries were reason enough for the town to strengthen its fortifications, which still give the old part of the city its fortified character, and Langres entered a period of royal tutelage. The Renaissance
, which returned prosperity to the town, saw the construction of numerous fine civil, religious and military buildings that still stand today. In the 19th century, a "Vauban
" citadel was added.
s surrounding the old city (3.5 km), including a dozen towers and seven gates.
The cathedral of Saint-Mammès is a late 12th-century structure dedicated to Mammes of Caesarea
, a 3rd century martyr.
-protected cheese
of the same name. It is a soft, pungent cow's milk cheese that is known for its rind, which is washed.
Langres was also a town where Jehan Tabourot (known as Thoinot Arbeau
) wrote his famous book on dance and music Orchésographie.
, United Kingdom
- since 1995 Ellwangen
, Germany
- since 1964 Abbiategrasso
, Italy
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 is a subprefecture
Sous-préfecture
Subprefectures are the administrative towns of arrondissements in France that do not contain the prefecture for its department. Subprefecture is also the name given to the building which houses the administrative headquarters for the arrondissement....
of the Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne is a department in the northeast of France named after the Marne River.-History:Haute-Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
département in the Champagne-Ardenne
Champagne-Ardenne
Champagne-Ardenne is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northeast of the country, bordering Belgium, and consists of four departments: Aube, Ardennes, Haute-Marne, and Marne. The region is famous for its sparkling white wine . Its rivers, most of which flow west, include the...
region.
History
As the capital of the Romanized GallicGauls
The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
tribe the Lingones
Lingones
Lingones were a Celtic tribe that originally lived in Gaul in the area of the headwaters of the Seine and Marne rivers. Some of the Lingones migrated across the Alps and settled near the mouth of the Po River in Cisalpine Gaul of northern Italy around 400 BCE. These Lingones were part of a wave of...
, it was called Andematunnum, then Lingones, and now Langres.
The town is built on a limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
promontory of the same name. This stronghold was originally occupied by the Gauls
Gauls
The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
, and, at a later date the Romans fortified the town belonging to the Celtic tribe the Lingones; Andemantunum the strategic cross-roads of twelve Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
s. The 1st century Triumphal Gate and the many artefacts exhibited in the museums are witnesses to the Gallo-Roman town.
After the period of invasions, the town prospered 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...
due, in part, to the growing political influence of its bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s. The diocese covered Champagne
Champagne (province)
The Champagne wine region is a historic province within the Champagne administrative province in the northeast of France. The area is best known for the production of the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name...
, the Duchy of Burgundy
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...
and 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...
, and the bishops gained the right to coin money in the 9th century and to name the military governor of the city in 927. The Bishop of Langres was a duke and peer of France
Peerage of France
The Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
. The troubled 14th and 15th centuries were reason enough for the town to strengthen its fortifications, which still give the old part of the city its fortified character, and Langres entered a period of royal tutelage. The Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, which returned prosperity to the town, saw the construction of numerous fine civil, religious and military buildings that still stand today. In the 19th century, a "Vauban
Vauban
Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
" citadel was added.
Main sights
Today Langres is a historical town with numerous art treasures within the ancient defensive wallDefensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
s surrounding the old city (3.5 km), including a dozen towers and seven gates.
The cathedral of Saint-Mammès is a late 12th-century structure dedicated to Mammes of Caesarea
Mammes of Caesarea
Saint Mammes of Caesarea ; is a semi-legendary child-martyr of the 3rd century. He was martyred at Caesarea. His parents, Theodotus and Rufina, were also martyred.-Life:...
, a 3rd century martyr.
Culture
Langres is home to producers of an AOCAppellation d'Origine Contrôlée
Appellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...
-protected cheese
Langres (cheese)
Langres is a French cheese from the plateau of Langres in the region of Champagne-Ardenne. It has benefited from a Appellation d'origine contrôlée since 1991....
of the same name. It is a soft, pungent cow's milk cheese that is known for its rind, which is washed.
Notable people
Langres was the birthplace of:- Jeanne ManceJeanne ManceJeanne Mance was a French settler of New France. She was one of the founders of Montreal who secured its survival and was the founder and head of the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal.-Origins:...
(1606–1673), the co-founder of MontrealMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America... - Claude GillotClaude GillotClaude Gillot was a French painter, best known as the master of Watteau and Lancret. He had Watteau as an apprentice between 1703 and 1708....
(1673–1722), painterPaintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is... - Denis DiderotDenis DiderotDenis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during the Enlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie....
(1713–1784), the philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, and the editor-in-chief of the EncyclopédieEncyclopédieEncyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It was edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert...
. - Jules ViolleJules ViolleJules Louis Gabriel Violle was a French physicist and inventor.He is notable for having determined the solar constant at Mont Blanc in 1875, and, in 1881, for proposing a standard for luminous intensity, called the Violle, equal to the light emitted by 1 cm² of platinum at its melting point...
(1841–1923), physicistPhysicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and inventor
Langres was also a town where Jehan Tabourot (known as Thoinot Arbeau
Thoinot Arbeau
Thoinot Arbeau is the anagrammatic pen name of French cleric Jehan Tabourot . Tabourot is most famous for his Orchésographie, a study of late sixteenth-century French Renaissance social dance...
) wrote his famous book on dance and music Orchésographie.
Twin towns
Langres is twinned with: BeaconsfieldBeaconsfield
Beaconsfield is a market town and civil parish operating as a town council within the South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. It lies northwest of Charing Cross in Central London, and south-east of the county town of Aylesbury...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- since 1995 Ellwangen
Ellwangen
Ellwangen an der Jagst, officially Ellwangen , in common use simply Ellwangen is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in the east of Baden-Württemberg in Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
- since 1964 Abbiategrasso
Abbiategrasso
Abbiategrasso is a comune and town in the province of Milan, Italian region of Lombardy, situated in the Po valley approximately 22 km from Milan and 38 km from Pavia.- History :The town dates from Roman times...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Diocese of Langres
- Langres official website (in French)
- Translation page wikipedia > en in > fr