Morteau
Encyclopedia
Morteau is a commune
, in the Doubs
department in the Franche-Comté
region
in eastern France
.
river valley.
The proximity of Switzerland
(10 km from Neuchâtel) gives jobs to transborder workers, as well as providing a clientele for the businesses of the Morteau valley.
, at the side of Arvernes, there were an equal number of Mandubiens, the people of Doubs. They were the best riders of Vercingetorix
.
, the Alamanni
invaded the region, followed by the Burgundians
.
The region was influenced by the Normans
, the Hungarian descendants of the Huns
, the Sarrasins. These Arabs stopped by Charles Martel
in 732, had followed the valley of the river Saône
. Locally, their name was given to the tiny village of Sarrazins above Montlebon.
, however, did not appear until 1366.
A half dozen Benedictine monks of the Cluny order arrived at this time to clear the mountains. They stayed with a resident of the Mondey area and quickly hired workers. They brought in whole families into five districts, each now cities in their own right: Morteau, Villers-le-Lac, Montlebon and Grand'Combe-Châteleu
.
Morteau had a feudal castle built on the eastern side of Mondey, it overlooked the ancient celtic road which linked Besançon to Switzerland. The plague killed two thirds of the valley's inhabitants in 1349. The population was rebuilt by immigrants from the canton of Fribourg
and the Aoste valley.
for example, as well as the drinks (syrups and lemonades Rième) and candies (chocolates and caramels Klaus
) have made the city renoun.
Smoked "Saucisse de Morteau" has to meet a long list of demanding criteria, such as the origin of the meat, how the animals have been fed with, the type of wood that has been used to smoke the sausages,the specific model of chimney. It also has to be produced in Franche-Comté only. It has recently obtained even more juridical protection in order to maintain the high quality of the product on a long term basis.
Every August, a two-day celebration takes place into town, in order to determine the "Sausage Gold Award", and it has been ranked among the top three stupidest and most pointless village fete of the country, by a famous weekly French magazine.
Watchmaking was for many years the principal industry of the region. In 1680, a young smith from Sagne repaired an imported English watch and decided to copy it.
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 Doubs
Doubs
Doubs is a department the Franche-Comté region of eastern France named after the Doubs River.-History:As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the northern two-thirds of Doubs spoke the Franc-Comtois language, a dialect of Langue d'Oïl. Residents of the southern third of Doubs spoke a dialect...
department in the 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...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in 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...
.
Geography
This little city is situated in a widening of the DoubsDoubs River
The Doubs is a 453 km long river in eastern France and western Switzerland, left tributary of the Saône. Its source is near Mouthe in the western Jura mountains....
river valley.
The proximity of 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....
(10 km from Neuchâtel) gives jobs to transborder workers, as well as providing a clientele for the businesses of the Morteau valley.
History
The Roman expansion (200 BCE, 100 CE) began the decline of the Celts. At the Battle of AlesiaBattle of Alesia
The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia took place in September, 52 BC around the Gallic oppidum of Alesia, a major town centre and hill fort of the Mandubii tribe...
, at the side of Arvernes, there were an equal number of Mandubiens, the people of Doubs. They were the best riders of Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe, who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars....
.
Early Middle Ages
At the end of the Roman EmpireRoman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, the Alamanni
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...
invaded the region, followed by the Burgundians
Burgundians
The Burgundians were an East Germanic tribe which may have emigrated from mainland Scandinavia to the island of Bornholm, whose old form in Old Norse still was Burgundarholmr , and from there to mainland Europe...
.
The region was influenced by the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
, the Hungarian descendants of the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
, the Sarrasins. These Arabs stopped by Charles Martel
Charles Martel
Charles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
in 732, had followed the valley of the river Saône
Saône
The Saône is a river of eastern France. It is a right tributary of the River Rhône. Rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department, it joins the Rhône in Lyon....
. Locally, their name was given to the tiny village of Sarrazins above Montlebon.
Middle Ages
In 1105 the name of Morteau appeared for the first time officially. The name of Franche-ComtéFranche-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...
, however, did not appear until 1366.
A half dozen Benedictine monks of the Cluny order arrived at this time to clear the mountains. They stayed with a resident of the Mondey area and quickly hired workers. They brought in whole families into five districts, each now cities in their own right: Morteau, Villers-le-Lac, Montlebon and Grand'Combe-Châteleu
Grand'Combe-Châteleu
Grand'Combe-Châteleu is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-Population:-References:*...
.
Morteau had a feudal castle built on the eastern side of Mondey, it overlooked the ancient celtic road which linked Besançon to Switzerland. The plague killed two thirds of the valley's inhabitants in 1349. The population was rebuilt by immigrants from the canton of Fribourg
Canton of Fribourg
The Canton of Fribourg is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the west of the country. The capital of the canton is Fribourg. The name Fribourg is French, whereas is the German name for both the canton and the town.-History:...
and the Aoste valley.
Fires
Over eight centuries, seventeen major fires occurred in Morteau, the worst in 1639, 1683, 1702, 1849 and 1865.Economy
For many centuries, livestock have formed a mainstay of the economy. It is impossible to give a precise origin to the well known montbéliarde breed since all of the livestock in central Europe have similar characteristics and transborder exchanges were always common. One can see white cattle with red stops in certain provinces of the Czech and Slovak republics similar to those from Franche-Comté. The traditional smoked sausages, Morteau SausageMorteau Sausage
The saucisse de Morteau, also known as the Belle de Morteau, is a traditional smoked sausage from the Morteau region of France . It is smoked in traditional pyramidal chimneys, called tuyés...
for example, as well as the drinks (syrups and lemonades Rième) and candies (chocolates and caramels Klaus
Klaus
Klaus is a German given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the given name Nicholas.-Notable persons whose family name is Klaus:*Billy Klaus, baseball player.*Chris Klaus, entrepreneur....
) have made the city renoun.
Smoked "Saucisse de Morteau" has to meet a long list of demanding criteria, such as the origin of the meat, how the animals have been fed with, the type of wood that has been used to smoke the sausages,the specific model of chimney. It also has to be produced in Franche-Comté only. It has recently obtained even more juridical protection in order to maintain the high quality of the product on a long term basis.
Every August, a two-day celebration takes place into town, in order to determine the "Sausage Gold Award", and it has been ranked among the top three stupidest and most pointless village fete of the country, by a famous weekly French magazine.
Watchmaking was for many years the principal industry of the region. In 1680, a young smith from Sagne repaired an imported English watch and decided to copy it.
Population
Sights
- Morteau has two very nice chateaus: the Château Pertusier and the current city hall.
- The Château Pertusier was built in 1576 by the Cuche family. During the Swedish attack in 1639, the tower at the top of the winding staircase caught fire and the western side was shot at. One can still see the bullet scars of the biscayens Swedes. The Bole family was then the owner. During the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe 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...
, a lawyer from BesançonBesançonBesançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...
, Jean-Charles Pertusier bought the building, which had become national property, for a sum of 900 987 pounds. The house and its grounds were bought by the commune in 1935. This building is now one of the few examples of Renaissance ArchitectureRenaissance architectureRenaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
in the Haut-Doubs. - The city hall was built in 1590 by the Fauche family. Occupied by the officers of Saxe-Weimar, it did not suffer during the war and passed into the hands of the Benedictines, then into those of the Roussel brothers. The commune of Morteau acquired the property in 1793. It now holds some of the municipal offices as well as the famous Black Book, kept safe in the mayor's office. In 1454, a city notary wrote in this book the records of the entire priory. It contains 54 charters from 1188 to 1514, letters of charter, sentences, arrests and conventions. Brought to SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 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....
during the Swedish invasion, it was recovered intact after the war.
Notable
- The train station in the city is the site of various scenes from the film Monsieur Batignole starring Gérard JugnotGérard JugnotGérard Jugnot is a French actor, film director, screenwriter and producer.Jugnot was one of the founders of the comedy troupe Le Splendid in the 1970s, along with, among others, his high-school friends Christian Clavier, Thierry Lhermitte, and Michel Blanc...
and Damien Jouillerot (who is from the region); - It is the site of several scenes from the film L'AdversaireL'AdversaireThe Adversary is a 2002 French drama film directed by Nicole Garcia, starring Daniel Auteuil and Géraldine Pailhas.Based on the 2000 book of the same name by Emmanuel Carrère, it is inspired by the real-life story of Jean-Claude Romand...
with Daniel AuteuilDaniel AuteuilDaniel Auteuil is a French film, television and theatre actor.-Early life and education:He was born in Algiers, French Algeria.-Career:...
; - Laurence Semonin, known as "Madeleine Proust", is from Arces, a hamlet of Morteau;
- The mathematician Jean-Claude Bouquet (1819–1885) was from Morteau.
International relations
Morteau is twinned with:
VöhrenbachVöhrenbachVöhrenbach is a town in the district of Schwarzwald-Baar, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the Breg River, 12 km west of Villingen-Schwenningen....
, GermanyGermanyGermany , 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...