René Poupardin

“ He obtained a dispensation to marry his cousin, Claude of Lorraine, and died in 1670. He had one son, Charles, who in 1675 took the title of duke of Lorraine and was recognized by all the powers except France. After an unsuccessful attempt to seize Lorraine in 1676, Charles vainly solicited the throne of Poland, took an active part in the wars in Hungary, and married Eleanor of Austria, sister of the emperor Leopold I., in 1678. At the treaty of Nijmwegen France proposed to restore his estates on condition that he should abandon a part of them ”

“ He had, however, constituted his daughter Margaret sovereign-governess of Franche-Comté for life, and under the administration of this princess (who died in 1530) , as under the rule of Charles V., the country enjoyed comparative independence, paying a “don gratuit” of 200,000 livres every three years, and being actually governed by the parliament of Dôle, and by governors chosen from the nobility of the country. It was Franche-Comté which furnished Philip II. of Spain with one of his best counsellors, Cardinal Perrenot de Granvella. ”

“ At his death in February 1766 the two duchies of Lorraine and Bar became definitively incorporated in the kingdom of France. The treaties of 1735 and 1736, however, guaranteed their legislation, the privileges enjoyed by the three orders, and their common law and customs tariffs, which they retained until the French Revolution. Lorraine and Barrois formed a large government corresponding, together with the little government of the three bishoprics, to the intendance of Lorraine and the généralité of Metz. ”

“ On the death of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1100 Lower Lorraine was given to Henry, count of Limburg. The new duke supported the emperor Henry IV. in his struggles with his sons, and in consequence was deposed by the emperor Henry V., who gave the duchy in 1106 to Godfrey, count of Louvain, a descendant of the Lotharingian dukes of the beginning of the 10th century. This Godfrey was the first hereditary duke of Brabant, as the dukes of Lower Lorraine came to be called. ”

“ Lorraine in Modern Times.—Francis’s son Charles III. or II., called the Great, succeeded under the tutelage of his mother and Nicholas of Vaudemont, bishop of Metz. Henry II. of France took this opportunity to invade Lorraine, and in 1552 seized the three bishoprics of Metz, Toul and Verdun. In the same year the emperor laid siege to Metz, but was forced to retreat with heavy loss before the energetic resistance of Duke Francis of Guise. On leaving Lorraine, Henry II. took Charles to France, brought him up at the court and married him to his daughter Claude. ”

“ To obviate these difficulties Bruno divided the ducal authority, assigning Lower Lorraine to a certain Duke Godfrey, who was styled dux Ripuariorum, and Upper Lorraine to Frederick (d. 959) , count of Bar, a member of the house of Ardenne and son-in-law of Hugh the Great, with the title of dux Mosellanorum; and it is probable that the partition of the ancient kingdom of Lorraine into two new duchies was confirmed by Otto after Bruno’s death in 965. ”

“ It was to the inhabitants of this region that the name of Lotharienses or Lotharingi was primitively applied, although the word Lotharingia, as the designation of the country, only appears in the middle of the 10th century. ”

“ Alix, daughter of Beatrix and of Otto of Meran, and heiress to the countship of Burgundy, married Hugh of Chalon, son of John the Ancient or the Wise (d. 1248) , and a descendant of William III. and consequently of William the Headstrong, thus bringing the countship back into the family of its former lords. His son Otto IV. (1279–1303) engaged in war against the bishop of Basel, and the German king Rudolph I., who supported the latter, entered Franche-Comté and besieged Besançon, but without success (1289) . ”

“ Franche-Comté became a military government (gouvernement) . The estates ceased to meet, and the old “don gratuit” was replaced by a tax which became increasingly heavy. Louis made Besançon, which Vauban fortified, into the capital of the province, and transferred to it the parliament and the university, the seat of which had hitherto been Dôle. For purposes of administration, the county was divided among the four great bailliages of Besançon, Dôle, Amont (chief town Vesoul) and Aval (chief town Salins) . At the Revolution were formed from it the departments of Jura, Doubs and Haute-Saône. ”