The County of Ferrette (or Pfirt) was a
feudal jurisdiction in
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
and the
early modern period. It roughly corresponds with the
Sundgau and comprised the lordships of
Ferrette
Ferrette (; german: Pfirt ; gsw-FR, Pfìrt) 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
The County ...
(Pfirt),
Altkirch
Altkirch (, ; gsw, label= Alsatian, Àltkìrech) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.
The town is traditionally regarded as the capital of Sundgau.
Etymology
The name of the commune means ''old churc ...
,
Thann,
Belfort
Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Terri ...
,
Rougemont and others. These territories were not contiguous, but formed a patchwork of jurisdictions under the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
.
[Richard Vaughan, ''Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy'' (Boydell, 1973), pp. 86–88.]
The County of Ferrette emerged in the twelfth century alongside the
County of Montbéliard
The Princely County of Montbéliard (french: Comté princier de Montbéliard; german: Grafschaft Mömpelgard), was a princely county of the Holy Roman Empire seated in the city of Montbéliard in the present-day Franche-Comté region of France. ...
as a division of the ''
pagus
In ancient Rome, the Latin word (plural ) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (), and strongholds () serving as refuges, as well as an early medieval geogra ...
'' of
Elsgau, traditionally regarded as the southernmost ''pagus'' of Alsace.
[Tom Scott, ''Regional Identity and Economic Change: The Upper Rhine, 1450–1600'' (Clarendon, 1999), p. 29.] This was a
Francophone region.
[
In the late Middle Ages, the County of Ferrette was the most westerly Habsburg possession and a part of ]Further Austria
Further Austria, Outer Austria or Anterior Austria (german: Vorderösterreich, formerly ''die Vorlande'' (pl.)) was the collective name for the early (and later) possessions of the House of Habsburg in the former Swabian stem duchy of south-wes ...
. It bordered the French Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy (; la, Ducatus Burgundiae; french: Duché de Bourgogne, ) emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the ...
and all four dukes of the House of Valois
The Capetian house of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the f ...
who ruled from 1363 until 1477 made efforts to acquire it.[Richard Vaughan, ''Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy'' (Boydell, 1970), p. 31.] It was the object of a complicated series of marriage negotiations under the first duke, Philip the Bold
Philip II the Bold (; ; 17 January 1342 – 27 April 1404) was Duke of Burgundy and ''jure uxoris'' Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy. He was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg.
Philip II w ...
. In 1387, Duke Leopold IV of Austria married Catherine
Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria.
In the early Christ ...
, daughter of Philip the Bold, fulfilling an agreement first reached in 1378. For her dower
Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law. ...
she received some rents in the county and finally in 1403 the entire county, whose officers paid homage to her on 6 February 1404.[Richard Vaughan, ''Philip the Bold: The Formation of the Burgundian State'' (Boydell, 1962), pp. 83–85.]
When Leopold died childless in 1411, he was succeeded by his brother, Frederick IV, who seized the county of Ferrette, leaving Catherine only two castles, one of which was Belfort.[ Catherine, however, claimed the whole county belonged to her. Her brother, Duke ]John the Fearless
John I (french: Jean sans Peur; nl, Jan zonder Vrees; 28 May 137110 September 1419) was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State from 1404 until his death in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs durin ...
, garrisoned the castles on her behalf. These garrisons were small. To Belfort he sent only a castellan, nine squire
In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight.
Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire served as a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might come to be known as a ...
s, a cannoneer
"Cannoneer" as a term for an artilleryman dates from the 16th century. the United States Army uses as titles for such a soldier: "13B" (thirteen bravo) M.O.S. (military occupational specialty code), a "cannon crewmember" or "cannoneer" for sho ...
and some valets
A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet ...
.[Richard Vaughan, ''John the Fearless: The Growth of Burgundian Power'' (Boydell, 1973), p. 151.]
The dispute over Ferrette continued into the reign of John's son, Philip the Good. In 1420, he made an agreement with Catherine whereby he gave her an annual pension of 3,000 franc
The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...
s and promised to help recover the county in return for being named as her heir. Philip opened negotiations with Frederick, even threatening war in 1422–23, but made no progress. There were hostilities between Catherine's men and the Habsburgs' in those same years, but Frederick even managed to take back Belfort. Catherine died childless in 1425, but the Burgundian claim was not immediately or permanently dropped.[
In 1427, a conference was held at ]Montbéliard
Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department.
History
Montbéliard is ...
whereat Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy
Amadeus VIII (4 September 1383 – 7 January 1451), nicknamed the Peaceful, was Count of Savoy from 1391 to 1416 and Duke of Savoy from 1416 to 1440. He was the son of Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy and Bonne of Berry. He was a claimant to the papac ...
, mediated the dispute. A treaty between the Archduke of Austria and the Duke of Burgundy seems to have been signed in mid-1428. Nevertheless, Ferrette, because it lay on the common border between the two houses, was as at the centre of the fighting in the brief Austro-Burgundian war of 1431. During the war, Philip's men successfully captured Belfort in a night attack. A truce was signed in October 1431 and a peace treaty in May 1432. In 1434, Philip bought up the claim of Catherine's sister, Margaret, to the county of Ferrette.[Vaughan, ''Philip the Good'', p. 53.]
On 9 May 1469, by the Treaty of Saint-Omer In the Treaty of Saint-Omer, Archduke Sigismund of Habsburg mortgaged the County of Ferrette along with the Landgraviate of Upper Alsace to Duke Charles the Bold, in Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais) on 9 May 1469. The treaty laid the foundation for the ...
, Archduke Sigismund of Austria
Sigismund (26 October 1427 – 4 March 1496), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1439 (elevated to Archduke in 1477) until his death. As a scion of the Habsburg Leopoldian line, he ruled over Further Austria and the ...
mortgaged the County of Ferrette along with the Landgraviate of Upper Alsace to Duke Charles of Burgundy to secure a loan of 50,000 florins
The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
. By the terms of the loan, the principal as well as Charles's administrative expenses had to be repaid in a single lump sum, making it unlikely that the Habsburgs would ever discharge it. Charles's own power, however, was limited by the fact that many of the rights of the counts had been pawned by the Habsburgs. Ferrette itself, for example, was in pawn for 7,000 florins.[
__NOTOC__
]
List of counts
House of Scarponnois
:1105–1160 Frederick I Frederick I may refer to:
* Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht.
* Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978)
* Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105)
* Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...
:1160–1191 Louis Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ( ...
:1191–1233 Frederick II
:1233–1275 Ulrich II
:1275–1311/16 Theobald Theobald is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Normans.
The name occurs in many spelling variations, including Theudebald, Diepold, Theobalt, Tyb ...
:1311/16–1324 Ulrich III
:1324–1351/52 Joanna
Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice ...
House of Habsburg
The numbering of the Habsburgs is their family numbering.
:1324–1358 Albert II
:1358–1365 Rudolf IV
Rudolf IV (1 November 1339 – 27 July 1365), also called Rudolf the Founder (german: der Stifter), was a scion of the House of Habsburg who ruled as duke of Austria (self-proclaimed archduke), Styria and Carinthia from 1358, as well as cou ...
:1365–1386 Leopold III
:1386–1395 Albert III
:1395–1406 Leopold IV
:1406–1439 Frederick IV
:1439–1469 Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...
House of Valois
:1469–1477 Charles
:1477–1482 Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
House of Habsburg
:1477–1519 Maximilian I
:1519–1558 Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infa ...
:1558–1564 Ferdinand I
:1564–1595 Ferdinand II
:1595–1619 Matthias
:1619–1623 Ferdinand II
:1623–1632 Leopold V
:1632–1648 Ferdinand Charles
Notes
Further reading
*Goutzwiller, Charles
''Le comté de Ferrette: esquisses historiques''.
Altkirch: J. Boehrer, 1868.
*Heider, Christine. "Thann, ville domaniale et chef-lieu de bailliage sous les Ferrette et les Habsbourg". ''Revue d'Alsace'', 128 (2002), pp. 101–122.
*Köbler, Gerhard. ''Historisches Lexikon der Deutschen Länder: die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart''. Munich: C. H. Beck, 2007.
*Quiquerez, Auguste
''Histoire des comtes de Ferrette''.
Montbéliard: Henri Barbier ,1863.
*Wilsdorf, Christian
''Histoire des comtes de Ferrette (1105–1324)''.
Altkirch: Société d'histoire Sundgauvienne, 1991.
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History of Alsace
Counties of the Holy Roman Empire