Saône
The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île.
The name ...
'') is a
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
Inhabitants are called ''Monthurolais''.
History
Origins and Etymology
The name Monthureux comes from the base Latin word "monasteriolum" meaning 'little monastery'. By the fourteenth century the name had mutated to Monstreuil.
The origins of the little town are uncertain. During the turbulent aftermath of the
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...
period, the site currently occupied by Monthureux-sur-Saône was probably abandoned to the forest. The name "Monasteriolum" (little monastery) only dates from the end of the ninth century. Subsequent spelling included "Monstreuil", "Montreuil", "Montreux" and "Montureux". The "h" in the spelling of the modern name is believed to result from a clerical error by a transcriber in 1628 who wrote "Montheureux".
The beginnings of Monthureux are frequently thought to involve the Gallo-Roman cemetery and the feudal castle, but the site was actually settled long before the arrival of the Romans. The town was settled in the time of the Lingons who had their capital at Langres, and who controlled the territory in this area all the way to the Upper Saône valley (modern
Haute-Saône
Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.Forest of Darney.
Romans and their successors
Once the Romans arrived, they organised the construction of various military roads, one of which passes Monthureux on the way from Langres to
Baccarat
Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score ...
.
After the Romans came the
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
and the Burgundians and presumably these tribes populated the region. However, it is probably that during the time Monthureux itself was not populated.
Medieval
The monastery for which the town is named may have dated back to the Carolingian period. The current church positioned on the site of the old monastery was completely rebuilt in the sixteenth century, but some traces of the eleventh-century arches survive on the exterior of the building on its north side. Of the priory itself, just two massive pillars survive, at the foot of an old stone staircase leading to the old cemetery.
Personalities
# Charles Levy (1805-1872), born at Monthureux-sur-Saône, registered a patent for a
nail
Nail or Nails may refer to:
In biology
* Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal digit, such as fingernail
* Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip ...
manufacturing machine that improved the production process. A street at Bains-les-Bains is named after him.
# Charles Godard (1827-1899), born at Monthureux-sur-Saône, was an architect who worked for the diocese of Langres and a prodigious builder of churches in the area.