The Château de Pierre-Percée ('pierced rock castle') is a ruined

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

found in the '' commune'' of Pierre-Percée in the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The site in the early 12th century was in possession of Agnès, countess of Bar and widow of the count of Langenstein. She married Hermann II, Count of Salm and son of Hermann I, King of Germania (

Eastern Francia East Francia (Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire created in 843 and ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was established through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the fo ...

). A well dug 100 ft (~30 m) into the rock gives the village and the castle their name. The territory, which included the towns of Badonviller (which became the capital of the county) and

Blâmont Blâmont () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France. Population Sights The Château de Blâmont is the medieval castle below which the city grew. See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department *Flore ...

, became for several hundred years part of the hereditary property of the Counts of Salm. Around 1134, Hermann II went to war allied to the

Duke of Lorraine The kings and dukes of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were ...

against the

Count of Bar The County of Bar, later Duchy of Bar, was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire encompassing the '' pays de Barrois'' and centred on the city of Bar-le-Duc. It was held by the House of Montbéliard from the 11th century. Part of the county, ...

and Stephan of Bar, the

Bishop of Metz This is a list of bishops of the Roman Catholic diocese of Metz, which now lies in eastern France. To 500 * Clement of Metz (c. 280–300) * Celestius * Felix I * Patient * Victor I 344–346 * Victor II * Simeon * Sambace * Rufus of Metz * Ad ...

, himself a member of the Bar family. Hermann was killed on the battlefield outside the

Château de Frouard A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...

. The castle at Pierre-Percée was besieged for a year and fell into the hands of the bishop of Metz with the death of Hermann's eldest son. The castle was not besieged again until the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

(1618-1648) when, being deserted, it was destroyed by Franco-Swedish troops. State property, the Château de Pierre-Percée is listed as a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

External links

* ''This article was initially translated from part of this Wikipedia article « :fr:Pierre-Percée », specifically fro
this version
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierre-Percee, Chateau de Ruined castles in Grand Est Châteaux in Meurthe-et-Moselle Monuments historiques of Meurthe-et-Moselle