Duchy of Lorraine
The Duchy of Lorraine was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire which existed from the 10th century until 1766 when it was annexed by the kingdom of France. It gave its name to the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France ...
, La Mothe-en-Bassigny was built up over centuries to fight back intermittent waves of French invaders, by whose hands it was besieged in 1634 leading to its surrender, temporary return to the Duke, three further sieges and ordered destruction in 1645. It remains a ruin.
It is between the villages of Outremécourt and Soulaucourt-sur-Mouzon (
Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Neufchâteau,
Vosges
The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single geomorphological unit and ...
.
History
The citadel was founded in 1258 and soon became a key commercial town of 2,000 inhabitants. In the 17th century, the Duke of Lorraine Charles IV lost all his possessions to
cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, 1st Duke of Richelieu (9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), commonly known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic prelate and statesman who had an outsized influence in civil and religi ...
except La Mothe. In 1634, the citadel withstood a siege of 141 days before it surrendered on 26 July 1634.
La Mothe was given back to the Duke in 1641. It was besieged three more times: 25 July - 30 August 1642, December 1642 - May 1643 and the last, begun by Mazarin, on 4 December 1644. After 205 days of resistance the city surrendered on 1 July 1645. Contrary to the agreement, Mazarin destroyed not only the fortifications, but the entire city.
This period was always a painful memory in
Lorraine
Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...
. French authorities, conscious of this, divided as
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 ...
into its departments so that La Mothe forms a projection of
Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.historical monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...
" in 1923 and large-scale restoration work was undertaken.