Morteau () is a commune, in the

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.department in the

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in Eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region c ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

, eastern

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 ar ...

. 300px, The road of Villers-le-Lac (D215) along the Doubs (river).">Doubs_(river).html" ;"title="Villers-le-Lac (D215) along the Doubs (river)">Villers-le-Lac (D215) along the Doubs (river).

Geography

This little city is situated in a widening of the Doubs (river)">Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.Switzerland (11 km to Le Locle, 21 km to La Chaux-de-Fonds) gives jobs to trans-border workers, as well as providing clientele for the businesses of the Morteau valley.

History

The Roman expansion (200 BCE, 100 CE) began the decline of the

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

. At the

Battle of Alesia The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia (September 52 BC) was a military engagement in the Gallic Wars around the Gallic ''oppidum'' (fortified settlement) of Alesia in modern France, a major centre of the Mandubii tribe. It was fought by ...

, at the side of

Arvernes The Arverni (Gaulish: *''Aruernoi'') were a Gallic people dwelling in the modern Auvergne region during the Iron Age and the Roman period. They were one of the most powerful tribes of ancient Gaul, contesting primacy over the region with the ne ...

, there were an equal number of Mandubiens, the people of Doubs. They were the best riders of

Vercingetorix Vercingetorix (; Greek: Οὐερκιγγετόριξ; – 46 BC) was a Gallic king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in a failed revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Despite ha ...

Early Middle Ages

At the end of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

, the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pr ...

invaded the region, followed by the Burgundians. The region was influenced by the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. T ...

, the Hungarian descendants of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

, the Sarrasins. These

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

stopped by

Charles Martel Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish state ...

in 732, had followed the valley of the river

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 der ...

. Locally, their name was given to the tiny village of Sarrazins above Montlebon.

Middle Ages

In 1105 the name of Morteau appeared for the first time officially. The name of

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

, however, did not appear until 1366. A half dozen Benedictine monks of the Cluny order arrived at this time to clear the mountains. They stayed with a resident of the Mondey area and quickly hired workers. They brought in whole families into five districts, each now cities in their own right: Morteau, Villers-le-Lac,

Montlebon Montlebon () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Geography Montlebon lies south of Morteau. Population See also * Communes of the Doubs department The following is a list of the 5 ...

and

Grand'Combe-Châteleu Grand'Combe-Châteleu () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Doubs department The following is a list of the 571 communes of the Doubs departme ...

. Morteau had a feudal castle built on the eastern side of Mondey, it overlooked the ancient Celtic road which linked Besançon to Switzerland. The plague killed two thirds of the valley's inhabitants in 1349. The population was rebuilt by immigrants from the canton of

Fribourg , Location of , Location of () () or , ; or , ; gsw, label=Swiss German, Frybùrg ; it, Friburgo or ; rm, Friburg. is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), ...

and the Aoste valley.

Fires

Over eight centuries, seventeen major fires occurred in Morteau, the worst in 1639, 1683, 1702, 1849 and 1865.

Economy

For many centuries, livestock have formed a mainstay of the economy. It is impossible to give a precise origin to the well known montbéliarde breed since all of the livestock in central Europe have similar characteristics and transborder exchanges were always common. One can see white cattle with red stops in certain provinces of Czechia and Slovakia similar to those from Franche-Comté. The traditional smoked sausages, Morteau Sausage for example, as well as the drinks (syrups and lemonade
Rième
and candies (chocolates and caramels Klaus) have made the city renowned. Smoked "Saucisse de Morteau" has to meet a long list of demanding criteria, such as the origin of the meat, how the animals have been fed with, the type of wood that has been used to smoke the sausages, the specific model of chimney. It also has to be produced in Franche-Comté only. It has recently obtained even more juridical protection in order to maintain the high quality of the product on a long term basis. Every August, a two-day celebration takes place into town, in order to determine the "Sausage Gold Award", and it has been ranked among the top three stupidest and most pointless village fete of the country, by a famous weekly French magazine. Watchmaking was for many years the principal industry of the region. In 1680, a young smith from Sagne repaired an imported English watch and decided to copy it. The watchmaker Pequignet is based in Morteau.

Population

Sights

* Morteau has two very nice chateaus: the Château Pertusier and the current city hall. * The Château Pertusier was built in 1576 by the Cuche family. During the Swedish attack in 1639, the tower at the top of the winding staircase caught fire and the western side was shot at. One can still see the bullet scars of the biscayens Swedes. The Bole family was then the owner. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, a lawyer from

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerla ...

, Jean-Charles Pertusier bought the building, which had become national property, for a sum of 900 987 pounds. The house and its grounds were bought by the commune in 1935. This building is now one of the few examples of

Renaissance Architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought ...

in the Haut-Doubs. * The city hall was built in 1590 by the Fauche family. Occupied by the officers of Saxe-Weimar, it did not suffer during the war and passed into the hands of the Benedictines, then into those of the Roussel brothers. The commune of Morteau acquired the property in 1793. It now holds some of the municipal offices as well as the famous Black Book, kept safe in the mayor's office. In 1454, a city notary wrote in this book the records of the entire priory. It contains 54 charters from 1188 to 1514, letters of charter, sentences, arrests and conventions. Brought to Switzerland during the Swedish invasion, it was recovered intact after the war.

Notable

* The train station in the city is the site of various scenes from the film '' Monsieur Batignole'' starring

Gérard Jugnot Gérard Jugnot (; born 4 May 1951) is a French actor, film director, screenwriter and film producer. Jugnot was one of the founders of the comedy ''troupe'' Le Splendid in the 1970s, along with, among others, his high-school friends Christian C ...

and Damien Jouillerot (who is from the region); * It is the site of several scenes from the film '' L'Adversaire'' with Daniel Auteuil; * Laurence Semonin, known as " Madeleine Proust", is from Arces, a hamlet of Morteau; * The mathematician

Jean Claude Bouquet Jean-Claude Bouquet (7 September 1819 – 9 September 1885) was a French mathematician who worked with Charles Briot on doubly periodic functions. Bouquet became friends with Briot at the Lycée and wanted to become a mathematics teacher. Biogr ...

(1819–1885) was from Morteau.

International relations

Morteau is twinned with: * Vöhrenbach,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...