Sainte-Menehould (; ) is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. The 18th-century French playwright Charles-Georges Fenouillot de Falbaire de Quingey (1727–1800) died in Sainte-Ménéhould. It was the

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Counties of Albania, Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several Districts of Albania, district ...

of the

arrondissement of Sainte-Menehould The arrondissement of Sainte-Menehould is a former Arrondissements of France, arrondissement of France in the Marne (department), Marne Departments of France, department in the Grand Est Regions of France, region. It was disbanded at the April 2017 ...

until its abolition in April 2017.Décret n° 2017-453 du 29 mars 2017 portant suppression de l'arrondissement de Sainte-Menehould (département de la Marne)

History

Dom Pérignon Dom Pérignon ( , ) is a brand of vintage Champagne. It is named after Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk who was an important quality pioneer for Champagne wine but who, contrary to popular myths, did not discover the Champagne method for makin ...

, the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

who made important contributions to the production and quality of

Champagne wine Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

, and is often (erroneously) credited with its invention, was born in Sainte-Menehould around 1638. As part of the county of Clermont-en-Argonne, Sainte-Menehould was in the

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 ...

until 1641, when the county was ceded to France; in 1648, it was granted as an

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

to Louis, ''le Grand Condé'', effectively making it independent of Crown control. Condé established Sainte-Menehould as his capital and fortified it in 1652, when he was leader of the 1650-1653 civil war known as the ''

Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in the Kingdom of France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. The government of the young King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition ...

des nobles''. The military engineer Vauban worked on the fortifications as a member of Condé's regiment; he changed sides when captured by a Royalist patrol in early 1653. Condé's governor, the Comte de Montal surrendered the town in November 1653, allegedly in return for a payment of 50,000 pistoles. After his return to France in 1659, Condé retained Clermont, which remained in his family until the

abolition of feudalism in France One of the central events of the French Revolution was the abolition of feudalism, and the old rules, taxes, and privileges left over from the ''ancien régime''. The National Constituent Assembly, after deliberating on the night of 4 August 17 ...

during the French Revolution in 1790. The next year,

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

passed through the town during the

Flight to Varennes The Flight to Varennes (French: fuite de Varennes) during the night of 20–21 June 1791 was a significant event in the French Revolution in which the French royal family—comprising Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Dauphin Louis Charles, ...

, where he was recognized, allegedly on account of the similarity between his face and the image on the coinage. The royal party left the town before the significance of the king's recognition had been acted upon, but they were pursued along the road towards

Varennes Varennes may refer to: Canada * Varennes, Quebec * Varennes, Winnipeg, a neighbourhood of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada * Varennes County, a county established 1881 in the disputed District of Keewatin, Canada France Varennes is the name of sev ...

and arrested by Citizen Drouet the local postmaster. 130 years later Ste-Menehould was important in the Champagne Riots of 1910/1911. Following the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Sainte-Menehould saw the birth of French sociologist

Michel Crozier Michel Crozier (6 November 1922, Sainte-Menehould, Marne – 24 May 2013, Paris) was a French sociologist and member of the ''Académie des sciences morales et politiques'' from 1999 until his death. He also was a fellow of the American Acade ...

Population

Cuisine

The town and its several restaurants pride themselves on serving a local specialty called ''pied de cochon'' or pig's trotter ''à la Sainte-Menehould'', which are cooked for hours, to the point of softening the bones and making them edible.

Twinning

Cupar Cupar ( ; ) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fife, and the ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Cap-Pelé, NB, Canada

References

External links