See HEBRIDES: A. D. 1346-1504;
and HARLAW, BATTLE OF.
LORDS SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL, The.
See ESTATES, THE THREE.
LORENZO DE' MEDICI (called The Magnificent),
The rule of.
See FLORENCE: A. D. 1469-1492.
----------LORRAINE: Start--------
LORRAINE: A. D. 843-870.
Formation and dissolution of the kingdom.
In the division of the empire of Charlemagne among his three
grandsons, made by the treaty of Verdun, A. D. 843, the elder,
Lothaire, bearing the title of Emperor, received the kingdom
of Italy, and, with it, another kingdom, named, after himself,
Lotharingia—afterwards called Lorraine. This latter was so
formed as to be an extension northwestwardly of his Italian
kingdom, and to stretch in a long belt between the Germanic
dominion of his brother Ludwig and the Francia Nova, or
France, of his brother Charles. It extended "from the mouth of
the Rhine to Provence, bounded by that river on one frontier,
by France on the other."
_H. Hallam,
The Middle Ages,
chapter 1, part 1, note._
"Between these two states [of the Eastern and Western, or
Germanic and Gallic Franks] the policy of the ninth century
instinctively put a barrier, The Emperor Lothar, besides
Italy, kept a long narrow strip of territory between the
dominions of his Eastern and Western brothers. … This land,
having … been the dominion of two Lothars, took the name of
Lotharingia, Lothringen, or Lorraine, a name which part of it
has kept to this day. This land, sometimes attached to the
Eastern kingdom, sometimes to the Western, sometimes divided
between the two, sometimes separated from both, always kept
its character of a border-land. … Lotharingia took in the
two duchies of the Ripuarian Lotharingia and Lotharingia on
the Mosel. The former contains a large part of the modern
Belgium and the neighboring lands on the Rhine, including the
royal city of Aachen. Lotharingia on the Mosel answers roughly
to the later duchy of that name, though its extent to the East
is considerably larger."
_E. A. Freeman,
Historical Geography of Europe,
chapter 6, section 1._
{2042}
"Upon the death of the Emperor Lothair [A. D. 855] his share
of the Carlovingian inheritance, the Kingdom acquired by
disobedience, violence, deceit and fraud, sustained further
partitions: Lothair's piece of the rent garment was clutched
and tattered again and again by his nearest of kin, his three
sons, and their two uncles, and the sons and the sons' sons of
his sons and uncles, till the lineage ended. … The Emperor
Lothair had directed and confirmed the partition of his third
of the Carlovingian Empire, appointed to him by the treaty of
Verdun." His namesake, his second son, Lothair II., received
the kingdom called "Lotharingia, Lothierregne, or Lorraine,"
and which is defined in the terms of modern geography as
follows: "The thirteen Cantons of Switzerland with their
allies and tributaries, East or Free Friesland, Oldenburgh,
the whole of the United Netherlands, all other territories
included in the Archbishopric of Utrecht, the Trois Evéchés,
Metz, Toul and Verdun, the electorates of Trèves and of
Cologne, the Palatine Bishopric of Liège, Alsace and
Franche-Comté, Hainault and the Cambresis, Brabant (known in
intermediate stages as Basse-Lorraine, or the Duchy of
Lohier), Namur, Juliers and Cleves, Luxemburgh and Limburg,
the Duchy of Bar and the Duchy which retained the name of
Lorraine, the only memorial of the antient and dissolved
kingdom. … After King Lothair's death [A. D. 869] nine
family competitors successively came into the field for that
much-coveted Lotharingia." Charles the Bald, one of the uncles
of the deceased king,—he who held the Neustrian or French
dominion,—took possession and got himself crowned king of
Lotharingia. But the rival uncle, Louis the German, soon
forced him (A. D. 870) to a division of the spoils. "The lot
of Charles consisted of Burgundy and Provence, and most of
those Lotharingian dominions where the French or Walloon
tongue was and yet is spoken; … he also took some purely
Belgic territories, especially that very important district
successively known as Basse-Lorraine, the Duchy of Lohier, and
Brabant. Modern history is dawning fast upon us.
Louis-le-Germanique received Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne, Treves,
Utrecht, Strasburgh, Metz,—indeed nearly all the territories
of the Belgic and German tongues."
_Sir F. Palgrave,
History of Normandy and England,
volume 1, pages 361-370._
See, also, VERDUN, TREATY OF.
LORRAINE: A. D. 911-980.
The dukedom established.
The definite separation of the East Franks, who ultimately
constituted the Germany of modern history, from the West or
Neustrian Franks, out of whose political organization sprang
the kingdom of France, took place in 911, when the Franconian
duke Conrad was elected king by the Germanic nations, and the
rule of the Carolingian princes was ended for them. In this
proceeding Lotharingia, or Lorraine, refused to concur.
"Nobles and people held to the old imperial dynasty. …
Opinions, customs, traditions, still rendered the
Lotharingians mainly members of Romanized Gaul. They severed
themselves from the Germans beyond the Rhine, separated by
influences more powerful than the stream." The Lotharingians,
accordingly, repudiated the sovereignty of Conrad and placed
themselves under the rule of Charles the Simple, the
Carolingian king then struggling to maintain his slender
throne at Laon. "Twice did King Conrad attempt to win
Lotharingia and reunite the Rhine-kingdom to the German realm:
he succeeded in obtaining Alsace, but the remainder was
resolutely retained by Charles." In 916 this remainder was
constituted a duchy, by Charles, and conferred upon Gilbert,
son of Rainier, Count of Hainault, who had been the leader of
the movement against Conrad and the Germanic nations. A little
later, when the Carolingian dynasty was near its end, Henry
the Fowler and his son Otho, the great German king who revived
the empire, recovered the suzerainty of Lorraine, and Otho
gave it to his brother Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne. Under
Bruno it was divided into two parts, Upper and Lower Lorraine.
Lower Lorraine was subsequently conferred by Otho II. upon his
cousin Charles, brother to Lothaire, the last of the French
Carolingian kings. "The nature and extent of this same grant
has been the subject of elaborate critical enquiry; but, for
our purposes, it is sufficient to know, that Charles is
accepted by all the historical disputants as first amongst the
hereditary Dukes of the 'Basse-Lorraine'; and, having received
investiture, he became a vassal of the Emperor." In 980, this
disposition of Lower Lorraine was ratified by Lothaire, the
French king, who, "abandoning all his rights and pretensions
over Lorraine, openly and solemnly renounced the dominions,
and granted the same to be held without let or interference
from the French, and be subjected for ever to the German
Empire."
_Sir F. Palgrave,
History of Normandy and England,
book 1, part 2, chapter 1
and chapter 4, part 2._
"Lotharingia retained its Carolingian princes, but it retained
them only by definitively becoming a fief of the Teutonic
Kingdom. Charles died in prison, but his children continued to
reign in Lotharingia as vassals of the Empire. Lotharingia was
thus wholly lost to France; that portion of it which was
retained by the descendants of Charles in the female line
still preserves its freedom as part of the independent Kingdom
of Belgium."
_E. A. Freeman,
History of the Norman Conquest of England,
chapter 4, section 4 (volume 1)._
LORRAINE: A. D. 1430.
Acquisition of the duchy by René, Duke of Anjou
and Count of Provence, afterwards King of Naples.
Union with Bar.
See ANJOU: A. D. 1206-1442.
LORRAINE: A. D. 1476.
Short-lived conquest by Charles the Bold.
See BURGUNDY: A. D. 1476-1477.
LORRAINE: A. D. 1505-1559.
Rise of the Guises, a branch of the ducal house.
Cession to France of Les Trois Evéchés.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1547-1559.
LORRAINE: A. D. 1624-1663.
Quarrels and war of Duke Charles IV. with Richelieu and France.
Ruin and depopulation of the duchy.
Its possession by the French.
Early in Richelieu's administration of the French government,
the first steps were taken towards the union of Lorraine with
France. "Its situation, as well as its wealth and fertility,
made it an acquisition specially valuable to that kingdom. …
Lorraine had long been ruled by the present family of dukes,
and in its government more had remained of feudal usages than
in the monarchy that had grown up beside it. The character and
career of the members of the house of Guise had brought
Lorraine into very intimate connection with France, and the
closeness of its relations added danger to its position as an
independent state. Charles IV. became Duke of Lorraine in 1624
by virtue of the rights of his cousin and wife, the daughter of
the last duke. …
{2043}
He soon began to take part in the intrigues of the French
Court, and he enrolled himself among the lovers of Mme. de
Chevreuse and the enemies of Richelieu. … Richelieu had long
sought occasion for offence against the Duke Charles. The Duke
of Lorraine was bound to do honor to the French king for the
Duchy of Bar [which was a fief of the French crown, while
Lorraine was an imperial fief], a duty which was often
omitted, and the agents of Richelieu discovered that France
had ancient and valid claims to other parts of his territory.
His relations with France were rendered still more uncertain
by his own untrustworthy character. To tell the truth or to
keep his agreement were equally impossible for Duke Charles,
and he was dealing with a man with whom it was dangerous to
trifle. Gustavus Adolphus had invaded Germany, and the Duke of
Lorraine was eager in defending the cause of the Emperor. In
January, 1632, he was forced to make a peace with France, by
which he agreed to make no treaty with any other prince or
state without the knowledge and permission of the French king.
Charles paid no attention to this treaty, and for all these
causes in June, 1632, Louis [XIII.] invaded his dominions.
They lay open to the French army, and no efficient opposition
could be made. On June 26th Charles was forced to sign a
second treaty, by which he surrendered the city and county of
Clermont, and also yielded the possession for four years of
the citadels of Stenay and Jametz. … This treaty made little
change in the condition of affairs. Charles continued to act
in hostility to the Swedes, to assist Gaston [Duke of Orleans,
the rebellious and troublesome brother of Louis XIII., who had
married Margaret of Lorraine, the Duke's sister], and in every
way to violate the conditions of the treaty he had made. He
seethed resolved to complete his own ruin, and he did not have
to wait long for its accomplishment. In 1633 Louis a second
time invaded Lorraine, and the Swedes, in return for the
duke's hostility to them, also entered the province. Charles'
forces were scattered and he was helpless, but he was as false
as he was weak. He promised to surrender his sister Margaret,
and he allowed her to escape. He sent his brother to make a
treaty and then refused to ratify it. At last, he made the
most disadvantageous treaty that was possible, and surrendered
his capital, Nancy, the most strongly-fortified city of
Lorraine, into Louis' possession until all difficulties should
be settled between the king and the duke, which, as Richelieu
said, might take till eternity. In January, 1634, Charles
pursued his eccentric career by granting all his rights in the
duchy to his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine. The new duke
also married a cousin in order to unite the rights of the two
branches. … Charles adopted the life of a wandering soldier
of fortune, which was most to his taste, and commanded the
imperial forces at the battle of Nordlingen. He soon assumed
again the rights which he had ceded, but his conduct rendered
them constantly less valuable. The following years were filled
with struggles with France, which resulted in her taking
possession of still more of Lorraine, until its duke was
entirely a fugitive. Such struggles brought upon its
inhabitants a condition of constantly increasing want and
misery. … It was ravaged by the hordes of the Duke of Weimar
and the Swedes [see GERMANY: A. D. 1634-1639], and on every
side were pillage and burning and murders. Famine followed,
and the horrors perpetrated from it were said to be more than
could be described. Richelieu himself wrote that the
inhabitants of Lorraine were mostly dead, villages burned,
cities deserted, and a century would not entirely restore the
country. Vincent de Paul did much of his charitable work in
that unhappy province. … The duke at last, in 1641, came as
a suppliant to Richelieu to ask for his duchy, and it was
granted him, but on the condition that Stenay, Dun, Jametz,
and Clermont should be united to France, that Nancy should
remain in the king's possession until the peace, and that the
duke should assist France with his troops against all enemies
whenever required. … Charles was hardly back in his
dominions before he chose to regard the treaty he had made as
of no validity, and in July he violated it openly, and shortly
took refuge with the Spanish army. … Thereupon the French
again invaded Lorraine, and by October, 1641, practically the
whole province was in their hands. It so continued until
1663."
_J. B. Perkins,
France under [Richelieu and] Mazarin,
chapter 5 (volume 1)._
"The faithfulness with which he [the Duke of Lorraine] adhered
to his alliance with Austria, in spite of threatened losses,
formed in the end a strong bond of reciprocal attachment and
sympathy between the Hapsburgs and the Princes of Lorraine,
which, at a later day, became even firmer, and finally
culminated in the marriage of Stephen of Lorraine and Maria
Theresa."
_A. Gindely,
History of the Thirty Years' War,
volume 2, chapter 6, section 3._
LORRAINE: A. D. 1648.
Desertion of the cause of the duke in the
Peace of Westphalia.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1648.
LORRAINE: A. D. 1659.
Restored to the duke with some shearing of territory.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1659-1661.
LORRAINE: A. D. 1679.
Restoration refused by the duke.
See NIMEGUEN, PEACE OF.
LORRAINE: A. D. 1680.
Entire absorption of Les Trois Evêchés in France with
boundaries extended by the Chamber of Reannexation.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1679-1681.
LORRAINE: A. D. 1697.
Restored to the duke by the Treaty of Ryswick.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1697.
LORRAINE: A. D. 1735.
Ceded to France.
Reversion of Tuscany secured to the former duke.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1733-1735.
LORRAINE: A. D, 1871.
One fifth ceded to the German empire by France.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1871 (JANUARY-MAY).
LORRAINE: A. D. 1871-1879.
Organization of the government of Alsace-Lorraine as a German
imperial province.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1871-1879.
----------LORRAINE: End----------