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onjour!
this month we are heading east, about 175 miles from Paris, to the Lorraine region
where we will visit Nancy, a city with a past as chaotic as it was glorious. The
city's motto is: "Qui s'y frotte s'y pique !" (lit.: He who rubs against it gets
stung!), or "Keep your distance!", a reflection of the difficult battles the
inhabitants had to fight and the victories they won by their bravery. On the other
hand, the magnificent Place Stanislas attests to a more than prestigious history.
No doubt, Nancy, a city of contrasts, is full of charming surprises for its visitors.
But before continuing, please remember that you can access and read all the newsletters already
published at http://www.francemonthly.com/
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The Small Castle of Nancy
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Compared to the other big cities in the region whose origins often go back to Roman
times, Nancy could be viewed as a recent city. Indeed, its name appears for the first
time in a written document that dates back only about 1,000 years. This is easily
explained by the fact that the site that Nancy occupies today was not only very marshy
but also of no strategic interest whatsoever.
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La Porte de la Crafte
(Click photo to enlarge)
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There was no river big enough to encourage men to seek refuge there, and no promontory
where they could build a defensive fortress. In the middle of the year 1000, this land
belonged to Gerard I, Duke of Lorraine. This lord had only one thought in mind. He
wanted to thwart the all mighty power of the bishops who owned the land surrounding his
property. Beyond political reasons, there was also an economic one, as his estate covered
the much frequented path of pilgrims. They would come seek divine protection from the
miraculous relics kept in certain abbeys, like that of the nearby St Nicolas du Port.
These numerous pilgrimages were increasing the wealth of his powerful neighbors, and
he was sure they could make him a richer man as well. In order to reach his goal, he
built the Castel de Nancy, a fortified structure, in 1061. As expected, a market town
would soon develop around it.
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A Decisive Battle
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On the morning of January 5, 1477, a date that would mark the first defining turn
in the history of Nancy, Lorraine was just a small, practically insignificant dukedom.
Nonetheless, one of its very powerful neighbors, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy,
had his eyes on it. In the middle of this 15th century, Burgundy was a huge territory
that spread from what is today Switzerland to the east, all the way up to Flanders in
the north (Belgium and the Netherlands). Charles the Bold was therefore at the head
of a very large dukedom, and this little Lorraine region was keeping him from realizing
his long-standing dream. He wanted to form a one-ruler state that he himself, of course,
would rule as king. Unable to get what he wanted after several months of battle, Charles
decided to lay siege to the city of Nancy for the third time in a row, and by then it was
fall. The siege took place while René II, Duke of Lorraine, went off to get reinforcements
from his Alsatian and Swiss neighbors. When he came back with his allies, three months had
passed. The besieged inhabitants of Nancy were exhausted, having suffered terribly from
both the cold and hunger. Still, they held up to an equally weakened enemy. Along with his
allied troops, René II attacked with a fierce willpower to save his little dukedom. The
Burgundians were quick to give up the battle. It was a rout for them and a decisive victory
for the people of Lorraine.
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Recipe for October 2009
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French Mini Pizza
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A Dukedom of European Scale
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This final victory affected the geopolitics of Europe since it gave a voice to Lorraine,
from then on included in any major decision. This little dukedom that didn't have much
to say up until that point was indeed often called upon to act as mediator between the
Kingdom of France with its top ranking international influence and the powerful Germanic
Holy Empire.
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The Palace of the Dukes
(Click photo to enlarge)
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The city of Nancy was little by little reborn from its ashes in the early days of the
Renaissance, a time when the noblemen were building themselves magnificent townhouses.
The Palace of the Dukes was built at that time, to reflect the importance of its
prestigious "tenants". In the 17th century, the dukes of Lorraine had become such
important dignitaries that they figured into one of the three main and equally
prestigious events that took place in all of Europe. These were the crowning of an
emperor in Frankfurt, the coronation of a king of France in Reims, and the funeral of
a duke of Lorraine in Nancy. The crowned heads of the entire world would come to Nancy
to take part in a ceremony of such international importance that could, incidentally,
last several months.
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The New City Versus The Old-Town
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Despite some development over time, the lack of space was a real problem in Nancy.
When Charles III, the new Duke of Lorraine, entered his town in September 1559, it
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The Cathedral
(Click photo to enlarge)
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was a small medieval city squeezed behind dilapidated ramparts and strewn with narrow
and overcrowded streets.
To turn Nancy into the modern capital city that he dreamed of, and more importantly,
into one worthy of its newly acquired rank of European capital, Charles III decided
to rebuild. But the thought of tearing down these houses made of adobe and wood, as
well as building new streets through this maze of small and often unsanitary passageways,
just seemed like a mission impossible to him. It was much too complicated a plan to
implement and it would cause a lot of human drama. The duke then let himself be taken
in by the wild project his architects proposed: that of building next to the old town
a brand new spacious city that would be well ventilated with large rectilinear streets
based on a geometric plan organized around two perpendicular axes. This is how, in the
beginning of the 17th century, a new and extremely modern city for the time came into
being, which stood in peculiar contrast to what would from then on be referred to as the
Old-Town.
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A King of Poland Becomes Duke of Lorraine
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The vagaries of history were such that in 1738, the Treaty of Vienna put an end to
a war between France and Austria started five years earlier over the succession of
the King of Poland. It was determined that Austria would place the candidate of its
choice on the throne of Poland, while Louis XV would give up his plan of seating his
own 'protégé', Stanislas Leszczynski, the actual elected king. Louis XV
then offered him the dukedom of Lorraine in compensation.
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Place Stanislas
(Click photo to enlarge)
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The king of France had two good reasons to be satisfied with this agreement : he was
protecting a man that he personally liked (as he was none other than his father-in-law),
and when the day came that this relative of his would pass away, Lorraine, an Austrian
possession up until then, would become French for good. He assumed this day would come
sooner than later since Stanislas was already 59 years of age, an old man for that time.
But the king was mistaken! It turned out that Stanislas Leszczynski didn't get a raw
deal after all, and was quite pleased himself. After years of restless wandering due
to the political instability in his country, this exile in France finally brought him
a sense of security, while the king of France, his son-in-law, granted him a generous
allowance in place of any real power. Louis XV had planned it all in preparation for
the future annexation of the dukedom of Lorraine by the kingdom of France. He had
already named a quartermaster in charge of dispensing justice, organizing the police,
and managing finances, while he himself would retain control over all military aspects.
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The Place Royale |
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To thank Louis XV for his great generosity, Stanislas Leszczynski wanted to
create in Nancy a royal square that would reflect the greatness of the king
of France. Pavilions were built little by little, all similar and built over
3 levels with the exception of those on the north façade. Those were lower than
their neighbors to allow for cannonball fire in case of a military attack. All
was designed to glorify the king, including a majestic triumphal arch, and two
baroque fountains bearing the image of Neptune, the Roman God of the Sea, and
his wife Amphitrite, which add some fantasy and movement to a most unusual
architectural ensemble. The iron gates covered in gold leaf link the buildings
together and give the whole group the look of a beautiful jewelry case ready to
receive the statue of its benefactor, Louis XV. This piece was added in 1755, or
3 years after the first stone was laid. Several years later, the revolutionaries
would be quick to replace it with a winged figure that symbolized the freedom of
the people. Finally, in 1831, the people of Nancy decided to restore the work of
Stanislas by erecting a new statue in his image and by naming this magnificent
area after the man who had done so much for their city over a period of 30 years.
Indeed, contrary to the expectation of Louis XV, Stanislas Leszczynski died at 89
years old, a venerable age for the time!
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"Art in Everything, Art for Everyone!"
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In 1871, a defeated France capitulated and conceded Alsace and part of the Lorraine
region to the Prussian enemy.
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La Villa Majorelle, Art Nouveau movement
(Click photo to enlarge)
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A great number of Alsatians refused to become Germans and left to settle down in Nancy
which had remained French. These migrants came from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds:
they were domestic employees, merchants, teachers, artists, heads of companies (who would
sometimes show up with their work tools and their hundreds of workers), and finally some
very wealthy people as well. The population of Nancy was quick to double and the small
provincial town metamorphosed in a few years into a first rate industrial, cultural and
artistic capital city. It was during this time that Nancy hosted a most original artistic
movement, one of total art that ranged from architecture to furniture, and down to the
smallest decorative object. Emile Gallé, a leader of this Art Nouveau movement, wanted
to see each object as art that was accessible to all. In the period after this humiliating
war, artists wanted to break with the past, do something new, and find inspiration in nature.
They wanted to celebrate the facades of these magnificent residences that were being built
by the wealthiest families of the city and those most captivated by the concept.
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An Invitation to Travel... |
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Between 1891 and 1911, about 3,500 new homes were built, 250 of them in the Art Nouveau
style. Only 50 or so still stand today. But the originality of some of them is really
worth the detour. The city of Nancy offers an interesting visit because it is so striking
in its contrasts. It is impossible not to be intrigued and maybe sometimes even shocked
by the facades of the exuberant residences of the Saurupt neighborhood. It is impossible
not to be impressed by the imposing gate, the Porte de la Crafte, through which one used
to enter the Old-Town or where one resided as a prisoner. It is impossible not to fall
under the charm of the beautiful Place Stanislas, today classified as a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
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