Ambel () is a commune in the

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

department in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

region of southeastern

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 ...

Geography

Ambel is located at the southern end of the department of

, in the Beaumont area, on a small plateau extending north of Faraud Mountain on the eastern edge of the Dévoluy massif between the Drac river which forms the north-eastern border and the Souloise river which forms the western border. The commune is some 20 km south-west of La Mure and some 50 km north by north-east of Veynes although is not directly accessible from the places. Access to the commune is by minor road D217 which branches from national route N85 at Le Motty to the east of the commune. The D217 goes west to the village then turn south to Monestier-d'Ambel.Google Maps
/ref> Ambel overlooks ''Lake Sautet'' which is formed by a dam located 1 kilometre north of the village, and dams the two rivers on two sides of the commune. The Plateau of Ambel is one of the residues of an ancient alluvial plain created by a glacial barrier which was at the location of the current dam and subsequently cut through by the Drac and Souloise.

Corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

to the east and Pellafol to the west are located on the lateral edges of the plain at the same altitude. This gives the local landscape a distinctive aspect with the three villages facing and partially embedded inside the gorge.

Neighbouring communes and villages

Toponymy

''Ambel'' takes its name from the Latin root ''amb-'' meaning "with two sides" which refers to the geographical position of the village on a promontory between the Souloise and the Drac valleys: ''Ambilis in Taraone'' in low-Latin, ''Hembel'' or ''Hembellum'' in the 15th century.

History

There was a lordship with a castle at Ambel which existed at the end of the 8th century. Ardradus, son of Bysardon, had a son Eldrade (781-844?) who became a monk and gave up all his rights to Novalesa Abbey in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

destroyed everything in the early years of the 10th century. Ambel was part of the Comte de Provence but was liberated in the year 973, then was part of Forcalquier in 1054, then

Dauphiné The Dauphiné ( , , ; or ; or ), formerly known in English as Dauphiny, is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was ...

in 1209. When creating the

Castellany A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

in 1250, Ambel was part of

.Jean Gueydan, ''The Lords of Beaumont'', ed. Cosmogone, 2003, , p. 111-113 . The Lordship of Ambel, which was composed of the two parishes of Ambel and Monestier, was established on 11 March 1315, by dismantling the mandate of Corps in favour of Pierre of Ambel and "as needed" his brother Humbert. Peter had, by concession from the Dauphin, high, middle, and low jurisdiction rights over Ambel. The lordship was transmitted through four generations of the Ambel family until the death of Raymond III around 1445. His eldest son Stephen had died ten years earlier and Raymond left only daughters; the

Salic law The Salic law ( or ; ), also called the was the ancient Frankish Civil law (legal system), civil law code compiled around AD 500 by Clovis I, Clovis, the first Frankish King. The name may refer to the Salii, or "Salian Franks", but this is deba ...

did not apply to dauphinoise land so the eldest, Burguette, became Lady Ambel and her husband, Raymond de la Villette was Lord "of his wife's head" until his death. In 1470 their two sons, John and Aymar de la Villette, become co-lords of Ambel on the death of their mother and sold the lordship to Jean de Bonne, whose eldest son Peter in 1500 gave rights to his brother Reynaud over Monestier which then became a separate lordship. The lordship of Ambel, which was now reduced to a mere parish of Ambel, was sold by Pierre de Bonne to Guillaume ''of Vienne'' in 1504. The Viennese were

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The Wars of religion raged in Ambel: the village was destroyed and the castle taken and retaken five times between 1562 and 1577. In 1578, Lesdiguières besieged Ambel; Bertrand III Raimbault de Simiane, Baron of Gordes, dislodged him but Lesdiguières returned and took the castle again. Pierre III ''of Poligny'' bought the lordship in Vienne in 1617 and resold it to Jean Achard around 1645. Antoine Achard, nephew and heir of Jean, emigrated in 1867 and his fief was confiscated and given to his younger son Judéon. Pierre Achard, the son of Judéon, passed it to his cousin and adopted son Richard Gautier. Marc-Richard, his son, was deposed by the French Revolution. In 1790 the commune was, like its neighbours, integrated into the department of

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

then a few years later to the department of

in the Canton of

. The building of the Sautet Dam in 1935 physically separated Ambel from

and Pellafol and this forced long detours to reach the neighbouring communes. A ferry link was attempted, but abandoned after a capsize.

The lords of the Ambel family

(Dates are not given as they are too uncertain) *Pierre, created Lord by the Dauphin in 1315 (''Pierre I''), and Humbert, his brother, Lord "as needed" *Raymond, son of Pierre I (''Raymond I'') and Pierre called Perret, his brother (''Pierre II'') co-Lords *Henri, son of Raymond I, and Raymond, his brother (''Raymond II''), co-Lords *Aymar, son of Henri, Lord, childless *Raymond, nephew of Henry and Raymond II (''Raymond III''), Lord, died without male issue in 1445 (date uncertain). During the wars of religion, a Stephen Ambel, Protestant, whose kinship with the previous Lords was not established, was briefly lord of Ambel.

The succession of Raymond III

Raymond had five children but his only son, the eldest of the five, died before him. On his death the elder branch of Ambel was extinguished and the eldest daughter, Burguette, passed the lordship of Ambel to her children. The other three sisters, Clemence, Lantelme, and Catherine inherited the lands of high- Valgaudemar which entered the family by the marriage of their great-uncle Henri to Alix de Bonne. Clemence's land remained known as ''Clemence-d'Ambel'' until the middle of the 20th century. Those of Catherine passed to her daughter Marguerite whose husband Guillaume Pérouse bought Lantelme's share constituting the territory now known as ''Guillaume-Pérouse''.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Ambellons'' or ''Ambellonnes'' in French.Le nom des habitants du 38 - Isère
, habitants.fr

Sites and monuments

On the hill overlooking the village there is surmised to be the remains of the ancient castle. A little further down is a small 19th-century church. In the forecourt is a view of the Dévoluy and Lake Sautet (the Souloise side) dominated by the Obiou.

Notable people

*Saint Eldrade was born in 781 in Ambel, the son of Lord Aldradus, he chose to be a monk and became superior of Novalesa Abbey in

. An annual pilgrimage is held from Monestier-d'Ambel towards Ambel. Pilgrims come from the region and sometimes from Le Monêtier-les-Bains and Italy to commemorate the saint.