The Château de Pierre-Percée ('pierced rock castle') is a ruined

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

found in the ''

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' of Pierre-Percée in the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The site in the early 12th century was in possession of Agnès, countess of Bar and widow of the count of Langenstein. She married Hermann II, Count of Salm and son of Hermann I, King of Germania (

Eastern Francia East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the former empire int ...

). A well dug 100 ft (~30 m) into the rock gives the village and the castle their name. The territory, which included the towns of

Badonviller Badonviller (; ) is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France. Geography Climate Badonviller has a oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Badonviller is . The aver ...

(which became the capital of the county) and

Blâmont Blâmont () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France. Population Sights The Château de Blâmont is the medieval castle below which the city grew. See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department *Flor ...

, became for several hundred years part of the hereditary property of the Counts of Salm. Around 1134, Hermann II went to war allied to the

Duke of Lorraine The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of t ...

against the

Count of Bar The County of Bar, later Duchy of Bar, was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire encompassing the ''Barrois, pays de Barrois'' and centred on the city of Bar-le-Duc. It was held by the County of Montbéliard, House of Montbéliard from the 11t ...

and Stephan of Bar, the

Bishop of Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Es ...

, himself a member of the Bar family. Hermann was killed on the battlefield outside the Château de Frouard. The castle at Pierre-Percée was besieged for a year and fell into the hands of the bishop of Metz with the death of Hermann's eldest son. The castle was not besieged again until the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

(1618-1648) when, being deserted, it was destroyed by Franco-Swedish troops. State property, the Château de Pierre-Percée is listed as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, ...

External links

* ''This article was initially translated from part of this Wikipedia article « :fr:Pierre-Percée », specifically fro
this version
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierre-Percee, Chateau de Ruined castles in Grand Est Châteaux in Meurthe-et-Moselle Monuments historiques of Grand Est