Mont-Terrible was a department of the First French Republic, with its seat at

Porrentruy Porrentruy (, fc, Poérreintru , german: Pruntrut) is a Swiss municipality and seat of the district of the same name located in the canton of Jura. Porrentruy is home to National League team, HC Ajoie. History The first trace of human pre ...

. The Mont Terrible for which the department was named is now known as , a peak of 804 metres near Courgenay (now in the

canton of Jura The Republic and Canton of Jura (french: République et canton du Jura), less formally the Canton of Jura or Canton Jura ( , ), is the newest (founded in 1979) of the 26 Swiss cantons, located in the northwestern part of Switzerland. The capita ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

). The toponym of was formed by popular etymology from an earlier Frainc-Comtou ''Mont Tairi'', from "arid, dry". The department was created in 1793 with the annexation of the short-lived

Rauracian Republic The Rauracian Republic was a short-lived French occupation zone that included parts of modern Switzerland around the Jura mountains. It was created from the northern portion of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel, which was part of the Holy Roman Emp ...

, which had been created in December 1792 from a part of the

Prince-Bishopric of Basel The Prince-Bishopric of Basel (german: Hochstift Basel, Fürstbistum Basel, Bistum Basel) was an ecclesiastical principality within the Holy Roman Empire, ruled from 1032 by prince-bishops with their seat at Basel, and from 1528 until 1792 at Po ...

. In 1797, the former

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

-owned Principality of Montbéliard, which had previously been given to

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

part of the Bishopric of Basel after the French attack to the Elvetic nation. The department was abolished in 1800. Its territory was annexed to the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is the ...

, within which it formed the two arrondissements of Delémont and Porrentruy. In

1815 Events January * January 2 – Lord Byron marries Anna Isabella Milbanke in Seaham, county of Durham, England. * January 3 – Austria, Britain, and Bourbon-restored France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussi ...

, the territory that had previously formed Mont-Terrible was partitioned between

Doubs Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

(now forming the

and the

Bernese Jura Bernese Jura (french: Jura bernois, ) is the name for the French-speaking area of the Swiss canton of Bern, and from 2010 one of ten administrative divisions of the canton. Comprising the three French-speaking districts in the northern part of the ...

Creation

The Department was created on 23 March 1793 by the

National Convention The National Convention (french: link=no, Convention nationale) was the parliament of the Kingdom of France for one day and the French First Republic for the rest of its existence during the French Revolution, following the two-year National ...

which decreed the French Republic and the Country of Porrentruy to be reunited under the name of the Department of Mont-Terrible.
: — The Country of Porrentruy will form a special department, under the name of Department of Mont-Terrible. : — The commissioners of the National Convention, sent in this country by decree of 10 February, are responsible for taking all necessary measures to ensure the enforcement of the laws of the Republic, and to forward to the Convention all information necessary to determine the organisation and division of this department. : —The Provisional Executive Council is responsible for reducing ustomsbarriers, taking all necessary precautions to prevent exports in contravention of the laws of the Republic.

References

{{Authority control Former departments of France in Switzerland Former departments of France in France Canton of Jura 1793 establishments in France