Montlhéry () is a commune in the

Essonne Essonne () is a department of France in the southern Île-de-France region. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659 across 194 communes.department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...

in northern

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 ...

. It is located from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

History

Montlhéry lay on the strategically important road from Paris to

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Merovingians, it was owned by the church in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

and in 768 it was given to the abbey of St. Denis in Paris. It was the site of a number of battles between the lords of Montlhéry and the early Capetian monarchy. The Montlhéry noble house was related to the

Montmorency family The House of Montmorency, pronounced , was one of the oldest and most distinguished noble families in France. Origins The family name Montmorency derived from their castle in the ''pays de France'', recorded in Latin as ''Mons Maurentiacus'', i ...

; Thibaud, the founder of the Montlhéry dynasty, was the brother of Bouchard II, the progenitor of the Montmorency house. Thibaud ruled from 970 to 1031 and was succeeded by his son Guy I, who ruled until 1095. Guy I's children married into other local noble families: his daughter Melisende married Hugh,

count of Rethel This is a list of counts and dukes of Rethel. The first counts of Rethel ruled independently, before the county passed first to the Counts of Nevers, then to the Counts of Flanders, and finally to the Dukes of Burgundy. In 1405 the County became par ...

, and another daughter Elizabeth married Joscelin of Courtenay. Through these marriages and subsequent Montlhéry participation on the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...

, Guy I was the ancestor of the ruling dynasties of the crusader

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...

and the County of Edessa. Another daughter, Alice, married into the

Le Puiset Le Puiset () is a former commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Janville-en-Beauce. Name The name Le Puiset comes from Latin '' puteus'', pit or cistern, whence French ' ...

family, and a son, Guy, became count of Rochefort. Guy I was succeeded by Milo I, followed by Milo's sons Guy II and Milo II. In 1118, after many disputes with the rebellious lords,

Louis VI of France Louis VI (late 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat (french: link=no, le Gros) or the Fighter (french: link=no, le Batailleur), was King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137. Chronicles called him "King of Saint-Denis". Louis was the first member ...

ordered the castle to be dismantled and turned the town into a royal residence. Louis VI had himself been married to a granddaughter of Guy I, Lucienne of Rochefort, from 1104 to 1107. After being absorbed into the royal domain, Montlhéry became part of the territory governed by the viscount of Paris. In the early 13th century, the French king Philip II (Augustus) completely rebuilt the castle in the contemporary style, at a new site high above the town. During the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

, the town and the castle frequently passed between

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French forces. On 16 July 1465, Charles the Bold defeated

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revo ...

at the

Battle of Montlhéry The Battle of Montlhéry was fought between Louis XI and the League of the Public Weal on 16 July 1465 in the vicinity of Longpont-sur-Orge. It had no clear winner and therefore did not decide the war. Insurgency of the Vassal countries Philip the ...

. The town was left in ruins by the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

, but it was rebuilt in 1591 under Henry IV. In the 19th century, the tower was used for scientific experiments. In 1822,

François Arago Dominique François Jean Arago ( ca, Domènec Francesc Joan Aragó), known simply as François Arago (; Catalan: ''Francesc Aragó'', ; 26 February 17862 October 1853), was a French mathematician, physicist, astronomer, freemason, supporter of t ...

calculated the

speed of sound The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound wave as it propagates through an elastic medium. At , the speed of sound in air is about , or one kilometre in or one mile in . It depends strongly on temperature as w ...

there; a

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

ball shot at the tower was observed from the Observatory of

Villejuif Villejuif () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Name The earliest reference to Villejuif appears in a bill signed by the Pope Callixtus II on 27 November 1119. It refers to Villa Ju ...

. In 1823,

Claude Chappe Claude Chappe (; 25 December 1763 – 23 January 1805) was a French inventor who in 1792 demonstrated a practical semaphore system that eventually spanned all of France. His system consisted of a series of towers, each within line of sight of ...

installed a relay for the Paris-

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

line. On 5 June 1874,

Alfred Cornu Marie Alfred Cornu (; 6 March 1841 – 12 April 1902) was a French physicist. The French generally refer to him as Alfred Cornu. Life Cornu was born at Orléans to François Cornu and Sophie Poinsellier. He was educated at the École polytechni ...

tried to calculate the

speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit ...

between the tower and the Observatory in Paris. During the Franco-Prussian War, the town was occupied and pillaged by the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

ns. It was occupied again by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1940 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Today Montlhéry is twinned with

Stetten am kalten Markt Stetten am kalten Markt (Stetten a.k.M.) is a municipality in the Sigmaringen district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Towns The towns of Nusplingen, Frohnstetten, Storzingen and Glashütte are part of Stetten am kalten Markt. History The area ...

.Partnerstädte Stetten am kalten Markt
/ref>

Population

Inhabitants of Montlhéry are known as ''Montlhériens'' in French.

Château de Montlhéry

The

Château de Montlhéry The Château de Montlhéry is a castle in the ''Communes of France, commune'' of Montlhéry in the Essonne ''Departments of France, département'' of France. Ruins date from various periods, most notably the 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th centuries. ...

, a 13th-century castle with its prominent

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

, succeeded a castle built in the 11th century, and an earlier foundation, built from 991 to 1015.

List of lords of Montlhéry

* Thibaud of Montmorency (970-1031) *

Guy I of Montlhéry Guy I (died 1095) was the second lord of Bray and the second lord of Montlhéry (Latin: ''Monte Leterico''). He was probably the son of Thibaud of Montmorency, but some sources say that his father was named Milo. Thibaud may instead have been his ...

(1031–1095) * Milo I of Montlhéry (1095–1102) *

Guy II of Montlhéry Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorp ...

(1102–1109) *

Milo II of Montlhéry Milo II of Montlhéry (died 1118) was lord of Bray and Montlhéry, and viscount of Troyes. He was the son of Milo I the Great and Lithuise, and younger brother of Guy III of Montlhéry. He initially held the lordship of Bray-sur-Seine, in Champ ...

(1109–1118) *''passes to royal domain of France''

Economy

South of Montlhéry (on the communes of Linas and

Bruyères-le-Châtel Bruyères-le-Châtel () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. History A nunnery was founded at Bruyères-le-Châtel by a noblewoman named Clotilde. The charter endowing the monastery is dated to 10 March 67 ...

) is the site of an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

race track, the '' Autodrome de Montlhéry'', established by Alexandre Lamblin in 1924. It is sometimes referred to as the 'French

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

', because it is laid out as a high speed oval. Many speed records were set there within months of its opening. Today the racetrack has fallen into disuse and is also used for other purposes including a variety of automobile meetups. Montlhéry was also a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

, which is remembered today in the Tomato Festival. The medieval tower is also a popular tourist attraction, which recently re-opened in 2005 after being closed for repairs.

Personalities

* Henri Oreiller, was an alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from France. * Paul Fort, nicknamed ''Le Prince des Poètes'' lived there from 1921 until his death in 1960.

References

History and Archaeology of the Castle, on Montlhéry.com
*

External links

*
City council website
(in French)

*
Mayors of Essonne Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montlhery Communes of Essonne