Marsal (; ) is a

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 ...

in the Moselle department in

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administra ...

in north-eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Geography

Marsal is located on a marshy alluvial plain, surrounded by two branches of the Seille River. This old town on the ancient Roman road from

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 ...

to Strasbourg was marked by salt mining, emerging in the form of salt springs.

Toponymy

Marsal's name in

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

was Marosallum. The word Marosallum is a combination of two terms, one Gallic (maro) and the other

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

(sallum), which together mean approximately the Great

Saltworks A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also othe ...

History

Archaeological remains dating back to the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

have been discovered in the vicinity of Marsal. An urban agglomeration called Marosallum developed in early Roman times. Marosallum was a stop on the Roman road linking Metz (Divodurum) to Strasbourg (Argentorate). The ancient name of the town was shortened to Marsallum in Merovingian times. The town seems to have continued to derive its wealth from the salt works, as evidenced by the presence of a "place à sel" reported in 682 or 683. From the 11th century onwards, the Bishopric of Metz and the

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following th ...

fought over control of the region's saltworks. The chronicles of Richer de Senones mention the existence in the 13th century of a young woman, nicknamed the Sybille de Marsal, who was reputed to live without eating. Bishop Jacques de Lorraine and a number of priests and gentlemen who accompanied him were unable, despite several days of observation, to discover who was feeding her. On September 2, 1663,

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

captured the town. Numerous documents testify to the capture of Marsal, such as a tapestry from the Gobelins called ''Réduction ou Reddition de Marsal'', which relates the handing over of the keys of the town to the king. The tapestry is based on a model by

Charles Le Brun Charles Le Brun (baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French painter, physiognomist, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. As court painter to Louis XIV, who declared him "the greatest French artist of ...

. Jean de La Fontaine also wrote a sonnet about the capture of Marsal. The king then entrusted the military engineer Vauban with the task of improving the fortifications. Marsal's Ancien Régime military cemetery is where the remains of several disabled veterans of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

and the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Marsal was bombed in 1915. Following the defeat of June 1940, Marsal was once again annexed to the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...

. Most of the population was expelled and welcomed in the South of France. The village was not French again until 1945. In 1968, the "Mage de Marsal" affair hit the headlines: two of the six children of Maurice Gérard, known as "Swami Matkormano", the guru who runs an esoteric community in his large building, and Josiane Gérard, known as "the high priestess Alféola", mysteriously disappeared.

Culture and historical heritage

Sights and architecture

The Roman road that served Marosallum from opposite sides of the Seille valley. The Salt Museum (''Musée départemental du sel'') presents salt production techniques, from prehistory to the present day. La Porte de France (gate of France) was classified as a historic monument on March 6, 1928; dating back to 1663, the Notre-Dame gate defended the main access to Marsal and was extensively modified in the first half of the 17th century. Maison du gouverneur de la saline (the house of the saltworks' governor) was built in 1625 by Jean La Hiere, it was modified in the 18th century, abandoned during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

and rebuilt in 1823-1824. L'Arsenal was built in 1848, this 13-bay building, sold to private owners, has retained its original appearance. Le Pavillon de Bourgogne from 1666, is a former barrack which became the headquarters of the civil hospice in 1813, then a girls' school in 1889. Today, it has been converted into rental accommodation. La Place d'Armes was once home to the village's covered market, as well as the town hall and washhouse... Today, the square forms the center of the village, lined with notables' houses with 18th-century facades. File:Marsal, Porte de France.jpg, Porte de France File:Place d'armes (2).jpg, Place d'Armes

References

External links

* {{authority control Communes of Moselle (department) Vauban fortifications in France