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'' of

Pierre-Percée Pierre-Percée () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions a ...

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 collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety- ...

'' of Meurthe-et-Moselle,

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 ar ...

. 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 Salm is the name of several historic countships and principalities in present Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and France. History Origins The County of Salm arose in the tenth century in Vielsalm, in the Ardennes region of present Belgium. It was r ...

and son of Hermann I, King of Germania ( Eastern Francia). 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 (which became the capital of the county) and Blâmont, 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 against the Count of Bar and

Stephan of Bar Stephan may refer to: * Stephan, South Dakota, United States * Stephan (given name), a masculine given name * Stephan (surname), a Breton-language surname See also * Sankt-Stephan * Stefan (disambiguation) * Stephan-Oterma * Stephani * St ...

, 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 Est r ...

, himself a member of the Bar family. Hermann was killed on the battlefield outside the

Château de Frouard A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...

. 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, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

(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'' by the French Ministry of Culture.

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