Asfeld () 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

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

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, ...

in the

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 It superseded three former administrat ...

region of north-eastern

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 ...

, formerly named Ecry or Ecri. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Asfeldois''. The commune has been awarded one flower by the ''National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom'' in the ''Competition of cities and villages in Bloom''.

Geography

Asfeld is located some 35 km east by south-east of

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In ...

and 8 km north-east of

Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also * Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisn ...

. Access to the commune is by road D 926 from

Vieux-lès-Asfeld Vieux-lès-Asfeld (, literally ''Vieux near Asfeld'') is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes depart ...

in the south-west passing through the town and continuing north-east to

Aire Aire may refer to: Music * ''Aire'' (Yuri album), 1987 * ''Aire'' (Pablo Ruiz album), 1997 *''Aire (Versión Día)'', an album by Jesse & Joy Places *Aire-sur-la-Lys, a town in the Pas-de-Calais département in France *Aire-la-Ville, a municip ...

. The D 37 also goes from the town north-west to

Villers-devant-le-Thour Villers-devant-le-Thour is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France. The commu ...

. The D 18 from Villers-devant-le-Thour to the D 926 north of

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...

passes through the north-east corner of the commune. The D 137 road branches off the D 18 in the commune and goes south-west to

Avaux Avaux () is a commune in the Ardennes department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Avalois or Avaloises. The commune has been awarded two flowers by the ''National Council of Towns and Vi ...

. The D 237 goes from the town south-east to

Roizy Roizy () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ardennes department The following is a list of the 449 communes of the Ardennes department of France. The communes cooperate i ...

. Apart from the town there is also the village of Juzancourt in the north of the commune. The commune is mainly farmland with some forested areas near the river and in the north.Google Maps
/ref> The river

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 ...

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 c ...

. The

Canal des Ardennes The Canal des Ardennes (, literally ''Ardennes Canal'') is a summit level canal built to the Freycinet gauge between the river valleys of the Aisne and the Meuse. Physical Characteristics The Canal des Ardennes is 87.779 km long and has 44 ...

also passes through the commune parallel to the Aisne. The Ruisseau des Barres forms the eastern border of the commune as it flows south to join the Aisne.

Neighbouring communes and villages

History

A fortified point beside the Aisne

Asfeld was a village formerly called ''Ecry'' where the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

were defeated in 883. On November 28, 1199, a tournament was held in Ecry, in which several of

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...

's papal legates recruited

Theobald III, Count of Champagne Theobald III (french: Thibaut; 13 May 1179 – 24 May 1201) was Count of Champagne from 1197 to his death. He was designated heir by his older brother Henry II when the latter went to the Holy Land on the Third Crusade, and succeeded him upon his ...

, the tournament host, Louis of Blois,

Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester {{Infobox noble , name = Simon de Montfort , title = 5th Earl of Leicester , image = File:Simon4demontfort.gif , caption = Seal of Simon de Montfort, depicting him riding a horse and blowing a h ...

and Reynald of Montmirail for the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

. Historians have debated whether one of the Pope's most controversial papal legates

Fulk of Neuilly Fulk of Neuilly (also appearing in the forms "Fulke," "Foulque," "Foulques," "Fulco," "Folco," ''etc''., and as "de Neuilly") (died 1201) was a French preacher of the twelfth century, and priest of Neuilly-sur-Marne. His preaching encouraged the F ...

was one of the aforementioned recruiters. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, the Lords of Escry built a fortified residence. It was passed to the Grandpré family then to the Bossut. The chateau suffered numerous assaults: in 1359 it was sacked by the troops of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

riding from

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

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 ...

then again by the

Burgundians The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and ...

around 1425. In 1625 it was again attacked by

Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine Charles IV (5 April 1604, Nancy – 18 September 1675, Allenbach) was Duke of Lorraine from 1624 until his death in 1675, with a brief interruption in 1634, when he abdicated under French pressure in favor of his younger brother, Nicholas Franc ...

, profiting from the

Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law cour ...

to plunder

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

and threaten

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 1671,

Jean-Jacques de Mesmes Jean-Jacques de Mesmes, comte d'Avaux, vicomte de Neufchâtel (1630–1688) was a French magistrate, intendant of Soissons, and Président à mortier of the Parlement of Paris. He developed the town of Avaux-la-Ville, which is now called Asfel ...

, Count of

bought the fief of Ecry after it had been devastated by these successive invasions to complete his territory. The main town of ''Ecry'' was then renamed ''Avaux-la-ville''.

From Avaux-la-Ville to Asfeld

Jean-Jacques de Mesmes stimulated the local economy by establishing a weekly market and two annual fairs. He strengthened and enlarged the chateau and its approaches. In 1680 he decided to build a new church as the existing church was in a particularly bad state. This construction was part of an overall plan for the surroundings of the château.Philippe Seydoux, ''Country seats and fortified Houses in Champagne, Marne, and Ardennes'', Éditions de La Morande, 1997, Vol. 1, 320 pages, p. 94-97, and ''Plan of the Château d'Avaux-la-Ville'', p. 95 The new church building was blessed on 15 June 1685. On 20 March 1728

Claude François Bidal d'Asfeld Claude François Bidal, marquis d'Asfeld (Paris, 2 July 1665 – Paris, 7 March 1743) was a French Marshal of France. He was the son of Pierre Bidal (1612–1690), a French merchant and banker who did business with Christina of Sweden. He rec ...

bought the County of Avaux which was created from Avaux-le-Château, Avaux-la-Ville, Aire, Vieux, and Vauboison. In 1730 this lordship was raised to a

marquisate A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...

. Avaux-la-Ville, which had been called ''Ecry'' until 1671, again changed its name and took the current name of ''Asfeld''. Claude François Bidal Asfeld was ''Lieutenant-General of the armies'' (equivalent to

General of division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corp ...

of the King and Director-general of fortifications, succeeding to this function from Vauban. At the same time, Nicolas Bidet from

, a winemaker and author of a botanical treatise on the nature and the culture of grapevines, became Lord of Juzancourt, now a hamlet in Asfeld commune.

Revolutions and political upheavals

The son of Claude François Bidal d'Asfeld, Claude Étienne, the second Marquis of Asfeld lived mainly in

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 ...

but had strong relationships with the inhabitants of Asfeld. 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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

of 1789 accentuated the conflicts. The gates of the château were forced open on 13 June 1790. The Marquis of Asfeld condemned the leaders but on 25 August 1792, hearing of the fall of the monarchy, mobs again entered the property of the Marquis and symbolically burned his

Charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

. The Marquis preferred to emigrate to

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

following the

. His assets were seized and sold as ''

Biens nationaux The biens nationaux were properties confiscated during the French Revolution from the Catholic Church, the monarchy, émigrés, and suspected counter-revolutionaries for "the good of the nation". ''Biens'' means "goods", both in the sense of "obj ...

'' (national property). The castle was demolished the following year. The church was spared. During the Revolution the commune took the name of ''Écry-le-Franc'' or ''Escry-le-Franc''. In 1814, during the Battle for France, the region of

Berry-au-Bac Berry-au-Bac () is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also * Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne. The ...

in Asfeld was the scene of fighting between Field Marshal Blücher, the Duke of Ragusa, and General Ricard. In February 1848 a native of Asfeld, the botanist Jean-Baptiste Payer, participated in the revolutionary events in Paris, became Chief of staff for

Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869), was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the Tricolore as the flag of France. ...

then enjoyed a burgeoning popularity in his native region and was elected MP for Ardennes in the

French Second Republic The French Second Republic (french: Deuxième République Française or ), officially the French Republic (), was the republican government of France that existed between 1848 and 1852. It was established in February 1848, with the February Revo ...

although it was ephemeral. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century the construction of railways was encouraged by freight traffic from the

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...

industry. Spurred by the brothers Jules and Désiré Linard, the railway was quickly built and created potential for further diversification for farmers.

Conflicts of the 20th century

Throughout the 1914-1918 war the area was close to combat zones until the final days and suffered extensive damage. In 1940 after the breakthrough at Sedan in May, it was along the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and data ...

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 1,116 inhabitants.

Culture and heritage

Asfeld is a stage on the ''Route de Porcien'', a tourist route promoted by the Tourism Office of Ardennes

Civil heritage

*The former Arlot Flour Mill (17th century) Logo monument historique - rouge sans texte

*The German War cemetery File:Asfeld (Ardennes) Mairie.JPG, Asfeld Town Hall File:Entrée Asfeld 01267.JPG, Entrance to the German War cemetery File:Monument Asfeld 01273.JPG, The German War cemetery File:Asfeld (Ardennes) Cimetière allemand.JPG, Inside the German War cemetery File:Asfeld (Ardennes) Cimetière allemand, plaque.JPG, Commemorative Plaque at the German cemetery File:Asfeld (Ardennes) Monument aux morts.JPG, The War Memorial File:Collège 01171.JPG, Asfeld college File:Communauté de communes 01170.JPG, Community of communes office File:Gendarmerie 01157.JPG, Police Station File:Pompiers 01159.JPG, Fire Station

Religious heritage

*The Church of Saint-Didier (17th century) Logo monument historique - rouge sans texte

contains a: **Painting: The Martyrdom of Saint-Sebastian Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

*The Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Pitié contains a Sculpture of the Virgin of Pity Logo monument historique - noir sans texte

Ministry of Culture, Palissy File:Église Saint-Didier d'Asfeld.jpg, Church of Saint-Didier File:Entrée église 01173.JPG, Entrance to the Church of Saint-Didier File:Église Saint-Didier d'Asfeld 4.jpg, Plan of the church File:Église Saint-Didier d'Asfeld 2.jpg, Choir of the church File:Orgues 01200.JPG, The church organ File:Autel Didier 01228.JPG, The main Altar File:Vitrail 01208.JPG, Stained glass in the church File:Table 01227.JPG, Table in the church File:Chapelle Notre -Dame de la Pitié-Asfeld 1.JPG, Chapel of Notre-Dame de la Pitié Schopin - Claude François Bidal d'Asfeld (1665-1743) - MV 1081

Schopin - Claude François Bidal d'Asfeld (1665-1743) - MV 1081

Notable people linked to the commune

, Count of Avaux *

*Nicolas Bidet of Juzancourt *Jean-Baptiste Payer *Désiré Linard