Place:Montbéliard, Doubs, France

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Montbéliard (; archaic ) is a city in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about 13km from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Mentioned first in 985 as Mons Beliardae, it became a county of the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. In 1397 the town, known in German as Mömpelgard, passed by marriage of Henriette, heiress of county to Eberhard IV, Count of Württemberg, to the House of Württemberg . In 1524, ten years earlier than in Württemberg, duke Ulrich and reformer William Farel made Mömpelgard Protestant (specifically Lutheran). From 1598 to 1608, the architect Heinrich Schickhardt built several landmarks of the city, like St. Martin, a castle, a bridge, a college and several hotels.

After the French Revolution, it was briefly incorporated into the Rauracian Republic. In 1793 the town was annexed to France, which was confirmed in 1796 and by the German Mediatisation of 1806, when Württemberg was compensated with other areas, and became a kingdom.

As a consequence of the former rule under the dukes of Württemberg, it has been for centuries one of the few Protestant (specifically Lutheran) enclaves in France. The Württemberg coat of arms from 1495 represents Montbéliard as two jumping fishes on a red field.

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