Moyenvic

Moyenvic is a common French located in the department of the the Moselle in Lorraine. Old strengthened place, Moyenvic had important saltworks.

Geography

The commune is located in a plain saltworks of the south of the Moselle, the Saulnois. It is contiguous with the communes of Hampont, Haraucourt-on-Pail, Marsal, Xanrey, Juvrecourt, Vic-on-Pail and Morville-lès-Vic. It is located at 3km in the east of Vic-on-Pail, 8km in the south-east of Castle-Saline, 32km in the North-East of Nancy and 53km in the south-east of Metz.

It belongs to the Regional natural park of Lorraine. It is crossed by the river Seille, and in extreme cases of the commune, by one of the affluents: Nard. It is a junction point between the axes Metz - Sarrebourg (D955), Nancy - Dieuze (D38) and Lunéville (D914).

The inhabitants are named the Moyenvicois . During centuries quoted was successively called Mediano Vico (836), Mediovici (968), Medio-Vico (982), Moyenvi (1183), Moienvi (1252), Moenvic (1258), Moyenvey (1324), Medius vicus salinarium oppidum (1525). This name of Medianus Vicus would come from the intermediate position between Marsal ( Vicus Marosallum ) and Vic-on-Pail ( Vicus Bodatius ).

History

Moyenvic is a site of the Briquetage of the Pail, it was thus already inhabited during the first millenium before Jesus-Christ. The area is occupied by the Romans in -58, they do not seem to have exploited the salt of the area there.

They build a military way which goes from Divodurum (Metz) to Pons-Savari (Sarrebourg). It crossed the territory of the commune below the Midsummer's Day coast, near the Nancy-Dieuze road. They build a citadel with Moyenvic at the 3rd century.

According to the legend, the area was christianized by three brother and sister come from Greece at the beginning of the 4th century: Saint Agent, Holy Pient and Sainte Dove which lived as hermits with Moyenvic. Their employers' festival is celebrated on October 30th.

The Middle Ages

In 836 first mention of quoted in a contract of tenant farming of the bishop of Toul. At the 9th century Moyenvic becomes a Généralité and a habit of évêché of Metz. Until the revolution, it will depend on the Baillage of Vic-on-Pail. A Motte castrale is built on the southern slope of the Midsummer's Day coast to defend the old Roman road. The existence of the saltworks is attested at that time by various written documents.

In 1120 Etienne de Bar destroys Moyenvic whose saltworks compete with its own establishments. In 1264 Thiébaut II of Bar seizes the saltworks of Vic and Moyenvic, two years later the city is again burned. In 1296, the bishop of Metz Gerard de Relanges manages to acquire all the saltworks of Marsal and Moyenvic, if one excludes a stove pertaining to Toul-native canons since 1065. He builds a small castle on the hillock of Châtry.

Between the 1360 and 1382 Metz-native bishop Thierri V Bayer de Boppard makes strengthen the city. In 1402 the Gabelle is introduced into the area, and the inhabitants are constrained to buy salt with their sovereign. In 1418, then in 1430, the city is destroyed by the Messins. Moyenvic has a relay of the French royal post office creates in 1470 by Louis XI, in 1840 it was still in correspondence with the relays of Champenoux, Bourdonnay, Castle-Saline and Lunéville. In 1526,1542 of new fortifications are built.

Thirty Year old war

In 1571 the cardinal Charles of Lorraine (1524-1574) needs money to fight the Protestants, it yields to the duke Charles III of Lorraine the saltworks of Marsal and Moyenvic. In 1627, the fortification are reinforced by Charles IV of Lorraine. The war will prevent any production between 1630 and 1644.

In 1631 Louis XIII wishes to fight against supports Charles IV of Lorraine to Ferdinand II of the Holy roman Empire. It sends Abraham de Fabert d' Esternay, disguised as a peasant, to recognize the fortifications of Moyenvic. At the time of the attack same Fabert, with five comparses disguised into carrying, will try to block the two bridges levis quoted. This trick having failed, it will be finally Jacques Nompar de Caumont which makes the head office of Moyenvic. The king will go in person to Metz to accelerate the rendering of the place, ordered by the baron Gaspard de Mercy, which will capitulate on December 27th after fifteen days of seat. This occupation is done in the name of the bishop of Metz, Henri of Bourbon-Verneuil which had protested against the ducal presence in its temporal, the king not wishing to be opposed officially to the Ferdinand emperor.

At the beginning of January 1632, Louis XIII goes to Moyenvic. January 6th the treaty of Vic-on-Pail imposes the establishment of a French garrison in the city. It is controlled by the marquis of Manassès de Pas of Feuquières. He will succeed Philippe de Suze, then in 1643 Charles de Cocherel de Bourdonné.

In 1635, the Swedes then combined with the French Armies, fold up themselves on Moyenvic. They devastate the area.

Moyenvic becomes juridically a French possession at the time of the Traités of Westphalia of 1648. The saltworks are yielded by Charles IV of Lorraine to the crown of France under the terms of the Traité of Vincennes of 1661. In 1746 a wood drain is built to bring water, richer in salt, of Dieuze.

A channel of floatation of: 16800 m, which followed the bed of Nard, came from Donnelay and Ommeray. It was used to feed out of wood the saltworks of Moyenvic. Another channel made it possible to convey the wood of the forest of Réchicourt-the-Castle to Lagarde, the barks being transported by carriage on the 6 km separating Lagarde d' Ommeray.

In 1759 the marshal Charles Louis Auguste Fouquet of Beautiful-Isle makes dig a new bed which moves away the Seille from the village.

French revolution

The register of grievances of the commune teaches us that the local populations suffer from the pressure hard the price of the firewood caused by the needs for the saltworks. One also reads that the salted wells were abandoned to use only pipeline water of Dieuze. The resurgence of the water of these wells makes the unproductive lands by accumulation of salt. In addition the inhabitants complain that the Pail is not any more quarry and that certain fields are regularly flooded, at the point to become marshy.

In 1791 the Revolution creates four departments in Lorraine. Moyenvic is attached to that of the Meurthe. Vis-a-vis the devaluation of the Assignat, a local currency is emitted between 1792 and 1797 by the municipal council.

In 1831 the company of the saltworks of the East decides to concentrate its manufacture on Dieuze. The count de Yumeri repurchases that of Moyenvic and exploit some stoves.

Annexation

In 1871 the village is integrated into the Bezirke Lothringen by the Traité of Frankfurt. During this annexation of the Alsace-Lorraine by the German Empire, the village named Medewich . It will find its current name at the end of the First World War. The last saltworks closed in 1897.

First World War

During the Battle of the borders of August 1914, the 2nd cyclists group of the 2nd battalion of hunters to foot arrives in Moyenvic. After the Battle of Morhange, French blows up the bridge on the Pail to slow down the enemy projection. When the face is stabilized, the German lines pass by the south of the commune: with the locality of the High of the Mounts , close to the Bezange-the-Large forest of , i.e. very close to the layout of the Franco-German border of 1871.

It will be a relatively calm sector of the Western face and they are only a few weeks before the armistice which the inhabitants will be evacuated towards Oldenbourg in Lower Saxony in the North-West of Germany.

The commune is integrated into the department of the the Moselle when it becomes again French after the First World War.

Second world war

After bombardments during the days June 14th and 15th 1940, at midnight the bridge on the Pail jumps. They are only the 17 with 17:00 that the soldiers of the Wehrmacht enter Moyenvic. During this battle, the village accepted 500 shells and 10 incendiary bombs, civil and twenty two soldiers of the 348e regiment of infantry will die. A monument carved by Jean Poutriquet was set up one them honor, initially on the place of the engagements (close to the bridge road of Dieuze) on September 5th, 1950 then moved close to the church on November 11th, 1969.

The Moselle is annexed in Germany. November 18th, 1940, the inhabitants are expelled in Haute-Garonne, with Villefranche-with-Lauragais and in the villages close to Cessales, Vallègue, Lux, Montgaillard-Lauragais, Gardouch, Vieillevigne and Renneville. People expropriés of the Pays of Bitche are rehoused by the German authorities in the commune. Some Siedlers (let us stick) German also settles there.

One can see on the road of Strasbourg a farm built by the German authorities. It was about a prototype for a program aiming at entrusting to the war veterans farms along the new border of Reich.

In 1944, release of the zone with fact the object of rough combat, and it took three months to traverse about thirty kilometers which separate Castle-Saline Lunéville from .

September 14th it twelfth American army corps controls the area. Then begin the Bataille from tanks of Arracourt whose objective for Wehrmacht is the resumption of Moyenvic. The Moyenvic September 24th is again occupied by the 11th Panzerdivision.

The village is definitively released on November 8th, 1944 by the 26th division of infantry of the US Army. Intense combat will continue until the 11 to conquer the coast Midsummer's Day, a fortified position which made it possible to lock plate of Morhange.

The village was largely destroyed at the time of the combat of 1944 and the inhabitants of return of exile will have to find refuge in hutments out of wooden. The architect Pierre Pagnon was in charge of the design of the new plan of the commune by the ministry for the Rebuilding and Town planning. The current church, designed by the architect Gilles Office in 1965, is the emblématique building of this rebuilding.

Administration

On the territory of commune, there were two villages which disappeared, probably at the time the thirty year old war: Bourmont between D955 and the hamlet of Salival like Saint Martin's day on the Midsummer's Day coast. The hamlet of Salival was built-in 1928. It belonged then to Morville-lès-Vic.

Since 1975 the village belongs to the school regrouping of the edges of Pail with the communes of White-Church, Mulcey, Saint M3edard's Day, Haraucourt-on-Pail and Marsal. This regrouping includes/understands three schools, including one in Moyenvic which accommodates the preparatory and elementary courses.

Demography

Places and monuments

Abbey of Salival, founded in 1157.
Door of the royal saltworks of 1627.
Holy Mount Jean or Holy Livier, a Metz-native knight, was decapitated by Huns on November 25th, 451. According to the legend, it then collected its head to a little further deposit it, where started to run a source. A vault at summer built at the 17th century at this place which became a famous place of pilgrimage.
the old Saint-Pient church of XIVe century was destroyed in 1944, it was replaced by a cubic modern church built in 1965 per Gilles Bureau.
the path tops of Midsummer's Day, marked out by association Ways Making , makes it possible to make a circuit 8 km on the sites of Salival and the vault Saint Livier. It opens on the left of the road carrying out towards Dieuze (D38), just after the round not.
the GR. 5 crosses the commune close to the coast Saint Jean, connecting Vic-on-Pail to Marsal.

Personalities related to the commune

Holy Livier
Louis-Etienne de Thouvenin (1791-1882): Officer and inventor in the field of the armament.

References

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