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27-450: The monastery was founded in 727 by Eberhard, Count of Alsace , and established as a Benedictine house by Saint Pirmin . Its territory once comprised three towns and thirty villages. The buildings, including the abbey church, one of the earliest vaulted Romanesque structures , were laid waste in 1789 during the Revolution by the peasantry and the abbey was dissolved shortly afterwards. Of

54-478: A part of Lotharingia in the threefold division of Middle Francia. Lothair II , because of his kinship with the still-powerful Etichonids, had firm support in Alsace throughout his tumultuous reign. In 867, he created the first Duke of Alsace in over a century when he granted the ducatum Elisatium to his illegitimate son Hugh , who had an ancient Etichonid name. In 869, Lothair granted protection of his kingdom to Louis

81-452: A secular sense) in 792–93. By about 850 Murbach had become one of the intellectual centres of the Upper Rhine ; the library contained about 340 works of theology, grammar and history. In its decline, the library at Murbach still provided a possible source (aside from Fulda Abbey ) for Poggio Bracciolini 's recovery in 1417 of Lucretius ' lost didactic poem De rerum natura . The library

108-564: The Pactus Alamannorum . In 596, Childebert II bequeathed Alsace to his son Theuderic II , who was raised there. This attached it to Burgundy, but in 610 Theudebert II , Theuderic's brother of Austrasia, forced Alsace' cession to him only to lose it two years later to Burgundy again. In 623, when Chlothar II granted Austrasia to Dagobert, he excluded Alsace, the Vosges , and the Ardennes , but

135-576: The Germanic ali-land-sat-ja , meaning "one who sits in another land." Alsace was Alemanni territory, but not so much as Alemannia proper, which was east of the Rhine : it was, however, the "other" land in which some Alemanni had settled. In the Late Roman Empire , a district of Alsace ( pagus Alsatiae ) had been established in the region. Under Chlothar II , Alsace and Alemannia were granted their own law,

162-661: The ducatus Elisatium was still not attached to the Duchy of Swabia by then. It eventually would be, however. Bishop of Basel The Diocese of Basel ( German : Bistum Basel ; Latin : Diœcesis Basileensis ) is a Latin Catholic diocese in Switzerland . Historically, the bishops of Basel were also secular rulers of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel ( German : Fürstbistum Basel ). The bishop of Basel has not resided in

189-609: The ducatus alsicensi in 816, though it was still a ducatus without a dux . In 829, Louis's youngest son, Charles , was made duke of Alsace, Alemannia and Rhaetia , but in 831 his share of the empire was expanded and was made into a kingdom. By the Treaty of Verdun (843) it was made part of the kingdom of Middle Francia under Lothair I , to the displeasure of Louis the German , who would have liked to see it attached to Alemanni in his East Francia . Upon Lothair's death in 855, Alsace became

216-553: The 12th-century Romanesque abbey church, dedicated to Saint Leodegar ( St. Léger ), only the transept remains with its two steeples , and the east end with the quire . The site of the nave now serves as a burial ground. The building is located on the Route Romane d'Alsace . The founder of the abbey, Count Eberhard, brother of Luitfrid of the Etichonids , brought Bishop Pirmin from Reichenau Abbey on Lake Constance to build up

243-721: The 13th century, mostly in the Alsace, leading to conflicts with the Bishop of Basel and the counts of Habsburg . Murbach Abbey sold its rights over the city of Lucerne and estates in Unterwalden to Rudolph I of Germany on 16 April 1291. This was a significant event for the foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy , as the Waldstätte or Forest Communities ( Uri , Schwyz and Unterwalden ) saw their trade route over Lake Lucerne cut off and feared losing their independence. From

270-496: The 14th century the abbey began gradually to decline in influence although in the 15th and 16th centuries it retained its status as a principality. The Peace of Westphalia ( Treaty of Münster ) of 1648 granted parts of the Alsace to France, but reserved the abbeys of Murbach Lüders as remaining with the Holy Roman Empire . The kingdom of France nevertheless managed to acquire de facto control over both abbeys in 1680, under

297-608: The Alemanni and in 744 some rebellious Alemans invaded Alsace, implying that it was considered loyal to Martel's successors, Carloman and Pepin the Short . Even Liutfrid himself may have died fighting on behalf of the Carolingians against the Alemanni. In any case, the peaceful dissolution of the duchy in Alsace mirrored the similar efforts of the Carolings elsewhere (notably Provence ), while it

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324-600: The Benedictine Rule and was transformed into a college for members of the nobility ( French : chapitre collégial-équestral de Murbach , German : Adeliges Ritterstift Murbach ). In 1789 the abbey was dissolved after having been looted by rioting peasants. Source: Gallia Christiana . 47°55′24″N 7°09′29″E  /  47.92333°N 7.15806°E  / 47.92333; 7.15806 Duchy of Alsace The Duchy of Alsace ( Latin : Ducatus Alsacensi , Ducatum Elisatium ; German : Herzogtum Elsaß )

351-448: The German immediately before his death on a trip to Rome . When Louis fell ill later that year, Charles, now king of all West Francia , tried to annex Alsace and made Hugh swear allegiance to him, but Louis recovered and by the Treaty of Meerssen (870) Alsace was attached to East Francia at long last. There is little evidence for an Alsatian dukedom after that, though some have interpreted references to an Uto dux in 999 as implying that

378-552: The Pious , though there exists disputed evidence of its use as early as 735–737. Following the suppression of the Alemanni in 742–746 by Carloman , son of Charles Martel , the duchy of Alsace was dissolved in 742 when a successor for the deceased Duke Liutfrid was not named. While some historians have suggested an antipathy between the Etichonids and the Arnulfings to explain

405-648: The Rhine and even in the Black Forest . For example, in 805 the Alemannic nobles Egilmar, Focholt, Wanbrecht and Nothicho gave to the abbey their land and a church in the present Grissheim ( Latin : villa Cressheim in pago Brisachgaginse ). Lucerne abbey was a possession of Murbach by the mid 9th century. It possessed property in the vicinity of Worms around 900, and is mentioned in the Wormser wall-building ordinance as one of

432-524: The dissolution of their power in Alsace, the Etichonids were allied with Charles Martel as early as the 720s, when he campaigned against the Alemanni, who were a constant thorn in the side of their Alsatian cousins. Some have interpreted the tripartite web of support between Alsatian monasteries, the Etichonid dukes and counts, and Theuderic IV as evidence of an attempt to stay outside of Arnulfing (subsequently Carolingian ) control. In 722, Martel first defeated

459-470: The faithfulness of the Sundgau . The creation of a duchy of Alsace corresponded with the creation of counties in the region. Thitherto counties had not been found in most of Austrasia, but by the eighth century they were common in the south. The counts of Alsace were known in contemporary Latin texts by the title grafio (plural grafiones ), which may have indicated a slightly different office from that of

486-440: The industry of monks for secular benefit. Alsace was first spoken of as a ducatus in the 730s, though the correspondence of Alsace with the territory of the early duces can be inferred quite easily (for example, known dukes of Alsace referring to earlier dukes as their predecessors can only mean that the territorial unit of rule was the same). The term ducatus alsacensi , "Duchy of Alsace", only came into use under Louis

513-488: The places that shared responsibility for maintaining the city walls . This first period of prosperity ended in 936 with the invasion of Alsace by Hungarians . Murbach shows signs of decline during the 12th century, although in 1178, the city of Lucerne was founded as a Murbach possession. The abbey was dedicated in 1134. Murbach Abbey was granted the status of imperial immediacy in 1228, under abbot Hugues of Rothenburg. Murbach expanded its territorial possessions during

540-454: The religious community, which had previously used the Rule of St. Columbanus , but which had lost its original value. Pirmin solved the difficulties by introducing the mixed rule of St. Columbanus and St. Benedict , until the general reform of Benedict of Aniane . Count Eberhard gave the abbey a rich endowment and extensive privileges, including the right of free election of the abbot. The monastery

567-477: The so-called Chambers of Reunion established by Louis XIV , and the two abbeys were part of the territorial disputes between France and the Empire during the period of 1680 to 1789. In c. 1759, under Kasimir Friedrich von Rathsamhausen  [ de ] , the abbey was moved to Guebwiller , where the monks soon launched the construction of a new and monumental church, Notre-Dame de Guebwiller . The abbey abandoned

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594-460: The traditional comes (plural comites ), which was used in the more Romanised parts of Gaul. Under Gundoin's successors, the famous Etichonids , the counties — Alsace was already generally divided into a Nordgau and Sundgau — were brought under direct ducal control. From the very beginning, Gundoin had used monasteries and monastic foundation as tools in spreading his authority and in developing his regional economy by employing

621-506: Was a large political subdivision of the Frankish Empire during the last century and a half of Merovingian rule. It corresponded to the territory of Alsace and was carved out of southern Austrasia in the last decade of the reign of Dagobert I , probably to stabilise the southern reaches of Austrasia against Alemannia and Burgundy . By the late Middle Ages , the region was considered part of Swabia . The term "Alsace" derives from

648-482: Was also part of a larger effort — which was notably violent in Alemannia and Aquitaine — to replace dukes, who had the power to command armies, with counts, who were royal officers responsible to and representative of royal power. Alsace remained a distinct unit after 742. With the rise in influence of Hugh of Tours , who was a conscious ancestor of the Etichonid dukes, Louis the Pious first made reference to

675-468: Was also the source of Velleius Paterculus book Historia Romana , that was found there in 1515 by Beatus Rhenanus . At the same time the worldly possessions of the abbey were increasing, thanks to large numbers of gifts. Murbach owned properties and rights in about 350 localities. Most of them were in Alsace, in the Bishoprics of Basle and Strasbourg . In addition there were properties on the right bank of

702-563: Was obliged to have its privileges regularly confirmed and was thus closely dependent on the Pope and the Emperor (after 1680 the King of France ). Murbach was placed under the patronage of Saint Leodegar, who had introduced the Benedictine Rule into Burgundy in the 7th century. The abbey was important politically, and Charlemagne himself took the title "Abbot of Murbach" ( Latin : Pastor Murbacencis ; in

729-693: Was shortly after forced to concede it to Dagobert by the Austrasian nobility. Sometime probably between 629 and 631 Dagobert granted it as a dukedom to Gundoin , a Frank from the Austrasian heartland of the Meuse valley, a move which tied Alsace more closely to the Austrasian court. Gundoin's duchy comprised both sides of the Vosges, the Burgundian Gate , and the Transjura ; there were to be continuous early problems retaining

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