Belgian Lorraine (French: la Lorraine Belge) in geology (on the geological map it forms the edge of the Paris basin) and by extension also in floristics the area south of the river Semois, the region around Arlon and Virton or the extreme southeast of Belgium. The region Lorraine continue in France.
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Although this region is considered to be part of the Ardennes in the broad sense, it does not fall under it in a strict geological sense. The Ardennes are characterized by old, relatively acidic rocks and a cool climate for Belgium, Belgian Lorraine, on the other hand, also has sand-limestone and marl and a somewhat warmer climate by Belgian standards. The heights of the hills are also of a somewhat lower level, they remain below 500 meters. Moreover, these hills have a different structure, it concerns a so-called cuesta hill landscape; that is, - in this case - the hills on the north side are slightly sloping and on the south side are steeply sloping.
Linguistically and culturally, Belgian Lorraine is divided into the traditionally Romanesque Gaume and the traditionally Germanic Land of Arlon. The Gaume roughly coincides with the district of Virton, the Land of Arlon with the district of Arlon. Geographically and, for example, also architecturally speaking, there are hardly any differences between these two regions of Belgian Lorraine.
In Gaume, a Romance dialect is spoken, which is very close to the French-Lorraine dialect. In contrast to the latter, almost extinct, dialect, the "Gaumais" has been reasonably preserved in many villages, although the youth hardly speaks the dialect anymore. Luxembourgish (Lëtzebuergesch) is traditionally spoken in the Land of Arlon. In the city of Arlon, this language is hardly heard anymore (except from the mouth of Luxembourg visitors), but in the surrounding countryside certainly the older generations still speak it every day. In view of the great economic influence of the Grand Duchy on the region, the language has been on the rise in recent years. There are courses, primary schools pay attention to the language and more and more street and place signs are bilingual French-Luxembourgish.
Belgian Lorraine connects to Lorraine to the south of it in Northern France and to Gutland to the east of Luxembourg.
History
To arise
The Duchy of Lorraine arose from the Middle Kingdom created by the division of Charlemagne's empire at the Treaty of Verdun in 843. The Middle Kingdom, which stretched from the North Sea to Italy, was assigned to the eldest son, Lothair I, who also received the imperial crown. In 855 Lothair's three sons further divided this central kingdom, with the northernmost part falling as kingdom to Lothair II. This area was called "Regnum Hlotharii", or Lorraine.
Broadly speaking, this area encompassed the entire north-east of France, with Alsace, and the area of the Low Countries between Scheldt and Rhine, without the county of Flanders, but with the region of Aachen, Cologne, Koblenz and Mainz (the old Germania Inferior and Germania Superior).
After the death of Lothair II, who had no legitimate children, Lorraine was annexed by his uncle Charles the Bald. After the Treaty of Meerssen (870), Lorraine was split and divided between West and East Francia. The Treaty of Ribemont (880) brought all of Lorraine to East Francia.
The East Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia gave Lorraine as a kingdom to his son Zwentibold (895-900) in 895. After several conflicts with the Lorraine nobility, it died in 900. This was followed by a confused period in which the Lorraine nobility sometimes joined West Francia and then East Francia again. Between 911-923, under Charles the Simple, it was part of Western Francia for a short time, and afterwards for a long time part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 925 Alsace was transferred to the Duchy of Swabia.
Lorraine as a duchy
In 925 the German king Hendrik de Vogelaar managed to definitively join Lorraine to the German Empire. In 928 he appointed his son-in-law Giselbert II van Maasgouw as Duke of Lorraine. After he revolted against his brother-in-law Otto I and was killed in action (939), Lorraine had to do without a duke for a while. In 953 Otto I made his brother Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne, duke. He was the last duke of undivided Lorraine, for during his reign he appointed two vice-dukes for Upper and Lower Lorraine, heralding the actual split.
cleavage
The vast area was divided into Upper and Lower Lorraine in 959; Frederick I was appointed only over Upper Lorraine, while Lower Lorraine remained unoccupied. In 977, Lorraine split for good with the arrival of Charles, son of Louis IV of France.
Lower Lorraine was initially called Lorraine, while the Duchy of the Moselle was chosen for Upper Lorraine. When this fief fell to the Dukes of Anjou during the 15th century, the name Lorraine (French: Lorraine) came into effect. France and Germany have fought several wars in the later centuries to take over the area of Upper Lorraine, that is the whole area of the present French regions of Champagne-Ardenne, Alsace, Franche-Comté, Lorraine itself, and parts of the neighboring regions. regions.
End
In Lower Lorraine or the Low Countries, the dukes almost completely lost their authority in 1190. At the Diet of Schwäbisch Hall, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa decided that the dukes at the time, the counts of Leuven, were only allowed to exercise ducal authority within their own limited limits. territories and government loans. These then became the dukes of Brabant. However, the ducal title of Lorraine continued to exist as an honorary title until the end of the Ancien Regime, often in the French form duc de Lothier, called duke of Lothrijk[1] in the chronicles of Brabant. The dukes of Limburg and Gelre also claimed this ducal title [source?].
Upper Lorraine ceased to exist as a duchy in 1766, when it was added to the French crown
Language
Arrive
By train
- Lorraine can be done by train
By bus
- The bus service is provided by the bus company of Wallonia, the TEC. The offer and the frequency of the buses are limited.
By car
- The car is the preferred mode of transport
By plane
- Nearest airport is Liege