| Page Views: 1,662 Last Visit to Othe: - | SEE OTHE AND DIE by F_Meignant - last update: Sep 20, 2002 |
|  | 175 LONG METRES OF HISTORY Skip these chapters if you consider them as too long, and go to the travelogues
You can see on the Michelin map that Othe (limits in red) is like an island: it belongs to the “département” of Meurthe-et-Moselle (limits in yellow), but it’s completely surrounded by land belonging to the “département” of Meuse… It has to be underlined that Othe’s “island” is at only 175 metres from Meurthe-et-Moselle’s “mainland”.
The origin of these 175 metres comes from a very, very long time and never in History, nowhere in the world, such a small distance took so many years to be covered.
The village was, at the end of the XIIth century, the property of the Earldom of Chiny, and it was already an enclave into the Earldom (it was not a Duchy yet) of Luxemburg which was much bigger than nowadays. But Othe’s situation was frequent at this period: we will try now to see why it lasted more than 800 years.
In 1197, Thibaut I de Bar married Ermesinde de Luxembourg. He was 37 years old, she was 8 (yes, 8). Both were powerful feudal lords in possession of enormous territories. But despite the wedding, the two families were almost at war. So, when Thibaut died in 1214 and Ermesinde in 1247, it appeared to be very difficult to solve the problem of their succession, especially concerning the estates. Othe had been only indirectly concerned, but suffered a lot of this situation.
To solve the succession, Earldoms of Bar and Luxemburg agreed (probably around 1260) to keep the concerned belongings as jointly-owned properties. We would say nowadays that they decided not to decide…
Obviously, the problem itself was not solved and small conflicts were often happening about the subject. For that reason, after 270 years of conflicts, Emperor Charles V and Duke Antoine de Lorraine signed in 1529 an agreement creating a special entity called the “Terres Communes” (“Shared Estates”), thereby considered as neutral. We would say nowadays that they decided to decide a little…
Othe had been sold to the Earldom of Bar (Thibaut’s family) at an unknown date between 1220 and 1230, and in 1261 it was brought under the jurisdiction of the provost of Longuyon (Earldom of Bar). At this period, Thibaut was already dead and his carcass eaten by worms. So, Othe was not a part of the succession, and was not included in the “Terres Communes” in 1529. After having been for 300 years an enclave of Bar into the jointly-owned properties, it was now an enclave of Bar into the “Terres Communes”.
The succession of Thibaut and Ermesinde was probably very hard to solve since the “Terres Communes” lasted till the treaty of Marville (a small city close to Othe), in 1602, more than 350 years after Ermesinde’s death! Othe’s problem could have been solved by this treaty.
Unfortunately, the inhabitants of Marville were rich because the “Terres Communes” system allowed them to get advantages from both families of Bar and Luxemburg. They made some “lobbying” and finally, it was decided that some villages and cities would remain as simple jointly-owned properties. Marville between others. And because of the shape of Marville’s territory, Othe became a double enclave! It was still belonging to Bar and depending on Longuyon, but it was surrounded: towards West and North by Luxemburg (a part of the Netherlands at this time); and towards East and South by the remaining jointly-owned properties… This situation lasted some 187 years more. |
The 7th of February 1789 (the French Revolution will start a bit more than 5 months later), King Louis XVI still has his head on his shoulders but feels that, as we use to say, “le vent tourne” (the wind is turning). He decides that, maybe, some reforms could be implemented. Maybe.
Therefore, he orders that each city and village of France establishes some “Cahiers de Doléances” (Books of Grievances) explaining why the heck the People is not happy.
Othe’s “Cahier de Doléances” was made in march 1789. It mentions that the village has 20 houses and 92 inhabitants and that the labour force is only made of 4 ploughmen and 8 unskilled workers (notice the unemployment rate!!!). It presents to His Majesty “the humble complaints of the very humble and very obedient subjects of the Othe’s Community for the general relief of the poor farmers without, nevertheless, any prejudice to His Majesty’s ordinary revenue” (“les humbles représentations des très humbles et très soumis sujets de la Communauté d’Othe tendant au soulagement général des pauvres cultivateurs, sans cependant préjudicier au revenu ordinaire de Sa Majesté”). Among others, the humble subjects ask for “…the reform of the taxes on fairs, especially for the village of Othe and dependencies which is an enclave in the inside of the Bishoprics (at that time the name of the surrounding territories), and the foreign border at half a quarter of a league, therefore not being able entering in or taking out anything without having the receipts in hand, which is a considerable discomfort for the inhabitants and even more for the strangers who, ignoring this enclave or, saying better, this trick, are subject to confiscations ignoring it, and have to pay fines, which is not without any example” (“… la réforme des droits de traite foraine, particulièrement pour le village d’Othe et dépendences qui se trouve enclavé dans l’intérieur des Evêchés et frontière de l’étranger à un demi-quart de lieue, ne pouvant entrer ni sortir aucune chose sans avoir les acquits à la main, ce qui gêne considérablement les habitants et préjudicie encore souvent plus aux étrangers qui, sans connaître cette enclave ou, pour mieux dire, cette attrape, se trouvent sujets à des reprises, sans la connaître et payent des contraventions, ce qui n’est pas sans exemple“).
It has to be underlined that, at this period and since more than 600 years (!!!), the inhabitants of Othe were, because of those bloody 175 metres, paying double taxes on all goods produced somewhere else that in the village.
Well… After having read this “Book of Grievances”, the King and, after his head felt down, the French revolutionaries, could have solved Othe’s problems.
This was not the case: unfortunately, the village and its 92 inhabitants were forgotten in the inventories of the “Biens Nationaux” (Public Properties) which were made after the “Ancien Régime” collapsed, in order to create the “départements”. The village was probably too small, not economically interesting or representative. When Othe’s inhabitants had the opportunity to realise what happened, it was too late: the drawing of the “départements” was finished. The village was finally brought under the jurisdiction of Longuyon as before. It became an enclave of the “département” of Moselle in the “département” of Meuse. After 1871, it was included in the newly created “département” of Meurthe-et-Moselle… still as an enclave.
Nevertheless, in august 2002, after more than 8 centuries of fight against injustice, we can finally consider that Othe’s 175 metres were covered: for the first time in its history, the village has not been forgotten. At this date, an Internet site called Virtual Tourist included the village in its database of more than 2.000.000 of human settlements over the world. The 1st of august will now be the village Day.
Thank you VT! | | |
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 Comments for F_Meignant about Othe | | | | |
XenoHumph Thu Jul 1, 2004 20:31 UTC
Quelles belles photos!! Bravo! | KristaB Wed Mar 3, 2004 09:40 UTC
The Othe Day celebration might be boring with only 29 inhabitants. Do you need help? Have you got some Truth down in that cellar? I'm sure there are some friendly VTers willing to help … | vivalasteph Tue Mar 2, 2004 16:29 UTC
Wonderful page on your hometown, Francois, and that cloud photo, c'est magnifique! I'll be joining Doug to explore your cellar! | kenHuocj Thu Feb 19, 2004 15:45 UTC
'Othe village' on google places you top of the list- that's your 175m intro - Tops ! ;-))) |
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