Duchy of Lorraine

Duchy of Lorraine
Duché de Lorraine (French)
Herzogtum Lothringen (German)
Herzogtum Loutrengen (Luxembourgish)
959–1766
Motto: Un pour tout/Une pour toutes (French)[1]
"One for everything"/"One for all"
Duchy of Lorraine (blue) within the Holy Roman Empire (c. 1400)
Duchy of Lorraine (blue) within the Holy Roman Empire (c. 1400)
StatusPart of East Francia (959–962)
State of the Holy Roman Empire (962–1766)
CapitalNancy
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Demonym(s)Lorrainian
GovernmentDuchy
Duke 
• 959–978
Frederick I of Bar
• 1737–1766
Stanisław Leszczyński
History 
• Lotharingia divided
959
• Joined
    Upper Rhenish Circle
1500
• French invasion and occupation of the Duchy of Lorraine
1643
• French invasion and subsequent occupation for 30 years
1670
• French invasion during War of the Spanish Succession
1702
• Annexed by France
1766
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Lotharingia
Lorraine and Barrois
Today part of

The Duchy of Lorraine (French: Lorraine [lɔʁɛn] ; German: Lothringen [ˈloːtʁɪŋən] ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy.

It was founded in 959 following the division of Lotharingia into two separate duchies: Upper and Lower Lorraine, the westernmost parts of the Holy Roman Empire. The Lower duchy was quickly dismantled, while Upper Lorraine came to be known as simply the Duchy of Lorraine. The Duchy of Lorraine was coveted and briefly occupied by the dukes of Burgundy and the kings of France, but was ruled by the dukes of the House of Lorraine after 1473.

In 1737, the duchy was given to Stanisław Leszczyński, the former king of Poland, who had lost his throne as a result of the War of the Polish Succession, with the understanding that it would fall to the French crown on his death. When Stanisław died on 23 February 1766, Lorraine was annexed by France and reorganized as the province of Lorraine and Barrois.

  1. ^ Augustin Calmet (1745). "Sur les sceaux, armoiries, couleurs, devises, cris de guerre, titres des Ducs de Lorraine". Histoire de Lorraine. Leseur..