Metz.—Panorama View taken from Saint-Quentin Fort.
(Cliché LL.)
METZ
ORIGIN AND PRINCIPAL HISTORY
The origin of Metz dates back to the Celtic epoch; it was the capital of the Mediomatrice. The Romans fortified it to defend the frontiers of the Empire against the Barbarians. Thus Metz became the starting point of the six great Roman roads which led to the distant provinces, two roads from Metz to Reims, two roads from Metz to Treves, one by the right bank, the other by the left bank of the Moselle: the road from Metz to Strasbourg and the road from Metz to Mayence.
Being a very rich and densely populated town, it was embellished with numerous Roman monuments, of which excavations have brought to light important traces: the Amphitheatre near the Porte Mazelle, and especially the Aqueduct of Gorze dating from the 4th century, which was 22 kilometres long, bringing to Metz the waters of Gorze. There are splendid remains to be seen at Jouy-aux-Arches.
The Roman Emperors during their stay at Metz lived in the palace of the governors which stood on the Place Sainte-Croix.
Metz was captured and devastated by the Huns in 451 A. D.
A half-century later the ruins were restored and the city became, on the death of Clovis (in 511 A. D.) the capital of Austrasie and the cradle of the Carolingian branch. Louis-le-Débonnaire was buried in the Abbey of Saint-Arnout. The treaty of Verdun (843 A. D.) gave it to Lothaire who made it the capital of his kingdom, Lotharingia, which became, later on, Lorraine. But thirty years later the treaty of Mersen (870 A. D.) assigned it to Louis-le-Germanique.
In the name of the Emperor it was first administered by counts and then by bishops. In 1220, on the death of Count Thiébault, the town was raised to a kind of republic under the title of "Imperial free town" and until 1552 was administered by sheriffs.
Under Henry II, the French, lead by Montmorency, occupied the town after a treaty had been concluded with Maurice de Saxe. The Duc de Guise, appointed governor, skilfully and energetically defended Metz to which the Emperor Charles V had laid siege (October 19th, 1552). On January 1st 1553, Charles V withdrew after losing 30,000 men. The kings of France for a long time held the title of Protector. Henry III was the first to be called the sovereign lord. The Parliament of Metz, constituted in 1633, finally brought about the downfall of its municipal independence and the treaty of Westphalia (1648) definitely made it part of France. It became the capital of the province of Trois-Évêchés, composed of Metz, Toul and Verdun.