ANDELOT-BLANCHEVILLE

A chapter from our past…

In November 587, King Childebert II of Austrasia (the eastern lands), met Guntram I, Merovingian king of the Franks and Burgundy and grandson of Clovis, the first Frankish king, at ANDELOT near Chaumont in Haute-Marne.

The Treaty of Andelot on the 28th November 857 was one of the first recorded in European history. The pact terms stated that Guntram would adopt Childebert as his heir, unifying the two kingdoms against warring factions and ensuring a permanent peace.

An open-air museum…

The murals have been equipped with an audio system, with a narration related by the renowned French actor, Michel Galabru. Among them, there is an enormous mural illustrating the signing of the Treaty of Andelot, followed by a historical story trail.

Time-travel through 2,500 years:

- Fort Bévaux and the Neolithic necropolis
- The martyrdom of St. Louvent (or Lupien) in 584
- The inquisitorial court and subsequent declaration of innocence of Joan of Arc by the Andelot knights
- The Auditorium, where the tithe tax was levied and justice dispensed
- The Andelot Manifesto, drawn up by Gaston of Orléans (son of Henry IV) in 1632, declaring opposition to his brother Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu
- The 1709 Great Peasant’s Revolt in nearby Val Rognon
- The Royal Abbey at Septfontaines
- The Baroque composer, Michel Pignolet de Montéclair
- And finally, the 2nd Armoured Division and the Battle of Andelot on the 12th September 1944.