De la Motte

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De la Motte , also written de La Motte , is a family name.

On the meaning of the name "de la Motte"

The family name "de la Motte" is one of the names derived from a place name. The word “motte” and its root “mot” - Low German “mud” or “modder” - actually means mud, black earth, clod of earth or a small hill.

In a derived sense, “la motte” means a natural or artificial increase in the ground, e.g. B. a mill or a castle, in the historical sense of the feudal period, a hill, erected at a manor or castle as a sign of sovereignty, further the castle itself and the court of the seigneur, the lord of the castle. " La motte " was also the name of the old refuges in Romanic countries, piled up and fortified castle hills in marshland or surrounded by water, created especially from the 9th to the 12th century to protect against enemies:

“In this time of disorder and violence, the free and aristocratic feudal men of the sovereign erected a building on an artificial mound in a suitable place, fortified by ditches and a high tower. These were the “moths” of feudalism, the traces of which still exist in our villages. Each of these "moths" became the center and seat of one of the small aristocratic estates ("seugneuries") that divided the land among themselves during the feudal period. " (Lefevre Lefort)

Such “moths” gave names to various villages, country estates and lordships at an early stage. This explains the relative frequency of the name in France in the various forms de la Motte, Lamotte, La Mote, La Mothe and others. Ä., But also in Germany.

Name bearer

See also