Thomas de Choisy

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Thomas de Choisy , Marquis de Moigneville (* 1632 probably in Paris , † February 26, 1710 in Saarlouis ) was an officer and engineer of Louis XIV of France. He was the governor of the fortress town of Saarlouis he planned from its foundation in 1680 until his death.

Life

Charleroi Fortress 1693

Choisy joined the royal guard in 1650. On August 10, 1659 he was promoted to lieutenant and aide-major in the Saint-Diéry cavalry regiment. In 1668 he was enseigne (ensign) in the body company of the infantry regiment d'Espagny.

The Marquis de Louvois described him as the most skilled of the engineers who were in Lille. Louvois entrusted him with the work on the Charleroi fortress , which was completed in 1668. Under Marshal Turenne he took part in the Dutch War . In 1675 Louvois entrusted him with the building of the fortresses of Huy and Limbourg and the citadel of Liège . Maastricht , which was captured after a siege in 1673 , was also expanded by him and was able to withstand a siege by Dutch troops in 1676. Choisy was in command of Thionville Fortress from 1677 to 1680 . During this time he made suggestions for the location and construction of the fortresses Longwy and Saarlouis. For the latter, whose foundation stone was laid on August 5, 1680, he was also appointed governor.

During the Reunion War, Choisy took part in the successful siege of Luxembourg (1684), and from 1687 he led the construction work on the fortress of Mont Royal . In the Palatinate War of Succession he took part in the defense of Mainz in 1689 . In 1692 he took over command of the siege of Rheinfels Castle from Tallard .

Choisy died in Saarlouis in 1710. His body was transferred to the family crypt in Mogneville , but his heart remained - as he himself had decreed - in "his" town and was buried in the parish church of St. Ludwig .

Heart urn of Thomas de Choisy

St. Ludwig (Saarlouis), heart urn grave of Thomas de Choisy, modern plate with the French inscription "Ici repose le Coeur du General Thomas de Choisy, premier Gouverneur de Sarrelouis 1679–1710", translation: "Here rests the heart of General Thomas de Choisy, first governor of Saarlouis 1679–1710 ”, sculpture in reddish marble by the Ihner artist Oswald Hiery
St. Ludwig (Saarlouis), lead plaque above the heart capsule by Thomas de Choisy from the neo-Gothic church, found again in 1965 when the nave was demolished

During the demolition of the neo-Gothic nave of the Catholic parish church of Saarlouis St. Ludwig , a scandal broke out in the city in early February 1965 when an excavator shovel tore down the part of the church masonry in which the heart-shaped lead capsule with the heart of the first Saarlouis fortress governor Thomas de Choisy was embedded and damaged the lead casing. At Choisy's personal request, the heart and the rest of its entrails were walled up in the parish church next to the altar of Our Lady on February 26, 1710, immediately after his death at the age of 78, in order to document his inner connection with his place of work, while the rest were mortal The remains were transferred to the family crypt in Moigneville. In the neo-Gothic building of the church, the capsule was buried again under the high altar. City archivist Anton Delges had been looking for the burial place of the heart under the steps of the high altar in December 1964 some time before the demolition work in 1965. Since he had not found anything, he urgently advised the demolition company to report any historical find immediately.

When the excavator uncovered a leaden inscription plaque written in Latin a week later and the boss of the Beckingen demolition company Maurer wanted to bring it into his personal possession by stowing it in his private car, he was watched by attentive passers-by from Saarlouis been confronted. This led to a violent dispute between the opposing parties, which the angry passers-by and residents immediately reported to the Saarlouis mayor Hubert Schreiner. In the meantime, the demolition work continued and uncovered another unforeseen find, an approximately 100 × 60 cm large stone inscription plaque and finally the stone that housed the governor's lead heart capsule. The stone broke in half, the lead capsule was ripped open and the heart's preservative fluid ran out. Nevertheless, the Beckingen demolition contractor stowed the heart muscle in his car. Even at the request of the mayor's representative, who had rushed to the scene of the event, the building contractor did not want to give up his heart and insisted on the right that any debris from the neo-Gothic church building to be demolished belonged to him. Thereupon, by virtue of his office, the Saarlouis mayor decreed that the heart of Thomas des Choisy should be brought to the city hospital without wasting time and that a doctor should place it in a new preservative liquid there together with the capsule in the operating room. During the medical examination of the damaged lead capsule, however, it was found that Choisy's heart itself had remained intact. All further demolition work was immediately stopped by official decree and the construction site was placed under guard by municipal employees, as it was assumed that further historical finds could be stolen by the building contractor. The torn lead capsule with the heart was placed under medical supervision in a newly made larger lead casing, poured with preparation liquid, welded and kept in the safe of the town hall. The new lead sleeve was provided by a master goldsmith with the inscription: "Heart of Comte Thomas de Choisy, Marquis des Moigeville, 1632–1710". The heart remained in the city safe until it was let into the newly built church. The incident caused great excitement in the parish as well as in the city of Saarlouis, which can also be interpreted in connection with the upheavals within the church after the Second Vatican Council .

Originally the heart of Thomas de Choisy was in the baroque church under a stone statue of the governor in the wall of the church. Choisy was shown in military costume in a kneeling prayer position and with folded hands. Choisy's relief was probably chiseled away during the French Revolution.

The inscription on the lead tablet above Thomas de Choisy's heart capsule reads in German translation of the Latin inscription:

“In honor of the holy King Ludwig and the holy apostle Peter. In the year of salvation 1866, in the twentieth year of the pontificate of Pope Pius IX, under the Bishop of Trier Leopold, under the pastor Hecking, dean and honorary canon, and the church council members Dimel, Hesse, Koch, Donnevert and Stein, under the exalted king Wilhelm I, under the district administrator Herr von Selasinsky, under the mayor Trablé and the alderman Leroy and Favier, this new church has been rebuilt on the foundations of the old church for the benefit of the parishioners while retaining the previous tower. The architect C. Müller was in charge. Under this stone rests the heart of Count Choisy, once city and fortress commander, who laid the foundation stone for the first church. Everything for the greater glory of God. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Charleroi in: The fortresses Vaubans
  2. ↑ George Satterfield: Princes, posts and partisans - the army of Louis XIV and partisan warfare in the Netherlands (1673–1678) Brill, 2003, p. 146, ISBN 9004131760
  3. ↑ Guillaume Ferdinand Teissier: Histoire de Thionville - suivie de divers mʹemoires sur l'origine et l'accroissement des fortifications, les ʹetablissemens religieux et de charitʹe, l'instruction publique, la topographie, la population, le commerce et l'industrie, etc .; de notices biographiques; de chartes et actes publics dans les langues romane et teutone, etc Verronnais, 1828
  4. ↑ Heike Kempf: Longwy Fortress
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Eichelmann: Hessian coins and medals: Thoughts and considerations on coins and medals of the House of Brabant MV-Verlag, 2010 p. 137, ISBN 3-86991-060-7
  6. ↑ Hans Peter Klauck, Benedikt Loew, Guy Thewes (eds.): Thomas des Choisy, engineer and fortress governor under Ludwig XIV. , Association for local history in the Saarlouis district e. V., special volume 16, Saarlouis 2011.
  7. ↑ Benedikt Loew: Saarlouis - A life's work for Thomas des Choisy, in: Hans Peter Klauck, Benedikt Loew, Guy Thewes (ed.): Thomas des Choisy, engineer and fortress governor under Ludwig XIV. , Association for local history in the Saarlouis district e. V., special volume 16, Saarlouis 2011, pp. 147–173.
  8. ↑ Severin Delges: history of the Catholic Parish of St. Louis in Saarlouis . Saarlouis-Lisdorf 1931, extension to include a second part by Heinrich Unkel in 1952, extension to include a third part by Marga Blasius in 1985, part 3, pp. 12-18.
  9. ↑ Georg Baltzer: Historical Notes on the City of Saarlouis and its Immediate Surroundings , Part One: Historical Notes on the City of Saarlouis, Part Two: Historical Notes on the Immediate Surroundings of Saarlouis, reprint of the edition from 1865, Dillingen / Saar 1979, p. 117.
  10. ↑ Severin Delges: history of the Catholic Parish of St. Louis in Saarlouis . Saarlouis-Lisdorf 1931, extension by Heinrich Unkel in 1952, extension by a third part by Marga Blasius in 1985, part 1, p. 16.
personal data
SURNAME Choisy, Thomas de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Moigneville, Thomas de Choisy Marquis de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Governor of Saarlouis
DATE OF BIRTH 1632
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH February 26, 1710
Place of death Saarlouis