CHATEAU-THIERRY

chateau-thierry, a town of northern france, capital of an arrondissement in the department of aisne, 59 m. e.n.e. of paris on the eastern railway to nancy. pop. (1906) 6872. chateau-thierry is built on rising ground on the right bank of the marne, over which a fine stone bridge leads to the suburb of marne. on the quay stands a marble statue erected to the memory of la fontaine, who was born in the town in 1621; his house is still preserved in the street that bears his name. on the top of a hill are the ruins of a castle, which is said to have been built by charles martel for the frankish king, thierry iv., and is plainly the origin of the name of the town. the chief relic is a gateway flanked by massive round towers, known as the porte saint-pierre. a belfry of the 15th century and the church of st crepin of the same period are of some interest. the town is the seat of a sub-prefect and has a tribunal of first instance and a communal college. the distinctive industry is the manufacture of mathematical and musical instruments. there is trade in the white wine of the neighbourhood, and in sheep, cattle and agricultural products. gypsum, millstone and paving-stone are quarried in the vicinity. chateau-thierry was formerly the capital of the district of brie pouilleuse, and received the title of duchy from charles ix. in 1566. it was captured by the english in 1421, by charles v. in 1544, and sacked by the spanish in 1591. during the wars of the fronde it was pillaged in 1652; and in the campaign of 1814 it suffered severely. on the 12th of february of the latter year the russo-prussian forces were beaten by napoleon in the neighbourhood. chatelain (med. lat. _castellanus_, from _castellum_, a castle), in france originally merely the equivalent of the english castellan, i.e. the commander of a castle. with the growth of the feudal system, however, the title gained in france a special significance which it never acquired in england, as implying the jurisdiction of which the castle became the centre. the _chatelain_ was originally, in carolingian times, an official of the count; with the development of feudalism the office became a fief, and so ultimately hereditary. in this as in other respects the chatelain was the equivalent of the viscount (q.v.) sometimes the two titles were combined, but more usually in those provinces where there were chatelains there were no viscounts, and vice versa. the title chatelain continued also to be applied to the inferior officer, or _concierge chatelain_, who was merely a castellan in the english sense. the power and status of chatelains necessarily varied greatly at different periods and places. usually their rank in the feudal hierarchy was equivalent to that of the simple _sire_ (_dominus_), between the baron and the _chevalier_; but occasionally they were great nobles with an extensive jurisdiction, as in the low countries (see burgrave). this variation was most marked in the cities, where in the struggle for power that of the chatelain depended on the success with which he could assert himself against his feudal superior, lay or ecclesiastical, or, from the 12th century onwards, against the rising power of the communes. the _chatellenie_ (_castellania_), or jurisdiction of the chatelain, as a territorial division for certain judicial and administrative purposes, survived the disappearance of the title and office of the chatelain in france, and continued till the revolution. see achille luchaire, _manuel des institutions francaises_ (paris, 1892); du cange, _glossarium, s._ "castellanus." chatelaine (fr. _chatelaine_, the feminine form of _chatelain_, a keeper of a castle), the mistress of a castle. from the custom of a chatelaine to carry the keys of the castle suspended from her girdle, the word is now applied to the collection of short chains, often worn by ladies, to which are attached various small articles of domestic and toilet use, as keys, penknife, needlecase, scissors, &c.