Search results
Aug 20, 2022 · In 1842, he entered a contract with the Texan government to settle a colony in southwestern Texas, and at great personal expense managed to bring several hundred immigrants from the French province of Alsace.
- Texas Hill Country
In 1842, Empresario Henry Castro brought his first colonists to Texas to settle land west of the Medina River. Most of the immigrants were from the Rhine River area of Europe. Many claimed the province of Alsace, on the border of France and Germany, as their homeland.
May 11, 2022 · Between 1843 and 1849, he brought more than 2,000 settlers to Texas, two-thirds of whom were from Alsace. In September 1844, after 60 days sailing to Galveston and a perilous journey in a wagon under threat from disease and native tribes, a small group founded Castroville.
As you explore Castroville, you uncover remarkable architectural jewels that hark back to its European origins. The structural masterpieces dotted across the town embody the ethos of Alsace, reflected in the preservation of Alsatian homesteads and the influence seen on public buildings and churches.
- Human Civilization in Alsace Dates Back to The Prehistoric Era.
- Julius Caesar and The Romans Conquered The Region.
- Charlemagne United France, Germany and Alsace.
- Charlemagne’s Descendants Couldn’T Agree How to Carve Up His Kingdom.
- The Region Prospered During The Middle Ages.
- Jewish Persecutions Were Common in Alsace.
- The Habsburg Religious Wars Killed Many People in The Region.
- The Habsburg Empire Sold The Region to France.
- Sun King Louis XIV of France
- The French Revolution Brought Much Destruction.
Nobody is entirely sure how old Alsace is. The biggest city, Strasbourg on the Rhine River, has had excavations with artifacts from as early as the Neolithic era (12000BC). Everyone from the Celts, the Huns, the Franks, to the Romans have settled in the area.
In 58 BC, Julius Caesar and the Roman Empireconquered Alsace. But by the fall of the Roman Empire, it was the Alemanni tribes of Germanic origin, who controlled this area around the Upper Rhine river.
They say that every European is related to King Charlemagne. He had at least 18 children, so he certainly knew how to get around. By the late 8th century, Charlemagne had conquered almost the entirety of the area known today as France and Germany into his Frankish Empire. He thus imagined that the wars in Europe were over as he was crowned the Holy...
But upon his death, his sons started squabbling. By 842 AD, two of his grandsons, Louis of East Francia (Germany) and Charles of West Francia (France), decided to sign a treaty called the Oath of Strasbourg. Their goal was to oppose their older brother Lothair of Middle Franciawhose lands were, you might have guessed, right in the middle. This was ...
Alsace prospered in the 12th and 13th century, within the Holy Roman Empire which it was still a part of. Around 1262, Strasbourg got the right to declare itself a “Free Republic” within the Holy Roman Empire of which it now found itself a part of. As a central stop on the Paris-Vienna-Orient trade route, it became an economic powerhouse. Alsace wa...
But bad times were ahead. A bad harvest combined with the plague, brought out the worst in people. As in modern times, the calamities were blamed on the Jews, with pograms and evictions being carried across Strasbourg, Colmar, and other areas of Alsace. One sad example is the treasure hoard, known as the Colmar Treasure, believed buried by a Jewish...
By this point, the Holy Roman Empire had started to decline and the wars of religion were starting to take place. Both the Protestant Reformation and Catholic communities found themselves at the crossroads of Alsace. It was to be the 30 Years’ Warfrom 1618-1648 with fatalities of over 8 million people, with Alsace and Central Europe as the main bat...
At the end of the war in 1646, the Habsburgs sold Upper Alsace to France for 1.2 million thalers(German silver currency at the time). Some towns remained independent, however, with the German language still retained for administrative purposes.
The situation lasted until 1681 when the Sun King Louis XIV of France (the builder of Chateau de Versailles), decided to annex the remaining independent towns of Alsace, including Strasbourg. It was the Nine Year War, again against the Austro-Germanic Hapsburgs. At the time, Louis XIV was the most powerful leader in Europe, and could not be contest...
The 1789 French Revolutionwas not kind to Alsace and Strasbourg, with its special status being revoked. Many of the city’s great monuments almost destroyed to the ground. Tens of thousands of Alsatians fled east into Germany to escape the upheaval. In 1792, a soldier and poet named Rouget de Lisle composed in Strasbourg the Revolutionary marching s...
Alsace experienced great prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under Hohenstaufen emperors. Frederick I set up Alsace as a province (a procuratio, not a provincia) to be ruled by ministeriales, a non-noble class of civil servants.
People also ask
Who conquered Alsace in 58 BC?
Who settled in Alsace?
When did Alsace become part of France?
Why did Alsace go back to France?
The French native had gained acreage through an agreement with the Republic of Texas and quickly set about recruiting residents from Alsace, a region in northern France, to join him in America.
