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TOUL

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 98 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TOUL , a See also:

garrison See also:town of See also:north-eastern See also:France, See also:capital of an See also:arrondissement in the See also:department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, 2r m. W. of See also:Nancy on the Eastern railway Pop. (1906), town 9523; See also:commune, 13,663. Toul is situated in a See also:plain on the See also:left See also:bank of the Moselle, which skirts the town on the S. and S. E., while on the N. it is bordered by the See also:Marne-See also:Rhine See also:canal. It is principally important as being the centre of a See also:great entrenched See also:camp See also:close to the See also:German frontier. Immediately after the Franco-German See also:War the whole See also:system of frontier See also:defence was revised, and of all the new fortresses of the See also:Meuse and Moselle Toul is perhaps the most formidable. The See also:works were begun in 1874 by the construction of four outlying forts north, north-See also:east and See also:south of the town, but these soon became merely an inner See also:line of defence. The See also:principal defences now See also:lie much farther out on all sides. The See also:west front of the new line of forts occupies a See also:long line of high ground (the See also:watershed of the Meuse and the Moselle), the north front, about 4 M. from Toul, is in undulating See also:country, while facing towards Nancy and forming the chord of the arc which the Moselle describes from Fontenay below to Villey-le-Sec above, is the strong east front, the outlying works of which extend far to the east (Fort Frouard and other works about Nancy) and to the south-east (See also:Pont St See also:Vincent). The south front extends from the Moselle at Villey-le-Sec south-westwards till it meets the See also:southern end of the west front on the high ground overlooking the Meuse valley. The fort at Pagny on the Meuse to the south-west may be considered an outwork of this line of defence.

The perimeter of the Toul defences proper is nearly 30 m., and their mean distance from the town about 6 m. Northward, along the Meuse, Toul is connected with the fortress of See also:

Verdun by the " Meuse line " of barrier forts, the best known of which are Gironville, Liouville and See also:Troyon. South of Toul the country was purposely left unfortified as far as Epinal (q.v.) and this region is known as the Trouee d'Epinal. The town itself forms an See also:oval within a bastioned See also:enceinte pierced by three gateways. It has two important churches. That of St See also:Etienne (formerly a See also:cathedral) has a See also:choir and See also:transept of the 13th See also:century; the See also:nave and aisles are of the 14th, and the See also:facade, the finest See also:part of the See also:building, of the last See also:half of the 15th. The two western towers, which have no See also:spires, reach a height of 246 ft. The two large lateral chapels of the nave are in the See also:Renaissance See also:style. The See also:chief features of the interior are its stained See also:glass and See also:organ See also:loft. South of the See also:church there is a See also:fine See also:cloister of the end of the 13th century which was much damaged at the Revolution. The church of St Gengoult, which See also:dates chiefly from the See also:late 13th or See also:early 14th century, has a facade of the 15th century and a cloister in the Flamboyant See also:Gothic style of the 16th century. The hotelde-ville occupies a building of the 18th century, once the episcopal See also:palace, and contains the library and museum.

Toul is the seat of a sub-See also:

prefect and has a tribunal of See also:commerce and a communal See also:college among its public institutions. The See also:industries include the manufacture of See also:porcelain; See also:trade is in See also:wine and See also:brandy. Toul (Tullum) is one of the See also:oldest towns of France; originally capital of the Leuci, in the Belgic See also:Confederation, it acquired great importance under the See also:Romans. It was evangelized by St Mansuy in the latter half of the 4th century, and became one of the leading See also:sees of north-east See also:Gaul. After being sacked successively by Goths, Burgundians, See also:Vandals and See also:Huns, Toul was conquered by the See also:Franks in 450. Under the See also:Merovingians it was governed by See also:counts, assisted by elective See also:officers. The bishops became See also:sovereign counts in the loth century, holding only of the See also:emperor, and for a See also:period of 300 years (13th to 16th centuries) the citizens maintained a long struggle against them. Together with Verdun and See also:Metz the town and its domain formed the territory of the Trois-Eveches. Toul was forced to yield for a See also:time to the See also:count of Vaudemont in the 12th century, and twice to the See also:duke of See also:Lorraine in the 15th, and was thrice devastated by the See also:plague in the 16th century. See also:Charles V. made a See also:solemn entry into the town in 1544, but in the followingyear, at the instance of the See also:cardinal of Lorraine, it placed itself under the perpetual See also:protection of the See also:kings of France. See also:Henry II. took See also:possession of the Trois-Eveches ii11 1552, but the territory was not officially incorporated with France till 1648. Henry IV. was received in See also:state in 1603, and in 1637 the See also:parlement of Metz was transferred to Toul.

In 1700 See also:

Vauban reconstructed the fortifications of the town. In .17o0 the bishopric was suppressed and the See also:diocese See also:united to that of Nancy. Toul, which had then no See also:modern defences, capitulated in 1870 after a See also:bombardment of twelve days.

End of Article: TOUL

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