The history of Laval Dieu begins in this place formerly called “la Bouche de Semoy” when the Archbishop of Reims, Hincmar, had a chapel built in 867, that was dedicated to Saint Rémy and entrusted it to the secular canons from the Braux Collegiate Church with a view to evangelising the region. Twelve canons from Prémontré arrived in the month of June 1128, at the beginning of the Semoy Valley which then became for evermore the “Vallis Dei”, the Vallée de Dieu, Laval-Dieu. Right from the moment it was founded Laval Dieu Abbey received as alms or in exchange for prayers, the inherited lands in Monthermé and further beyond in the neighbouring areas situated in the Empire, such as Auton wood in the Roc la Tour direction, owned by the Orchimont family. That is how Monthermé became an entity, a village, a seigneury whose lord of the manor was the Abbot of Laval Dieu. The inside of the church’s walls is entirely covered with oak panelling up to a height of 3.50 m that was installed in the early years of the 18th century.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.