Rambervillers was the creation in the ninth century of a man called Rambert, who was the Count of
Mortagne, or the
Abbot of Senones: sources differ. Through the later medieval period, Rambervillers belonged to the
Bishops of Metz. The care taken with its maintenance and fortification indicate that it was an important regional commercial centre. In the twelfth century the
Bishop of Metz,
Étienne of Bar protected the town with wooden fortifications and ditches: in the thirteenth century another
Bishop of Metz,
Jacques of Lorraine, replaced the stone fortifications with a stone wall backed up with 24 large towers. Despite its fortifications, Rambervillers found itself torched by a
Huguenot army acting on the orders of the Baron of Bollweiler, in the sixteenth century. Recovery seems to have been relatively rapid, however, since in 1581 the leading citizens resolved to construct the
Town Hall. In 1718 the town was integrated into the
Duchy of Lorraine, becoming formally part of
France on the death of
the last Duke in 1766. On 9 October 1870, manning the fortifications against the
invading Prussians, 200
national guardsmen held out for a day against 2,000 Germans. Their courage won the town the
Légion d'honneur medal, and had a street in
Paris (in the
12th arrondissement) named after it. ==Population==