Abbans-Dessus is located some 20 km south-west of Besançon and 3 km north of Quingey on the hills between Le Doubs River to the north-west and the Loue river to the south-east in the west of the Doubs department. The D13 road from Byans-sur-Doubs to Chouzelot passes through the south of the commune. Access to the village is by the D107 which branches off the D13 and goes north to the village continuing north to join the D105 north-east of Abbans-Dessous. The commune is long and narrow oriented north-east with bands of forest lining the long borders and the rest of the commune is farmland. An unnamed stream rises in the south of the commune and flows north to join the Doubs river to join the Doubs river north-east of Abbans-Dessous. Abbans-Dessus is located midway between the Loue and Doubs rivers although it does not border on either river but overlooks the Doubs river.
Neighbouring Communes and Villages
Toponymy
The name Abbans is based on a German man's name Abbo with the Germanic suffix -ing.
History
The village is built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the forest of Chaux and the Doubs valley. It is likely, in view of its strategic location, that it was a Gallo-Romanoppidum. Abbans-Dessus has a highly visible castle that is well known as the Keep where the Marquis Jouffroy d'Abbans, the inventor of the steamboat, largely conceived his work. There is mention made of the building in 1091. It belonged to the Lords of Abbans, important figures in the region's history. When, at the end of the 13th century, the sons of Philippe d'Abbans inherited the lordship, they created a "Front-Village" and a "Back-Village" The "Back Castle" passed to William and Richard built the "Front Castle" nearby. In 1290 Richard's daughter chose to sell the Front Castle to John I of Chalon-Arlay and in 1297 he granted Abbans a franchise charter. Abbans-Dessus was a cereal crops and livestock farming area. Viticulture was established in the commune until the 19th century when it was totally eradicated by phylloxera.
Heraldry and Genealogy of the Squires of Abbans
Heraldry
Genealogy
Humbert Abbans. Marriage and succession: His wife is unknown, he had two sons:
Hubald
Roger
Hubald of Abbans, Squire and Lord of Abbans. He was mentioned in a charter of 1143, in which the Pope Lucius II confirmed the rights of the Church of Saint-Madeleine in Besançon: "Dimidium Mansum, in castris Toragii vestre terre, quod expugnastis duello, contra Hubaldum of Habens". Marriage and succession: His wife is unknown, he had two sons:
Louis I of Abbans, Lord of Abbans, knight and squire, he donated to the Abbey Notre-Dame of Billon and was confirmed in 1156. Marriage and succession: His wife is unknown, he had four sons:
Olivier, abbot of the Monastery of Luxeuil from 1189 to 1201, Vicar-General of the diocese of Besançon in the absence of the Archbishop Thierry II of Montfaucon who left for the Third Crusade during which he died of the plague in 1191
Otto, who died childless.
Humbert II of Abbans, Squire and Knight, Lord of Abbans, Purgerot, and Augicour. Marriage and succession: His wife is unknown, he had one son and one daughter:
Louis II
Julienne, she married Lambert of Cicon.
Louis II of Abbans, squire and knight, Lord of Abbans. His seal attached to a deed of gift to the Cherlieu Abbey, of a horse, armed and with a banner in his arms. Marriage and succession: His wife is unknown, he had 3 sons and 3 daughters:
Philippe
Richard, Knight, Lord of Abbans, Villers-Saint-Georges, and Noironte.
Guillaume, a Knight
Nicolette
Willemette
Odilette
Philippe of Abbans knight, Lord of Abbans. In 1224 he joined a number of hostages that the Count of Chalon gave to Besançon to guarantee a treaty he had concluded with them. Marriage and succession: He married Richarde, daughter of Richard of Chay and Agnes of Arguel, by whom he had 1 son and 1 daughter:
Guillaume
Guillemette, the first wife of Henri de Conflandey and her second husband was Hugh de Montferrand.
Guillaume of Abbans, Squire and Knight, Lord of Abbans. Marriage and succession: He married Isabella, daughter of Pons of Cicon and Agnes of Pelousey, with whom he had one son:
Amiet
Amiet of Abbans, Squire, Lord of Abbans. Marriage and succession: He married Isabella by whom he had that 1 daughter and 1 son:
Jeanne, she married Henry de Saint-Aubin, knight
Jean, Knight and Squire, Lord of Noironte and Châtillon-le-Duc, he married Marguerite, daughter of Thiebaud Belvoir III and Jeanne de Montfaucon, by whom he had a daughter who passed the chateau of Abbans to Guillaume of Arbon. By inheritance the chateau passed to the Joux family, then the Grammonts and the Jouffroys.
