La Neuveville-sous-Châtenois (, literally La Neuveville under Châtenois) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Inhabitants are called Novavillois. Geography Part of the little town is positioned on the road to Châtenois 3 kilometres (2 miles to the west) and Mirecourt, to the east. The other part is set back from the main road on higher ground overlooking the river Vair. Originally the two parts were two separate hamlets. La Neuveville is separated by the Vair from the neighbouring village of Houécourt. Two kilometres to the west is the A31 Autoroute, the principal north-south highway crossing Grand Est between Toul and Langres. Etymology La Neuveville (Latin Nova Villa: English New Town) was built at one end of the village of "Haut du Mont" after the old village, having been destroyed by Hungarian invaders in the tenth century, was abandoned. History Between the tenth and the twelfth century the political situation seems to have become calmer and the impact of epidemics reduced. There is some evidence to indicate rising prosperity and population. According to the nineteenth-century historian Auguste Digot, life became easier in the villages of Lorraine during this time ("une certaine aisance règna dans les villages de Lorraine"). By the middle of the thirteenth century La Neuveville had become sufficiently important to become a parish in its own right, and the size of the church at this time provides one clue as to the population of the parish. The nave was 36 feet long by 22 feet wide, with seating for approximately 120, which gives an inferred population level of perhaps 180 - 200. Half a century later, in 1306, the Duke of Lorraine and the master of the bailiwick established at "La Nueveville desouz Chastenois" a weekly market, to take place each Tuesday under a covered market place ("sous la Haulle"), as well as an annual trade fair. The markets of that time are still recalled by a street name in the village, la rue de la Halle. The arrival of the Black Death in 1348 caused a massive decline in population in the ensuing ten or so years, leading to a labour shortage which permanently shifted the balance of economic power between owners of land and providers of manual labour. The Dukes of Lorraine were accordingly conforming to a more widespread pattern in replacing traditional serfdom with a less powerless status for