du Marché to the east and the local hospital to the west. The town of Molsheim is itself located in Alsace, on the foothills of the Vosges, at the end of the Bruche Valley and on the left bank of the latter. Background Establishment Koenigshoffen Charterhouse The Carthusian monastery located in Koenigshoffen - today a suburb of Strasbourg - and known as "Mont-Sainte-Marie" ("Marienbühl") was founded in 1335 on the banks of the Bruche by three monks, on land donated by Berthold II of Bucheck, bishop of Strasbourg. The monastery was spiritually fruitful and had 18 cells, and sent monks to support the charterhouses in Hildesheim and Basel. In 1418, the monastery had 16 fathers and 12 brothers; a century later, in 1521, there were still 15 fathers, nine lay people and four brothers. However, the introduction of the Reformation in Strasbourg three years later led to the departure of half of the 28 members of the community. When the Peasants' War broke out in 1525, the charterhouse thought it could avoid being pillaged by placing itself under the protection of the town, which had then turned to Protestantism. In return, the Council of the XV first demanded that the Carthusian patrimony be managed by laymen, then forbade the holding of liturgical services, and finally the entry of novices, which condemned the community in the medium term. The head office of the Grande Chartreuse therefore envisaged the transfer of the community, but nothing was done at first. In the early 1590s, Henry IV, who had borrowed 42,000 florins from the city of Strasbourg, decided to repay the city by offering it the charterhouse in lieu. On August 8, 1591, when only the prior Jean Schustein, three fathers and a donated brother remained in the premises, the Strasbourg Senate sent 300 masons and carpenters to dismantle the entire monastery, In 1592, it was destroyed "to the acclamation and joy" of the population, who salvaged all the materials to the point that nothing remained of it at the end of August. The library and liturgical ornaments were distributed among other religious houses in Strasbourg, and the monks were forcibly detained until May 1592 in their house known as the "Kartäuserhof" (Carthusian courtyard) located near Saint-Thomas, with the exception of the prior, who was authorised to take refuge in Mainz Charterhouse. Transfer to Molsheim From this last refuge, the former prior, assisted by