Jean-Martin Wendel
| Jean-Martin Wendel | |
|---|---|
| Born |
22 February 1665 Longlaville |
| Died | 25 June 1737 (aged 72) |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Steel maker |
Jean-Martin Wendel (22 February 1665 – 25 June 1737) was a Lorraine industrialist, founder of the De Wendel steel making dynasty.
The name "Wendel" is Flemish, from the verb wenden (turn). The de Wendel family can be traced back to Jean Wendel of Bruges, who married Marie de Wanderve around 1600. His son was Jean-Georges Wendel, born on 8 October 1605 in Koblenz, who married Marguerite de Hammerstein and became colonel of a regiment of Cravattes (Croatians) under the Emperor Ferdinand III. His son Christian Wendel was born on 23 April 1636 in Koblenz, and became a lieutenant in the army of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine. In 1656 he married Dorothea Agnes Jacob, and in 1660 remarried, to Claire de Sansfeild. She was from an old family of the Duchy of Luxembourg. They had six daughters and three sons. The sons were Francois Wendel, who died on 23 February 1742 without heirs, Jean-Martin Wendel (1665-1737), who founded the industrial fortune of the family, and Jean-Baptiste Wendel, an advocate at the Parliament of Metz in 1721.
Jean-Martin Wendel was born on 22 February 1665 in Longlaville, a domain that his mother brought as her dowry. His father owned several fiefs in Lorraine which he passed to Martin Wendel. Around 1700 Martin married Anne-Marie Meyer. His wife was the daughter of a wealthy fermier (presumably a tax collector rather than a farmer). Before 1704 Wendel directed a forge at Ottange, just north of Hayange.
Martin Wendel used his wife's money to buy the iron forge of Hayange from King Louis XIV of France. He paid 9,621 livres on 26 March 1704 for the works at Hayange. This was a significant amount of money since at the time time a skilled craftsman would earn about 200 livres per year. The property included the Rodolphe forge, which had been created by Rodolphe de la Roche, the Magdelaine furnace, a hammer mill and a cutting mill. The mills were incomplete and the other equipment was in disrepair. Two years earlier the works had been sold for 1,500 livres to Louis de Ridouet-Sancé, who probably invested about 9,000 livres but failed to make the business profitable. Wendell had to borrow about 30,000 livres from banks in Metz and Thionville to invest in the business.
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