![Poulet de Bresse area of production on France relief location map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Poulet_de_Bresse_area_of_production_on_France_relief_location_map.jpg)
Bresse () is a former
French province. It is located in the
regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
of
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...
and
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in Eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...
of eastern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), which is situated in the east of the department of
Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part.
Saône-et-Loire is Bo ...
, and ''Bresse'', which is located in the department of
Ain
Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...
. The corresponding adjective is ''bressan'', and the inhabitants are ''Bressans''.
Bresse extends from the
Dombes
The Dombes (; Arpitan: Domba) is an area in eastern France, once an independent municipality, formerly part of the province of Burgundy, and now a district comprised in the department of Ain, and bounded on the west by the Saône River, on the s ...
on the south to the river
Doubs
Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.[Saône
The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île.
The name deri ...]
eastwards to the
Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Frenc ...
, measuring some in the former, and in the latter direction. It is a plain varying from feet above the sea, with few eminences and a slight inclination westwards. Heaths and coppice alternate with pastures and arable land; pools and marshes are numerous, especially in the north. Its chief rivers are the
Veyle
The Veyle (; frp, Vêla) is a long river in the Ain department in eastern France. Its source is in Chalamont. It flows generally northwest. It is a left tributary of the Saône, into which it flows between Grièges and Crottet, near Mâcon.
C ...
, the
Reyssouze and the
Seille, all tributaries of the
Saône
The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île.
The name deri ...
. The soil is a gravelly clay but moderately fertile, and cattle-raising is largely carried on. The region is, however, more especially celebrated for its table poultry.
History
The region's name derives from the
Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...
name
Bricius
Bricius (sometimes anglicized as Brice, died 1222) was prior of Lesmahagow and afterward bishop of Moray ( Gaelic ''epscop Muireb''; Latin ''episcopus Moraviensis'').
In this period, the name ''Bricius'' is more often a Latinization of the G ...
(Brice).
During the Middle Ages Bresse belonged to the lords of
Bâgé, from whom it passed to the
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...
in 1272. It was not until the first half of the 15th century that the province, with Bourg as its capital, was founded as such. In 1601 it was ceded to France by the
Treaty of Lyon, after which it formed (together with the province of
Bugey The Bugey (, ; Arpitan: ''Bugê'') is a historical region in the department of Ain, eastern France, located between Lyon and Geneva. It is located in a loop of the Rhône River in the southeast of the department. It includes the foothills of the ...
/''Bugê'') first a separate government and later part of the government of
Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
.
[
Initially, Bâgé was the principal city of the province. But its location, close to the borders of France, encouraged the emergence of ]Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ...
, which became the capital. The province was coveted by the King of France, who wanted to increase his territory. The flat nature of Bresse was difficult to defend. Finally the sovereigns of Savoy (''Savouè'') agreed to relocate to the Alpine part of the Duchy and to give up Bresse and Bugey in exchange for Château-Dauphin
Château-Dauphin is a medieval castle in the ''commune'' of Pontgibaud in the Puy-de-Dôme ''département'' of France.
History
The castle owes its name to the coat of arms of the person who built it in the 12th century: Robert I, Count of Auv ...
in Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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.
Agriculture and economy
Bresse is noted for the 1,200,000 chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
s per year which are raised primarily outdoors by 330 stockbreeders, with a minimum of 10 square metres per bird. They are sold at an average of 10 euros per kilo. The chickens of Bresse, formerly ranging freely, were the first animals to have an ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...
''. Bresse chickens are noted as the best quality chicken for cooking.
The Bleu de Bresse
Bleu de Bresse () is a blue cheese that was first made in the Bresse area of France following World War II. Made from whole milk, it has a firm, edible coating which is characteristically white in color and has an aroma of mushrooms. Its creamy ...
cheese originates here.
Demographics
Towns in Bresse
*Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ...
*Louhans
Louhans () is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France.
Bressan culture
Sociological outline
A chiefly rural region, Bresse was historically organized around an agricultural economy. The countryside is ''bocage
Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of Northern France, Southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use.
''Bocage'' may als ...
'' (woodlands), resulting in independent individuals within the community, organized around the parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
and the commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
. Social structures, then, are defined by a mixture of conservatism, attachment to ancestral values, and direct democratic participation in community life.
Bressan folklore
The traditional festival costumes of Bresse are preserved by historical societies. They include, for the women, a wide-brim hat, in the shape of plate, topped by a black cone. For men, they comprise a blue tunic, a long bonnet, long trousers and shoes.
Conscripts
The "conscripts' festival" (''la fête des conscrits'') is a ceremony for young people, 20 years of age. It has its roots in the period of "conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
" founded by General Jourdan in 1798, who required that every man between 20 and 25 years could be called to national service. The people organized festivals before their departure. The ceremonies survive to the present, and are appreciated by the population, seeing them as a way of maintaining social bonds.
These festivals generally take place between January and March. The people gather in a large banquet during which traditional " rigodon" music is played by two musicians, on clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
and drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
. The banquet is entirely organized by 20-year-old people, who make it a point of honor to personally invite each guest to visit their home. They are then given rosettes, in distinctive designs corresponding to their age.
The conscripts' festivals coincide with patron saints' days. Those are the occasions of the ''vogue'', a weekend festival.
Dialect
Bressan, a dialect of the Franco-Provençal language
Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal, Patois or Arpitan) is a language within Gallo-Romance originally spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland and northwestern Italy.
Franco-Provençal has several distinct dialects and is separ ...
, was the principal language of informal communication in the Bressan countryside until the 1950s. It is still spoken, though more rarely. (See the article on Franco-Provençal
Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal, Patois or Arpitan) is a language within Gallo-Romance originally spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland and northwestern Italy.
Franco-Provençal has several distinct dialects and is separ ...
for several examples.)
Tourism
* The church of Brou
Brou may refer to:
* Brou, Eure-et-Loir, a village and ''commune'' in France
* Brou-sur-Chantereine, a village and ''commune'' in Seine-et-Marne, France
* Brou people, a Khmer Loeu ethnic group in Cambodia
See also
* Royal Monastery of Brou, in B ...
* Saracen
upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...
chimneys
* Bressan farm
Visit Bresse and Louhans, the true France
References
* This article is partly based on the equivalent French-language Wikipedia article (retrieved December 4, 2005).
{{Authority control
Historical regions
Former provinces of France
Plains of France
Landforms of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Landforms of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté