Brioude (;
Auvergnat: ''Briude'') is a
commune in the
Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire (; oc, Naut Léger or ''Naut Leir''; English: Upper Loire) is a landlocked department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Named after the Loire River, it is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, ...
department in the
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 ...
region
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 an ...
in south-central
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 ...
. It lies on the banks of the river
Allier
Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named after ...
, a tributary of the
Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...
.
History
At Brioude, the ancient ''Brivas'', its martyrs in the 4th century,
Julien and Ferréol, became its patron saints; according to the
Chronicle of Moissac,
Euric of Toulouse had the basilica built, in the fourteenth year of his reign (c. 480): it was wondrously decorated with columns. The emperor
Avitus (acclaimed at Toulouse, died 456) had already been buried at the shrine of Julian at ''Brivas'' (Brioude), according to
Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours (30 November 538 – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of the area that had been previously referred to as Gaul by the Romans. He was born Georgius Floren ...
. Euric's basilica may have served to venerate both the saint and the Visigothic candidate for Roman Emperor.
Brioude was taken by the
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...
, then in turn besieged and captured by the
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...
(532), the
Burgundians
The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and ...
, the
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 ...
s (732) and the
Normans
The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...
.
Carolingian Brioude remained a place of some importance:
William I of Aquitaine minted ''
deniers'' at Brioude. When
Louis V of France married
Adelaide of Anjou there in 980 they were crowned King and Queen of Aquitaine; the couple was mismatched in age, and Adelaide fled Louis' house in 982, to
Arles
Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province ...
. The feast of Saint Julian, 28 August, drew such crowds to the saint's relics that in the mid-11th century the chapter was obliged to build a hostel to care for the indigent pilgrim and the sick. In 1181 Eracle III, viscount of
Polignac, who had sacked the town two years previously, made public apology in front of the church and established a body of 25 knights to defend the relics of St Julian.
[ Odilo, later the reforming abbot of Cluny, began his vocation at St. Julian of Brioude, where 54 canons, all of noble birth, held a rank equivalent to bishop: Odilo's biographer reports that he fled. For some time after 1361 the town was the headquarters of Bérenger, lord of Castelnau, who was at the head of one of the bands of military adventurers which then devastated France. The knights (or canons, as they afterwards became) of St. Julian bore the title of counts of Brioude and for a long time opposed themselves to the civic liberties of the inhabitants.][
The ]Franks Casket
The Franks Casket (or the Auzon Casket) is a small Anglo-Saxon whale's bone (not "whalebone" in the sense of baleen) chest from the early 8th century, now in the British Museum. The casket is densely decorated with knife-cut narrative scenes ...
is believed to have been looted from St. Julian of Brioude church during the French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
The ''Almanach de Brioude'' published annually from 1919 has included many articles of local and broader interest.
Population
Sights
*Basilica of ''St. Julien'', the largest Christian church in Auvergne. Built in the 11th-14th centuries, it has notable polychrome frescoes.
*''Hôtel de la Dentelle ''.
*''Maison du Saumon et de la Rivière'', now an aquarium-museum.
*''Château Domeyrat. ''
Personalities
* Eparchius Avitus, buried in Brioude next to Saint Julian's tomb.
* Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe died in Brioude in 1688.
* Marc Culetto (born 1956), footballer
* Pierre Vigouroux (born on 30 June 1983), rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player in the AS Montferrandaise
As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer
* "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder
* , a Spanish sports newspaper
* , an academic male voice ...
and till 2004 with the French U-21 team for the U-21 World Championships in Scotland.
* Emmanuel Mouret
Emmanuel Mouret (born 30 June 1970) is a French actor, director and screenwriter.
Life and career
He was born on 30 June 1970 in Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. He graduated from La Fémis (9th promotion, dire ...
, director, filmwriter and actor.
* Hélène Rey, professor of economics, grew up in Brioude.
* Romain Bardet
Romain Bardet (born 9 November 1990) is a French professional racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Bardet is known for his climbing and descending abilities, which make him one of the top general classification contenders in Gra ...
, Cyclist (B.1990)
* Isabelle Mege, amateur model
* Jean-Pierre Vigier, politician who represents Haute-Loire's 2nd constituency in the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
* Amaury Pierron (born 4 March 1996), downhill mountain bike racer
Twin towns
* Cardigan, United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, since 1972
* Laufen, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
, since 1982
* Suzzara
Suzzara (Emilian language#Dialects, Lower Mantovano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about south of the city of Mantua.
Suzzara was given the hono ...
, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, since 1995
* Gonzaga, Italy, since 1995
* Moreira da Maia, Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
, since 2007
* Trevelin, Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
References
External links
Official website
on About-France.com
Brioude
personal page
{{Authority control
Communes of Haute-Loire
Subprefectures in France
Auvergne