![Blason Charolais](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Blason_Charolais.svg)
Charolais (; also Charollais) is a historic region of France, named after the central town of
Charolles
Charolles (; Burgundian: ''Tsarolles'') is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Since 2004 is Charolles part of the Charolais-Brionnais Country.
Geography
Charolles is located ...
, and located in today's
Saône-et-Loire ''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
'', in
Burgundy.
History
It was held by the
French noble house of
Chalon-Arlay This page is a list of the lords of Chalon-Arlay (in the county of Burgundy) and the principality of Orange.
The lords of Chalons and Arlay were a cadet branch of the ruling house of the county of Burgundy, the Anscarids or House of Ivrea.
For m ...
, until in 1237 Count
John the Old ceded it to Duke
Hugh IV of Burgundy. The
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of Charolais was inherited by Hugh's granddaughter
Beatrice, who in 1272 married Count
Robert of Clermont, a younger son of King
Louis IX of France and progenitor of the
House of Bourbon. In 1314 it passed to Robert's second son
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
, whose daughter Beatrice married Count
John I of Armagnac
John I of Armagnac (French: Jean d’Armagnac; 1311 – 16 May 1373), son of Bernard VI and Cecilia Rodez, was Count of Armagnac from 1319 to 1373. In addition to Armagnac he controlled territory in Quercy, Rouergue and Gévaudan. He was the cou ...
in 1327.
John's grandson Count
Bernard VII of Armagnac
Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac (1360 – 12 June 1418) was Count of Armagnac and Constable of France. He was the son of John II, Count of Armagnac, and Jeanne de Périgord. He succeeded in Armagnac at the death of his brother, John III, in ...
sold the county to Duke
Philip II of Burgundy in 1390. It thus became part of the
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy (; la, Ducatus Burgundiae; french: Duché de Bourgogne, ) emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the ...
and the title 'Count of Charolais' was systematically given to the heir apparent of the incumbent duke. After the death of the last
Valois-Burgundy duke
Charles the Bold
Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...
at the 1477
Battle of Nancy
The Battle of Nancy was the final and decisive battle of the Burgundian Wars, fought outside the walls of Nancy on 5 January 1477 by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, against René II, Duke of Lorraine, and the Swiss Confederacy.
René's ...
, the county was seized by King
Louis XI of France–against the fierce resistance by the
Habsburg archduke
Maximilian I of Austria
Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death. He was never crowned by the pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed himself Ele ...
, husband of Charles' daughter
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
. The same year however, loyal to the duchess Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, the County of Charolais rebelled and expelled the french. After the
War of the Burgundian Succession
The War of the Burgundian Succession took place from 1477 to 1482 (or 1493 according to some historians), immediately following the Burgundian Wars. At stake was the partition of the Burgundian hereditary lands between the Kingdom of France an ...
, Charolais legally returned to the Habsburg dynasty according to the 1493
Treaty of Senlis
The Treaty of Senlis concerning the Burgundian succession was signed at Senlis, Oise on 23 May 1493 between Maximilian I of Habsburg and his son Philip "the Handsome", Archduke of Austria, and King Charles VIII of France.
Background
After th ...
, though it remained a French fief. Isolated in french lands the County of Charolais, former inheritance of the heir of the ducal throne, remained the last reminder of the
Burgundian independence, when
Burgundy was ruled by the most powerful, rich and sophisticated men of their times, the
Great Dukes of Burgundy of House Valois-Burgundy, also known as the Great Dukes of the West.
The County of Charolais shared a common history with the Imperial
County of Burgundy
The Free County of Burgundy or Franche-Comté (french: Franche Comté de Bourgogne; german: Freigrafschaft Burgund) was a medieval county (from 982 to 1678) of the Holy Roman Empire, predecessor to the modern region of Franche-Comté. The name ' ...
(''
Franche-Comté''), as both belonged to the
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...
of Maximilian's daughter
Margaret of Austria. Upon her death in 1530, they passed to her nephew
Emperor Charles V and with the Imperial estates of the
Burgundian Circle (the
Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the H ...
) were held by
Habsburg Spain under Charles' son
Philip II Philip II may refer to:
* Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC)
* Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor
* Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374)
* Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404)
* Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497)
* Philip ...
from 1569 onwards.
While the County of Burgundy fell to the French Crown upon the 1678
Treaty of Nijmegen
The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen ('; german: Friede von Nimwegen) were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Repub ...
, Charolais was acquired by the Bourbon prince
Louis of Condé in 1684. It was not awarded to the French Crown until the death of Count
Charles of Charolais in 1760, when
Louis XV
Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...
incorporated it into the
Estates of Burgundy
In Burgundy, under the Ancien Régime
''Ancien'' may refer to
* the French word for " ancient, old"
** Société des anciens textes français
* the French for "former, senior"
** Virelai ancien
** Ancien Régime
** Ancien Régime in France
{ ...
.
References
* Hubert Elie, ''Le Charolais dans l’histoire européenne'' (Lyon, 1956),
{{Authority control
History of Burgundy
Geography of Saône-et-Loire
Historical regions
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia