Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and

historical region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing soc ...

of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of

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.Jura,

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.Territoire de Belfort The Territoire de Belfort () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, eastern France. It had a population of 141,318 in 2019.French administrative region. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region

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 ...

. The region is named after the ' (

Free 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 ' ...

), definitively separated from the region of Burgundy proper in the fifteenth century. In 2016, these two-halves of the historic

Kingdom of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various states located in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The historical Burgundy correlates with the border area of France, Italy and Switzerland and includes the major modern cities of Geneva and ...

were reunited, as the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is also the 6th biggest region in France. The name "Franche-Comté" is feminine because the word "comté" in the past was generally feminine, although today it is masculine. The principal cities are the capital

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

Belfort Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Terri ...

and

Montbéliard Montbéliard (; traditional ) is a town in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France, about from the border with Switzerland. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department. History Montbéliard is ...

. Other important cities are

Dole Dole may refer to: Places * Dole, Ceredigion, Wales * Dole, Idrija, Slovenia * Dole, Jura, France ** Arrondissement of Dole * Dole (Kladanj), a village at the entity line of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Republika Srpska * Dole, Ljubušk ...

(the capital before the region was conquered by

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

in the late seventeenth century),

Vesoul Vesoul () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté located in eastern France. It is the most populated municipality of the department with inhabitants in 2014. The same year, the Communauté d'agglo ...

(capital of Haute-Saône), Arbois (the "wine capital" of the Jura), and Lons-le-Saunier (the capital of Jura).

History

The region has been inhabited since the

Paleolithic age The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...

and was occupied by the

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

. It was then heavily settled by

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

during the

Germanic migrations The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

, most notably the Burgundians, who settled in the region after the Gauls had vacated the area. Later, it was part of the territory of the Alemanni in the fifth century, then the

from 457 to 534. The Burgundians adopted

Orthodox Christianity Orthodoxy (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Late antiquity, A ...

Christianizing Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

the region. In 534, it became part of the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

kingdom. In 561 it was included in the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

Kingdom of Burgundy under

Guntram Saint Gontrand (c. 532 in Soissons – 28 March 592 in Chalon-sur-Saône), also called Gontran, Gontram, Guntram, Gunthram, Gunthchramn, and Guntramnus, was the king of the Kingdom of Orléans from AD 561 to AD 592. He was the third eldest and ...

, the third son of

Clotaire I Chlothar I, sometime called "the Old" ( French: le Vieux), (died December 561) also anglicised as Clotaire, was a king of the Franks of the Merovingian dynasty and one of the four sons of Clovis I. Chlothar's father, Clovis I, divided the kingd ...

. In 613,

Clotaire II Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an infant under the r ...

reunited the Frankish Kingdom under his rule, and the region remained a part of the Kingdom of Burgundy under the later Merovingians and Carolingians.

County of Burgundy

The name ' or ''Freigrafschaft Burgund'' in German (

) did not appear officially until 1366. It had been a territory of the

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 ' ...

from 888, the province becoming subject to the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

in 1034. It was definitively separated from the neighboring

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 ...

upon the latter's incorporation into the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...

in 1477. That year at the

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 ...

during the

Burgundian Wars The Burgundian Wars (1474–1477) were a conflict between the Burgundian State and the Old Swiss Confederacy and its allies. Open war broke out in 1474, and the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated three times on the battlefield in t ...

, the last 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. ...

, was killed in battle. Although the county, along with the Duchy, was seized by King

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revo ...

, in 1492 his son Charles VIII ceded it to Philip of Austria, the grandson and heir of Charles the Bold. When Philip's son, Emperor Charles V, inherited the Spanish throne in 1516, the Franche-Comté, along with the rest of the Burgundian lands, passed to the Spanish.

Province of the Kingdom of France

Franche-Comté was captured by France in 1668, but returned to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. It was conquered a second time in 1674, and finally was ceded to France in the

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 ...

(1678). Enclaves such as

remained outside French control. The Franche-Comté was one of the last parts of France to have

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which develop ...

. In 1784, half of the population consisted of serfs, accounting for 400,000 out of the 1 million French serfs. Landowners took one-twelfth of the sale's price if a serf (''mainmortable'') wanted to sell up. Serfs were not forced to stay on the land, but the lord could claim ''droit de suite'', whereby a peasant who died away from his holding left it to the lord, even if he had heirs. A runaway serf's land was forfeit after ten years.

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

issued a decree banning these practices on 8 August 1779, but the Parlement of Besançon blocked this until 1787.

After 1790

The population of the region fell by a fifth from 1851 to 1946, reflecting low French natural growth and migration to more urbanized parts of the country. Most of the decline occurred in

Environment

This region borders Switzerland and shares much of its architecture, cuisine, and culture with its neighbour. Between the Vosges range of mountains to the north and the

Jura range 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 ...

to the south, the landscape consists of rolling cultivated fields, dense pine forest, and rampart-like mountains. Not so majestic as the Alps, the Jura mountains are more accessible and are France's first cross-country skiing area. It is also a superb place to hike, and there are some fine nature trails on the more gentle slopes. The Doubs and Loue valleys, with their timbered houses perched on stilts in the river, and the high valley of Ain, are popular visitor areas. The ' is a land of gorges and waterfalls dotted with tiny villages, each with a domed belfry decorated with mosaic of tiles or slates or beaten from metal. The lakes are perfect for swimming in the warmer months. The summits of Haut Jura have wonderful views across (

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial la ...

) and toward the Alps. Forty percent of the region's GDP is dependent on manufacturing activities, and most of its production is exported. Construction of automobiles and their parts is one of the most buoyant industries there. Forestry exploitation is steadily growing, and 38% of the agriculture is dairy and 17% cattle farming. The region has a large and lucrative cheese-making industry, with 40 million tonnes of cheese produced here each year, much of which is made by ''fruitières'' (traditional cheese dairies of Franche-Comté); for instance,

Comté cheese Comté (or Gruyère de Comté) () is a French cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France bordering Switzerland and sharing much of its cuisine. Comté has the highest production of all French Appel ...

comes from this region. File:Cret Pela.jpg, Landscape, Franche-Comté File:Besancon2m.jpg,

File:La Petite Montagne vue du Molard de la Justice, Jura, France.jpg, , a view from File:Broissia.JPG, View of

Broissia Broissia () is a Communes of France, commune in the Jura (department), Jura Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Jura department References

Communes ...

, a

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 ...

in the Jura department

Geology

Vosges and Jura coal mining basins The Vosges and Jura coal mining basins are an area of France located between two mountain ranges, that has been shaped by four centuries of coal extraction from the 16th Century to the 20th Century. It includes four coal basins in three geographi ...

Principal cities

Besancon boucle Doubs.jpg,

Chateau Montbeliard 3.jpg,

LionBelfortEtChateau.jpg,

Dole 104.jpg,

Place du Palais, Vesoul.jpg,

Rue des arcades.jpg, Lons-le-Saunier

Language

Among the

regional language * A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area. Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Lan ...

s of France, the term ''

Franc-comtois Frainc-Comtou (french: franc-comtois) is a Romance language of the '' langues d'oïl'' language family spoken in the Franche-Comté region of France and in the Canton of Jura and Bernese Jura in Switzerland. Sample vocabulary References Bi ...

'' refers to two dialects of two different languages. Franc-comtois is the name of the dialect of

Langue d'Oïl Langue is a municipality in the Valle Department, Honduras. The town is located near the border of El Salvador and is a regional Hammock making center. Most of the town is made up of sharecroppers and day laborers. There are usually Mormon miss ...

spoken by people in the northern part of the region. The dialect of Arpitan has been spoken in its southern part since as early as the thirteenth century (the southern two-thirds of Jura and the southern third of

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.languages of France Of the languages of France, French is the sole official language according to the second article of the French Constitution. French, a Gallo-Romance language, is spoken by nearly the entire population of France. In addition to French, several ...

People from Franche-Comté

Raymond Blanc Raymond Blanc OBE (born 19 November 1949) is a French chef. Blanc is the chef patron at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, a hotel-restaurant in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, England. The restaurant has two Michelin stars and scored 9/10 in the '' Good ...

, chef *

Jean-Jacques Boissard Jean-Jacques Boissard (1528 – 30 October 1602) was an antiquary and Neo-Latin poet. Life He was born at Besançon and educated at Leuven; but he secretly left the seminary there, and travelled through (Germany) to Italy, where he remained seve ...

, neo-Latin poet *

Paul de Casteljau Paul de Casteljau (19 November 1930 – 24 March 2022) was a French physicist and mathematician. In 1959, while working at Citroën, he developed an algorithm for evaluating calculations on a certain family of curves, which would later be formal ...

, mathematician *

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and ...

, painter *

Frank Darabont Frank Árpád Darabont (born Ferenc Árpád Darabont, January 28, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In his early career, he was primarily a s ...

, filmmaker *

Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (;; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical ...

, philosopher *

Salah Gaham The 2005 French riots (french: Émeutes de 2005 dans les Banlieues Françaises), was a three-week period of riots in the suburbs of Paris and other French cities, in October and November 2005. These riots involved youth in violent attacks, and t ...

, concierge *

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

, poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist *

Auguste and Louis Lumière The Lumière brothers (, ; ), Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière (19 October 1862 – 10 April 1954) and Louis Jean Lumière (5 October 1864 – 6 June 1948), were French manufacturers of photography equipment, best known for their ''Ciném ...

, early filmmakers *

Jean Mairet Jean (de) Mairet (10 May 160431 January 1686) was a classical french dramatist who wrote both tragedies and comedies. Life He was born at Besançon, and went to Paris to study at the Collège des Grassins about 1625. In that year he produced ...

, dramatist *

Jacques de Molay Jacques de Molay (; c. 1240–1250 – 11 or 18 March 1314), also spelled "Molai",Demurger, pp. 1-4. "So no conclusive decision can be reached, and we must stay in the realm of approximations, confining ourselves to placing Molay's date of birth ...

, last Grandmaster of the Knights Templar *

Charles Nodier Jean Charles Emmanuel Nodier (29 April 1780 – 27 January 1844) was a French author and librarian who introduced a younger generation of Romanticists to the ''conte fantastique'', gothic literature, and vampire tales. His dream related writings ...

, author * Louis Pasteur, chemist and microbiologist *

Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (20 August 151721 September 1586), Comte de La Baume Saint Amour, was a Bisontin ( Free Imperial City of Besançon) statesman, made a cardinal, who followed his father as a leading minister of the Spanish Habsb ...

, Burgundian statesman, leading minister of the Spanish

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle (1486–1550) was a Franc-Comtois politician who served as a close trusted adviser to Emperor Charles V. He was made suzerain of the imperial city of Besançon and held an influential position in the Netherlands. Fro ...

, minister of justice under

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

, Holy Roman Emperor *

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Socia ...

philosopher, socialist *

Jean Baptiste Alexandre Strolz Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Baron de Strolz, sometimes written Stroltz, (6 August 1771 Belfort, France – 27 October 1841 Paris), was a French general during the Napoleonic wars and subsequently an important political figure. He was chief of staff ...

Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Suard Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Suard (15 January 1732 – 20 July 1817) was a French journalist, translator and man of letters during the Age of Enlightenment. He was born in Besançon and died in Paris. Biography Suard was incarcerated in the ''Royal ...

, journalist *

Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine () is a French pop-rock singer and songwriter. He was born on 21 July 1948 in the town of Dole in the Jura département. Mostly shunned by television and radio, he has built over the years – through word of mouth ...

, singer and songwriter *

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather ...

, designer

Typical regional products

* Wine:

Vin jaune ''Vin jaune'' ( French for "yellow wine") is a special and characteristic type of white wine made in the Jura region in eastern France. It is similar to dry fino Sherry and gets its character from being matured in a barrel under a film of y ...

, Arbois * Cheese:

Cancoillotte ''Cancoillotte'' or ''cancoyotte'' is a runny French cheese made from metton cheese, and produced principally in Franche-Comté, but also Lorraine and Luxembourg, where it is also called ''Kachkéis'' or ''Kochkäse'' in German (cooked cheese). I ...

Bleu de Gex ''Bleu de Gex'' (also ''Bleu du Haut-Jura'' or ''Bleu de Septmoncel'') is a creamy, semi-soft blue cheese made from unpasteurized milk in the Jura region of France. It is named after the Pays de Gex, a historical region in what is now France a ...

, Comté,

Édel de Cléron Édel de Cléron is a traditional French cheese of relatively recent origin which carries the name of the village where it is made, Cléron, in the valley of the Loue of the Doubs department in Franche-Comté. * By its taste, form and texture, i ...

, Metton,

Morbier Morbier () is a commune in the Jura department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 2,263.

, Munster,

Vacherin Vacherin is a cow's milk (French ''vache'', "cow") cheese. Two main types of French or Swiss Vacherin cheeses exist. Mont d'Or One type of Vacherin cheese is called mont d'Or, or Vacherin du Haut-Doubs, from France,'' 'French Cheeses' '', DK, ...

* Sausages: Saucisse de Montbéliard, saucisse de Morteau, Gendarme

References

External links

Franche-Comté : land of contrasts
- Official French website (in English)
Conseil régional de Franche-Comté
Official website
Franche-Comté directory search engine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franche-Comte NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Former regions of France