Charolais (; also Charollais) is a historic region of France, named after the central town of Charolles, and located in today's

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 B ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'', in

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') 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. ...

History

It was held by the French noble house of Chalon-Arlay, 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 purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...

and progenitor of the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

. In 1314 it passed to Robert's second son John, whose daughter Beatrice married Count John I of Armagnac in 1327. John's grandson Count Bernard VII of Armagnac sold the county to Duke Philip II of Burgundy in 1390. It thus became part of the

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...

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 Martin (10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), called the Bold, was the last duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois-Burgundy, ruling from 1467 to 1477. He was the only surviving legitimate son of Philip the Good and his third wife, ...

at the 1477 Battle of Nancy, the county was seized by King

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the 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 revolt known as the ...

–against the fierce resistance by the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

archduke Maximilian I of Austria, husband of Charles' daughter Mary. 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, Charolais legally returned to the Habsburg dynasty according to the 1493 Treaty of Senlis, though it remained a French fief. Surrounded by French royal possessions, the County of Charolais, former inheritance of the heir to the ducal throne, remained the last reminder of Burgundy as a European power, when it was ruled by dukes from the

House of Valois-Burgundy The House of Valois-Burgundy (, ), or the Younger House of Burgundy, was a noble Kingdom of France, French family deriving from the royal House of Valois. (It is distinct from the Capetian House of Burgundy, descendants of King Robert II of France ...

, 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 (; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity ruled by a count from 982 to 1678. It became known as Franche-Comté (the ''Free County''), and was located in the modern region of Franche-Comté. It belonged to th ...

(''

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

''), as both passed to the future Emperor Charles V in 1506 and with the Imperial estates of the

Burgundian Circle The Burgundian Circle (, , ) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire created in 1512 and significantly enlarged in 1548. In addition to the Free County of Burgundy (the former administrative region of Franche-Comté), the Burgundian Circle ...

(the Franche-Comté and the

Spanish Netherlands The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...

) were held by

Habsburg Spain Habsburg Spain refers to Spain and the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy, also known as the Rex Catholicissimus, Catholic Monarchy, in the period from 1516 to 1700 when it was ruled by kings from the House of Habsburg. In t ...

under Charles' son Philip II from 1555 onwards. While the County of Burgundy fell to the French crown upon the 1678 Treaty of Nijmegen, 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 (), 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 maturity (then defi ...

incorporated it into the Estates of Burgundy.

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 Territories of the Valois dukes of Burgundy