The region is named after theFranche Comté de Bourgogne (Free County of Burgundy), definitively separated from the region ofBurgundy proper in the fifteenth century. In 2016, these two-halves of the historicKingdom of Burgundy 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 capitalBesançon,Belfort andMontbéliard. Other important cities areDole (the capital before the region was conquered byLouis XIV in the late seventeenth century),Vesoul (capital of Haute-Saône),Arbois (the "wine capital" of the Jura), andLons-le-Saunier (the capital of Jura).[7]
The region has been inhabited since thePaleolithic age and was occupied by theGauls. It was then heavily settled byGermanic peoples during theGermanic migrations, most notably theBurgundians, who settled in the region after the Gauls had vacated the area. Later, it was part of the territory of theAlemanni in the fifth century, then theKingdom of Burgundy from 457 to 534. The Burgundians adoptedChalcedonian Christianity,Christianizing the region. In 534, it became part of theFrankish kingdom. In 561 it was included in theMerovingian Kingdom of Burgundy underGuntram, the third son ofClotaire I. In 613,Clotaire II reunited the Frankish Kingdom under his rule, and the region remained a part of the Kingdom of Burgundy under the later Merovingians andCarolingians.
Under theTreaty of Verdun (843), all north-western regions of Carolingian Burgundy were designated toWest Francia, while the rest of Burgundy went toMiddle Francia. By the end of the 9th century, the West-Frankish part was organized as theDuchy of Burgundy, while eastern regions belonged to theKingdom of Burgundy, that was gradually divided into several feudal polities. One of them, encompassing much of theUpper Burgundy,[8] became known as theCounty of Burgundy, and since 1032 it belonged to theHoly Roman Empire. The name "Free County of Burgundy" (Franche Comté de Bourgogne;Freigrafschaft Burgund) did not appear officially until 1366.
TheFree County (Franche Comté) was acquired byJohn the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, thus placing the Free County under the same feudal lord as the Duchy.[9] They were separated again by the end of the 15th century, since duke and countCharles the Bold died in 1477 without sons, and his cousin KingLouis XI consequently failed to secure all of Burgundy, ceding the Free County toPhilip of Austria by theTreaty of Senlis in 1493. In 1506, Philip was succeeded by his sonCharles, the future king of Spain (1516) and the Holy Roman Emperor (1519). All of his Burgundian domains, including the Free County were later passed to his sonPhilip II of Spain, thus solidifying the political ties between Habsburg domains in Burgundy and theHabsburg Spain. Although ruled bySpanish Habsburgs, the Free County was never annexed into the Kingdom of Spain, and thus remained a domain within the Holy Roman Empire.[10]
During theWar of the Quadruple Alliance (1673-1678), the region was again captured by the French in 1674, this time permanently, since it was officially ceded to France by theTreaty of Nijmegen (1678), thus leaving the Holy Roman Empire, and also ending the Habsburg period in the history of Franche-Comté.[13]
France officially annexed the region of Franche-Comté in 1678,[14] but minor enclaves such asMontbéliard remained outside French control.
The Franche-Comté was one of the last parts of France to haveserfdom. 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 claimdroit 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 issued a decree banning these practices on 8 August 1779, but theParlement of Besançon blocked this until 1787.
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 inHaute-Saône andJura, which remain among the country's more agriculture-dependent areas.
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 theJura range 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. TheRégion des Lacs 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 acrossLac Léman (Lake Geneva) 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 byfruitières (traditional cheese dairies of Franche-Comté); for instance,Comté cheese comes from this region.[15]
Among theregional languages of France, the termFranc-comtois refers to two dialects of two different languages. Franc-comtois is the name of the dialect ofLangue d'Oïl spoken by people in the northern part of the region. The dialect ofArpitan has been spoken in its southern part since as early as the thirteenth century (the southern two-thirds ofJura and the southern third ofDoubs). Both are recognized aslanguages of France.
215,178 students were in school in Franche-Comté at the start of the 2018 school year. The region has potential in the research sector. We find in Besançon the National School of Mechanics and Microtechnology (ENSMM) or theUTBM, the University of Technology of Belfort-Montbéliard[17] inBelfort andMontbéliard.
TheUniversity of Franche-Comté is mainly located in Besançon. It has 24,000 students spread over six training and research areas (UFR), including five in Besançon and one in Belfort and Montbéliard, two university institutes of technology (IUT) (Besançon-Vesoul and Nord Franche-Comté), 920 students engineers atENSMM and 2,550 students atUTBM.
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