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Free County of Burgundy | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 982–1678 | |||||||||||
 Heraldic flag since the 16th century  Coat of arms | |||||||||||
 County of Burgundy at the end of the 15th century. | |||||||||||
| Status | Part ofUpper Burgundy and theKingdom of Arles, then state of theHoly Roman Empire | ||||||||||
| Capital | Dole | ||||||||||
| Religion | Catholicism | ||||||||||
| Government | Feudal monarchy (County) | ||||||||||
| Historical era | |||||||||||
| 982 | |||||||||||
| 1033 | |||||||||||
| 1384 | |||||||||||
| 1493 | |||||||||||
• JoinedBurgundian Circle | 1512 | ||||||||||
| 1678 | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
TheFree County of Burgundy (French:Franche Comté de Bourgogne;German:Freigrafschaft Burgund) was amedieval andearly modern feudalpolity ruled by acount from 982 to 1678. It became known asFranche-Comté (theFree County)[a] and was located in the modern region ofFranche-Comté. It belonged to the wider historical region ofUpper Burgundy, and bordered theDuchy of Burgundy to the west.
Its territory had initially been part of theKingdom of Upper Burgundy (888–933) and then the unitedKingdom of Burgundy, later known as the Kingdom of Arles. The county was formed in 982 by countOtto-William, encompassing his domains in northern parts of the Burgundian realm. In 1032, the Kingdom of Arles was inherited byConrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, who incorporated the Kingdom, including the County of Burgundy, into theHoly Roman Empire (HRE).[1]
As astate of the Holy Roman Empire, the county was granted a high degree of autonomy. The largest city,Besançon, was granted the status offree imperial city. The rest of the county was givenimperial immediacy (making it animperial county) and its rulers were given the title ofFreigraf (German for 'free count') from which the French and English names of the county are derived.
From 1295 the county began to fall under the increasing influence of France and theHouse of Burgundy, which ruled the neighboring duchy of the same name. From 1330 to 1361 and again from 1405 to 1477, there was apersonal union between the county (part of the HRE) and the adjacent duchy (part of France). In 1477, it was occupied by France, but already in 1493 the county was transferred to theHouse of Habsburg, which ruled it until it was finally conquered by France in 1674. French rule was made permanent by theTreaties of Nijmegen in 1678.
The area previously formed part of theKingdom of the Burgundians, which had been annexed by theFranks in 534 and incorporated into theKingdom of the Franks. The Frankish Empire was partitioned in 843 by theTreaty of Verdun, with the area west of theSaône river being allotted toWest Francia, and later formed theDuchy of Burgundy, while the southern and eastern parts of the former Burgundian kingdom fell toMiddle Francia under EmperorLothair I. This Middle Frankish part became the two independent entities of southernLower Burgundy in 879 and northernUpper Burgundy in 888. The region that would later become the Free County of Burgundy was then included in Upper Burgundy, centred around the city ofBesançon. In 933, with the collapse of the Carolingian Empire, Lower and Upper Burgundy were re-united under KingRudolph II,[2] thus forming the united Burgundian kingdom, that became known as theKingdom of Arles (Arelat).
In 981-982,Otto-William (son ofAdalbert of Lombardy) marriedErmentrude of Roucy. Ermentrude was a widow, whose previous husband had been count ofMâcon (in the Duchy of Burgundy) and controlled additional lands around Besançon andDole. These lands were then ruled by Otto-Williamin right of his wife. Otto-William was already the adopted heir ofHenry I, Duke of Burgundy, so expected to inherit the entire duchy when Henry died. The lands outside the duchy, that Otto-William had acquired through Ermentrude, were organised as the new County of Burgundy.[3]
Henry I died in 1002, at which point Otto-William claimed the Duchy of Burgundy. However, kingRobert II of France refused to recognise the adoption and claimed the duchy as the nephew of Henry I. This started a war between the two claimants. After a few years of conflict, Robert II prevailed in the duchy; he would later grant it to his sonRobert I, Duke of Burgundy, keeping the Crown of his elder son Hugues. Otto-William remained in control of the county of Mâcon, and therferore strengthened its grip in the County, fief of the Kingdom of Burgundy.[4]
Otto-William and Ermentrude became the progenitors of theAnscarid dynasty. The development of commercial routes across theJura mountains and the development ofsalt mines assured the prosperity of the county, and for several decades its towns preserved their freedom and neutrality.
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The Arelat kingdom collapsed with the extinction the ruling line in 1032. The Kingdom of Burgundy was inherited by the Holy Roman EmperorConrad II of theSalian dynasty, while theDuchy of Burgundy returned to a cadet branch of the FrenchCapetian dynasty. As a result, the County of Burgundy became a fief of theHoly Roman Empire.[5]
At the end of the 11th century Conrad's son EmperorHenry III elevated theArchbishop of Besançon to the dignity of anarchchancellor and conferred upon Besançon the rank of aReichsstadt (imperial city) under the Emperor's direct patronage.Guy of Burgundy, brother ofRenaud II, later becamepope and negotiated theConcordat of Worms with EmperorHenry V. In the 12th century, Imperial protection allowed for the development of Besançon, but in 1127, after the assassination ofWilliam III, his cousinRenaud III shook off the Imperial yoke[6] and refused to pay homage toLothair III (at the time still Lothair II of Germany). After 10 years of conflict, Renaud was victorious. Burgundy was from then on calledFranche-Comté, the "free county".[6]
EmperorFrederick Barbarossa re-established imperial influence. Frederick took the brother[who?] of CountWilliam IV prisoner, then when William died Frederick married William's niece and heir,Beatrice I (daughter of Renaud III). Upon Emperor Frederick's death in 1190, his younger sonOtto I received the county of Burgundy and assumed the rare (possibly unique) title ofarchcount. He was succeeded by his daughter,Beatrice II, and her husbandOtto I, Duke ofMerania; they were in turn followed by their son,Otto III, Count of Burgundy (r. 1231–1238), and their daughter,Adelaide (alias Alix of Méran,r. 1248–1279).[7]
TheCounts Palatine[which?] for many years had to share power with the greater feudal families of the county, notably with the family of Chalon, which was descended fromStephen III, count ofAuxonne, grandson of William IV and Beatrice of Thiern, the heir of thecounty of Chalon. In 1237, countJohn "the Old" of Chalon, transferred his possessions under the French Crown (including Chalon and Auxerre) to the Duke of Burgundy in exchange for wealthy possessions in the County of Burgundy, including the salt mines ofSalins-les-Bains[7] (which became the autonomous Seigneurie of Salins). The authority of John the Old was re-established only by the marriage (around 1239) of his oldest sonHugh of Chalon withAdelaide, the sister of Otto III (died 1248) and heiress of Burgundy.[7] However, this did not prevent a younger son,John I of Chalon-Arlay, from taking control of the vassal states.
Otto IV, son of Hugh and Adelaide, was the last of the feudal counts of Burgundy. He married first the daughter of theCount of Bar, but the marriage was childless. His second marriage was to the grandniece of KingLouis IX of France, CountessMahaut of Artois. This marriage brought the county under French influence. The daughters of Otto IV and Mahaut,Joan II andBlanche, married respectivelyPhilip V andCharles IV of France, sons of KingPhilip IV. Jeanne became Queen of France after having been involved in theTour de Nesle Affair. In that same affair, Blanche was found guilty of adultery and was imprisoned for the rest of her life.
After quarrelling with his barons, and after a new revolt against the French carried out by John of Chalon-Arlay, Otto IV ceded the county to his daughter as a dowry and designated the King of France as administrator of the dowry in 1295. By marrying their daughter and heir Joan, DukeOdo IV of Burgundy reunited the duchy and the county under his rule, followed by his grandson DukePhilip I. Thepersonal union was again broken when Philip died without heirs in 1361: the Duchy of Burgundy was seized as a reverted fief by KingJohn II of France, while the Imperial county was inherited by Philip's great auntMargaret I, a granddaughter of Count Otto IV. In 1382, she bequeathed her estates to her son CountLouis II of Flanders. During the reign ofPhillip the Bold, the County was organized into having a council and a parliament — centered in the capitalDole.[5]
Louis II died in 1384 leaving no male heirs, so the County of Burgundy formed part of the immense dowry of his daughterMargaret, which in 1405 was inherited by her son, the Burgundian dukeJohn the Fearless. The county and the duchy were again ruled in personal union by his descendants from theHouse of Valois-Burgundy until the death of DukeCharles the Bold at the 1477Battle of Nancy.
Taken by France in 1477 Returned to Philip in 1493, by theTreaty of Senlis Domains ofJohn II, Count of Nevers |
Since Duke Charles the Bold died without the male heir, his daughterMary of Burgundy, supported by her husband ArchdukeMaximilian of Austria, tried to secure inheritance over all of her fathers domains, including the County of Burgundy. That was opposed by the French KingLouis XI of France, who immediately occupied theDuchy of Burgundy, and also took possession of the County. Though defeated at the 1479Battle of Guinegate, the French retained the County by theTreaty of Arras in 1482. By that time, Mary of Burgundy died and her claims passed to her sonPhilip, who was styled asPhilip IV in Burgundy, although at that time he was still a minor and thus under guardianship of his father Maximilian. Territorial disputes were settled by theTreaty of Senlis in 1493. The County was returned to Philip, while French kept the Duchy.[8][9][10][11]
Since theTreaty of Senlis (1493), the County of Burgundy was ruled by theHabsburgs. In 1512, it was included into the newly formedBurgundian Circle and administered as part of theHabsburg Netherlands. By that time, Philip died (1506) and was succeeded by his sonCharles who was styled asCharles II in Burgundy. In 1508, Charles appointed an able administratorMercurino di Gattinara as President of the County Parliament of Burgundy, and entrusted him with governance of the province. Gattinara remained at that post until 1518, when he succeededJean le Sauvage as theGrand Chancellor of Burgundy.[12]
In 1516, Charles became theKing of Spain and in 1519 he succeeded his grandfather Maximilian as theHoly Roman Emperor, thus becoming known asCharles V. In 1521, Charles decided to relinquish direct rule over old Austrian domains to his brotherFerdinand, but without Burgundian lands, that were kept by Charles as his own domain within the Empire. All of his Burgundian lands 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 County was never annexed into the Kingdom of Spain, and thus remained a domain within the Holy Roman Empire.
Since that time, the County gained geopolitical and military importance, since it was situated between Habsburg possessions in the Low Countries and Italy. TheSpanish Road trade route ran through the County, connecting those Habsburg domains. During Habsburg rule, the County was prosperous and had autonomy. Dole's parliament was the political center, and a governor was chosen from the local nobility. Taxes were low, and there was not much conscription either. The city of Besancon had many fairs and many renaissance structures were constructed.[5]
The County was captured by France in 1668, during theWar of Devolution. Multiple cities surrendered to the French after little fighting, but later in the same year the County was returned to theSpanish Habsburgs under theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.[13]
During theFranco-Dutch War, the County wasinvaded again in 1674, and overrun by French forces without much resistance. TheTreaties of Nijmegen ended the war in 1678; as part of the third treaty (between France and Spain), the county was transferred to France in exchange for the return of French-occupied territory in theSpanish Netherlands.[13]
The territory of the County, known as theFranche-Comté has remained part of France uninterrupted ever since; it now forms part of the administrative regionBourgogne-Franche-Comté.
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1until 1648; 2until 1659; 3until 1678.Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512:Austrian,Burgundian,Upper Saxon,Electoral Rhenish · Unencircled territories | ||||||
