Page 313 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

The Roche de Solutré towering above the vineyards of Mâcon

BURGUNDY AND

FRANCHE-COMTÉ

The gentle plains and lofty alpine forests made
this region an attractive prospect to its earliest
settlers, the Celtic Sequanis. When the Romans
moved in, they repositioned Dijon on the road
from Lyon to Paris. In the 5th century, the town
was allied with the Burgundians, who would give
Burgundy its name. Under the dukes of Valois in
the 14th and 15th-centuries, Burgundy was France’s
most power ful rival, with territory extending well
beyond its present boundaries. By the 16th-
century, however, the duchy was ruled by governors
appointed by the French king, though it still
retained its privileges and traditions. Once a part
of Burgundy, Franche-Comté – the Free County –
struggled to remain independent of the French
crown, and even joined forces with Spain in an
effort to retain its sover eignty. It was annexed
by Louis XIV in 1674, after a lengthy siege.
A parliament and a university were established
in Besançon, the new capital of the prov ince,
but separatist groups remained vocal until the
18th century. Today Burgundy considers itself the
heart of France, a prosperous region with world-
renowned wine, earthy cuisine and magnificent
architecture, while Franche-Comté, to the east,
remains somewhat untamed.
313

312-313_EW_France.indd 313 29/01/2019 15:54