Burgundy west of the Saône River is generally hilly; the southeast includes the southern spurs of the Jura Mts.; the center is a lowland, extending south almost to the junction of the Saône and Rhône rivers (see Bresse). A rich agricultural country, Burgundy is especially famous for the wine produced in the Chablis region, the mountains of the Côte d'Or, and the Saône and Rhône valleys. There is some heavy industry and mechanical equipment manufacturing.

History

The territory, conquered by Caesar in the Gallic Wars, was divided first into the Roman provinces of Lugdunensis and Belgic Gaul, then into Lugdunensis and Upper Germany (see Gaul). It prospered, and Autun became a major intellectual center. In the 4th cent. Roman power dissolved, and the country was invaded by Germanic tribes. It was finally conquered (c.480) by the Burgundii, a tribe from Savoy. The Burgundii accepted Christianity, established their Lex Burgundionum, and formed the First Kingdom of Burgundy, which at its height covered SE France and reached as far south as Arles and W Switzerland.

Conquered (534) by the Franks, it was throughout the Merovingian period subjected to numerous partitions. Burgundy nevertheless survived as a political concept, and after the partitions of the Carolingian empire two new Burgundian kingdoms were founded, Cisjurane Burgundy, or Provence, in the south (879) and Transjurane Burgundy in the north (888). These two were united (933) in the Second Kingdom of Burgundy (see Arles, kingdom of). A smaller area, corresponding roughly to present Burgundy, was created as the duchy of Burgundy by Emperor Charles II in 877. In 1002, King Robert II of France made good his claim to the duchy, but his son, Henry I, gave it in 1031 as a fief to his brother Robert, whose line died out in 1361.

The golden age of Burgundy began (1364) when John II of France bestowed the fief on his son, Philip the Bold, thus founding the line of Valois-Bourgogne. Philip and his successors, John the Fearless, Philip the Good, and Charles the Bold, acquired—by conquest, treaty, and marriage—vast territories, including most of the present Netherlands and Belgium, the then extensive duchy of Luxembourg, Picardy, Artois, Lorraine, S Baden, Alsace, the Franche-Comté, Nivernais, and Charolais.

In the early 15th cent. the dukes of Burgundy, through their partisans in France, dominated French politics (see Armagnacs and Burgundians). England, at first supported by Burgundy in the Hundred Years War, suffered a crucial setback when Philip the Good withdrew that support in the Treaty of Arras (1435). A great power, Burgundy at that time had the most important trade, industry, and agriculture of Europe. Its court, a center of the arts, was second to none.

The wars of ambitious Charles the Bold, however, proved ruinous. Charles, opposed by the determined and resourceful Louis XI of France, was defeated by the Swiss at Grandson, Morat (1476), and Nancy (1477), where he lost his life. His daughter, Mary of Burgundy, by marrying Emperor Maximilian I, brought most of the Burgundian possessions (but not the original French duchy) to the house of Hapsburg. The duchy itself was seized by Louis XI, who incorporated it into the French crownlands as a province, to which Gex, Bresse, and Charolais were added later by Henry IV and Louis XIV.

Historical and governmental region, France. The name was originally applied to a kingdom in the Rhône valley and western Switzerland founded by the Burgundians, a Germanic people who fled Germany in the 5th century. Conquered by the Merovingians circa 534, it was incorporated into the Frankish empire. By the 843 Treaty of Verdun, which divided the empire of Charlemagne, it was included in the Middle Kingdom of Lothar I. It was later divided into Cisjurane (Lower) Burgundy, or Provence (founded 879), and Transjurane (Upper) Burgundy (founded 888); they united in 933 to form the kingdom of Burgundy. After the 13th century, it was known as the kingdom of Arles; the name Burgundy was applied to the duchy of Burgundy, formed in the 9th century from lands in the northwestern part of the original kingdom. On the death of Burgundy's duke in 1361, the duchy reverted to the French crown. Given to Philip II, by 1477 its lands extended into the Low Countries. It was seized by Louis XI, annexed to the French crown, and was a province until the French Revolution. Roughly coextensive with the pre-Revolutionary province, the current administrative région of Burgundy (1999: 1,610,067) covers 12,194 sq mi (31,582 sq km). Its capital is Dijon. Wine making is an important part of the economy.

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