Editing Haute-Loire (section)

==History==
The first known inhabitants of this region were hunter-gatherers and it was later occupied by pastoralists, shepherds living in caves or simple huts. It later came under the control of a Gaulish tribe called [[Vellavi]] and at the time of [[Julius Caesar]]'s [[Gallic Wars]], this area lay on the border of [[Gallia Narbonensis]]. The area became a [[Roman province]] in 121 BC,<ref>{{cite book |last=Maddison |first=Angus |title=Contours of the World Economy 1–2030&nbsp;AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-JGGp2suQUC |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780191647581}}</ref> originally under the name ''Gallia Transalpina'' (Transalpine Gaul). The name distinguished it from [[Cisalpine Gaul]] on the near side of the Alps to Rome. In 40 BC, during the [[Second Triumvirate]], [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Lepidus]] was given responsibility for Narbonese Gaul (along with Hispania and Africa), while [[Mark Antony]] was given the balance of Gaul.<ref>Boatwright et al., ''The Romans, From Village to Empire'', p.272 {{ISBN|978-0-19-511876-6}}</ref>

The area was ravaged by barbarian invasions in the last years of the Roman Empire, and ''Galla Narbonensis'' and surrounding areas were incorporated into the [[Visigothic Kingdom]] between 462 and 477 AD, permanently ending the political control of Rome. After the Gothic takeover, the Visigothic dominions were generally known as [[Septimania]]. The king of the Visigoths, [[Alaric I]] was killed at the [[Battle of Vouillé]] in 507, a battle won by [[Clovis I]] and Velay came under Frankish rule. On Clovis' death in 511, his kingdom was divided among his four sons, and Velay was included in the part of the king of [[Austrasia]], then part of the French kingdom. These subdivisions were united under the auspices of his longest surviving son [[Chlothar I]], only to be split again under his four sons at his death. It was reunited once more under [[Chlothar II]] who became the sole ruler of the Frankish people in 613.<ref>Lebecq, Stéphane  ''The Frankish origins'', Points / Seuil, 1990,   ( Part II, Chapter 1: " Clothar II and Dagobert ( 613-639 )) p.127</ref>

In about 928, the area became a fiefdom of the [[Count of Toulouse]], and later came under the control of the [[Count of Poitiers]]. In 1137, [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]] succeeded to the [[Duchy of Aquitaine]] and her marriage to Henry, Duke of Normandy, who later became [[Henry II of England]], brought Auvergne under English rule. By the end of the thirteenth century the area was known as the Dauphiné d’Auvergne.<ref name=Atchley>{{cite web |url=http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/French_Regions/Auvergne/auvergne_3.htm |title=Introduction to the Region of Auvergne |author=Atchley, Sharon |date=13 July 2014 |work=French at a Touch |access-date=1 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815094429/http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/French_Regions/Auvergne/auvergne_3.htm |archive-date=15 August 2015}}</ref>

Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the [[French Revolution]] on 4 March 1790, by order of the [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Constituent Assembly]]. The new departments were to be uniformly administered and approximately equal to one another in size and population. Haute-Loire was formed from parts of the former provinces of [[Auvergne (province)|Auvergne]], [[Languedoc]], and [[Lyonnais]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Schama,Simon |title=Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution |location=New York |publisher=Knopf |year=1989}}</ref>  Two thirds of the department, centred on [[Le Puy-en-Velay]], used to be part of the former province of Languedoc and is known as Velay. The geographical distance from [[Toulouse]] had allowed this region to enjoy a great deal of autonomy.

During the Second World War, [[French Resistance#Role in the liberation of France and casualties|French partisans]] aided by Allied supply drops and leaders were able to liberate the province from Germans. By mid-August 1944 five weeks after the invasion at Normandy, [[Le Puy-en-Velay]] was besieged. Roads, railroad and telephone lines were cut. On 18 August, the Germans attempted to escape in a fifty-truck convoy. Five hundred were captured, and about 150 killed in a massive ambush. The town fell the next day. [[Estivareilles, Loire|Estivareilles]] in nearby Loire fell on 22 August. Paris was captured by conventional forces on 24 August.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Purnell |first1=Sonia |title=A Woman of No Importance |date=9 April 2019 |publisher=Viking |page=253 |edition=Kindle}}</ref>