Editing Franche-Comté (section)

===Free County of Burgundy=== 
Under the [[Treaty of Verdun]] (843), all north-western regions of Carolingian Burgundy were designated to the [[West Francia]], while the rest of Burgundy went to the [[Middle Francia]]. By the end of the 9th century, the West-Frankish part was organized as the [[Duchy of Burgundy]], while eastern regions belonged to the [[Kingdom of Burgundy]], that was gradually divided into several feudal polities. One of them, encompassing much of the [[Upper Burgundy]],{{sfn|Hauff|2017|p=1-12}} became known as the [[County of Burgundy]], and since 1032 it belonged to the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The name "''Free County of Burgundy''" ({{lang|fr|Franche Comté de Bourgogne}}; {{lang|de|Freigrafschaft Burgund}}) did not appear officially until 1366. 

The ''Free County'' ({{lang|fr|Franche Comté}}) was acquired by [[John the Fearless]], Duke of Burgundy, thus placing the Free County under the same feudal lord as the Duchy.{{sfn|Stein|2017|p=}} They were separated again by the end of the 15th century, since duke and count [[Charles the Bold]] died in 1477 without sons, and his cousin King [[Louis XI of France]] consequently failed to secure all of Burgundy, ceding the Free County to the [[Philip I of Castile|Philip of Austria]] by the [[Treaty of Senlis]] in 1493. In 1506, Philip was succeeded by his son [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles]], 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 son [[Philip II of Spain]], thus solidifying the political ties between Habsburg domains in Burgundy and the [[Habsburg Spain]]. Although ruled by [[Spanish Habsburgs]], the Free County was never annexed into the Kingdom of Spain, and thus remained a domain within the Holy Roman Empire.{{sfn|Parker|2019|p=}}