Editing Arles (section)

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Arles Kreuzgang B220798.JPG|thumb|[[Church of St. Trophime]] and its cloister]]
In 735, after raiding the Lower Rhône, [[Al-Andalus|Andalusian]] [[Saracen]]s led by [[Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri]] moved into the stronghold summoned by Count [[Maurontus]], who feared [[Charles Martel]]'s expansionist ambitions, though this may have been an excuse to further Muslim expansion beyond Iberia. The next year, Charles campaigned south to Septimania and Provence, attacking and capturing Arles from the [[Muslim]] [[Arabs]] after destroying Avignon. In 739. Charles definitely drove Maurontus to exile, and brought [[Provence]] to heel. Louis the Pious, in 829, placed Arles under royal protection and assigned it with special privileges.{{sfn|Lewis|1965|p=48}}  In 855, it was made the capital of a Frankish [[Kingdom of Burgundy]], which included [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]] and part of Provence, but was frequently terrorised by Saracen and [[Viking]] raiders. In 888, Rudolph, Count of [[Auxerre]] (now in north-western Burgundy), founded the kingdom of [[Bourgogne Transjurane|Transjuran Burgundy]] (literally, beyond the Jura mountains), which included western Switzerland as far as the river Reuss, [[Valais]], [[Geneva]], [[Chablais]] and [[Bugey]].

In 933, [[Hugh of Arles]] ("Hugues de Provence") gave his kingdom up to Rudolph II, who merged the two kingdoms into a new [[Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles]]. In 1032, King [[Rudolf III of Burgundy|Rudolph III]] died, and the kingdom was inherited by Emperor [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]] the Salic. Though his successors counted themselves kings of Arles, few went to be crowned in the cathedral. Most of the kingdom's territory was progressively incorporated into France. During these troubled times, [[Arles Amphitheatre|the amphitheatre]] was converted into a fortress, with watchtowers built at each of the four quadrants and a minuscule [[walled town]] being constructed within. The population was by now only a fraction of what it had been in Roman times, with much of old Arles lying in ruins.

The town regained political and economic prominence in the 12th century, with the Holy Roman Emperor [[Frederick Barbarossa]] traveling there in 1178 for his coronation. In the 12th century, it became a free city governed by an elected ''[[podestat]]'' (chief magistrate; literally "power"), who appointed the [[consuls]] and other magistrates. It retained this status until the [[French Revolution]] of 1789.

Arles joined the countship of Provence in 1239, but, once more, its prominence was eclipsed by Marseilles. In 1378, the Holy Roman Emperor [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]] made the [[Dauphin of France]] (later King [[Charles VI of France]]) vicar of the moribund [[Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles]] for his lifetime. The kingdom ceased to have any political existence soon afterwards.