Editing History of Burgundy

{{Short description|Occurrences and people in Burgundy throughout history}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
[[Image:Arms of the Duke of Burgundy (1364-1404).svg|thumb|[[Coat of arms]] of the second Duchy of Burgundy and later of the French province of Burgundy]]
[[File:Frankish Empire 481 to 814-en.svg|right|thumb| Burgundy within the Frankish realms.]]

The '''history of [[Burgundy]]''' stretches back to the times when the region was inhabited in turn by [[Celts]], [[ancient Rome|Romans]] ([[Gallo-Roman]]s), and in the 5th century, the Roman allies the [[Burgundians]], a [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] people perhaps originating in [[Bornholm]] (Baltic Sea), who settled there and established the [[Kingdom of the Burgundians]].

This Burgundian kingdom was conquered in the 6th century by another Germanic tribe, the [[Franks]], who continued the kingdom of Burgundy under their own rule.

Later, the region was divided between the [[Duchy of Burgundy]] (to the west) and the [[County of Burgundy]] (to the east). The Duchy of Burgundy is the better-known of the two, later becoming the French province of Burgundy, while the County of Burgundy became the French province of [[Franche-Comté]], literally meaning ''free county''.

The situation is complicated by the fact that at different times and under different geopolitical circumstances, many different entities have gone by the name of 'Burgundy'. Historian [[Norman Davies]] has commented that "[f]ew subjects in European history have created more havoc than that summarized by the phrase 'all the Burgundies'." In 1862, [[James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce|James Bryce]] compiled a list of ten such entities, a list which Davies himself extends to fifteen, ranging from the first Burgundian kingdom founded by [[Gunther]] in the fifth century, to the modern French ''[[Regions of France|région]]'' of [[Burgundy]].<ref>[[Norman Davies]], ''Vanished Kingdoms'', 2011, Penguin (2012) pp. 90-143.</ref>

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2022}}
The first recorded peoples of the area now referred to as Burgundy were various tribes of [[Celts|Celtic]] [[Gauls]], the most prominent of which were the [[Aedui]]. Under a chief magistrate known as a [[Vergobret]], the Aedui maintained a semi-republican form of government, but were eventually absorbed into the expanding Roman Empire. Following several revolts, the Aedui leadership was invited to join the [[Roman Senate]], becoming the first Gauls to receive such an offering, after which [[Gallo-Roman culture]] flourished in the region.

The [[Burgundians]], who migrated into the [[Western Roman Empire]] as it [[Decline of the Roman Empire|collapsed]], are generally regarded as a [[Germanic peoples|Germanic people]], possibly originating in [[Bornholm]] (modern Denmark). (A [[fringe theory]] suggests that the Burgundians may have been the Βουρουγουνδοι ''Bourougoundoi'' later alluded to by the [[Aeolians|Aeolian]] historian [[Agathias]], as a component of [[Eurasian steppe]] peoples, namely the "[[Scythian]] or [[Huns]]" and, by implication, [[Turkic peoples]] like the [[Bulgars]]).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Wp92bUzuMoQC&pg=PA146 Agathias, ''Histiriae'', V, 11, 2-4]. See also: Runciman S., ''A history of the First Bulgarian empire'', London, G.Bell & Sons, 1930, p.7, & notes. Agathias connects the ''Bourougoundoi'' and Ουλτιζουροι ''[[Ultizurs|Oultizouroi]]'' to the [[Bulgars]] and [[Utigurs]].</ref> While they were dominated by the Huns for a time and adopted some of their cultural practices, Agathias may have confused or conflated the Burgundians with the [[Lombards]], who apparently had more significant ties to the Huns and Bulgars.<ref>[[Hyun Jin Kim]], ''The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 151–2.</ref>

In 411, the Burgundians crossed the [[Rhine]] and established a kingdom at [[Worms, Germany|Worms]]. Amidst repeated clashes between the Romans and [[Huns]], the Burgundian kingdom eventually occupied what is today the borderlands between [[Switzerland]], France, and [[Italy]]. In 534, the [[Franks]] defeated [[Godomar]], the last Burgundian king, and absorbed the territory into their growing empire.

During and after the dissolution of the [[Frankish Empire]] a number of polities existed at different times and covering different areas. During the late 9th century there were three Burgundies: 
#the Kingdom of [[Upper Burgundy|Upper (Transjurane) Burgundy]] around [[Lake Geneva]],
#the Kingdom of [[Lower Burgundy]] in Provence,
#the [[Duchy of Burgundy]] west of the [[Saône]].
The two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Burgundy were reunited in 933 as the [[Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles|Kingdom of Burgundy]]. This kingdom in turn was absorbed into the [[Holy Roman Empire]] under [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]] in 1032, and known from the 12th century as the Kingdom of Arles. 
The Duchy of Burgundy was annexed by the French throne in 1004.

During the [[Middle Ages]], Burgundy was the seat of some of the most important Western churches and [[monastery|monasteries]], among them [[Cluny]], [[Cîteaux]], and [[Vézelay]].
[[Image:Map France 1477-en.svg|thumb|right|Territory of the Duchy of Burgundy (''Bourgogne'') in 1477 marked in yellow.]]

During the 12th and 13th centuries, the County of Burgundy emerged from the area previously within the Kingdom of Upper Burgundy. It became known as the Free County of Burgundy or Franche-Comté.

During the [[Hundred Years' War]], King [[John II of France]] gave the duchy to his youngest son, [[Philip the Bold]], rather than leaving it for his successor on the French throne. Following a personal union between the Duchy and the County of Burgundy, the "Two Burgundies" soon became a major rival to the French throne. The Dukes of Burgundy succeeded in assembling an empire stretching from [[Switzerland]] to the [[North Sea]], in large part by marriage. This [[Burgundian State]] consisted of a number of fiefdoms on both sides of the (then largely symbolic) border between the Kingdom of France and the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Its economic heartland was in the [[Low Countries]], particularly [[Flanders]] and [[Duchy of Brabant|Brabant]]. The Burgundian court outshone the French court both economically and culturally. In [[Belgium]] and in the south of the [[Netherlands]], the expression "Burgundian lifestyle" is still used to denote enjoyment of life, good food, and extravagant spectacle.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}

[[File:Military flag of the Burgundian state under Duke Charles the Bold.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=Military flag of the Burgundian State during the reign of Duke Charles the Bold|Military flag of the Burgundian State during the reign of [[Charles the Bold]]]]

In 1477, at the [[battle of Nancy]] during the [[Burgundian Wars]], the last duke [[Charles the Bold]] was killed in battle, and the Duchy itself was annexed by France. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the other Burgundian territories provided a power base for the rise of the [[Habsburg]]s, after [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian of Austria]] married the surviving daughter of the ducal family, [[Mary of Burgundy|Mary]]. After her death, her husband moved his court first to [[Mechelen]] and later to the palace at [[Coudenberg]], Brussels, and from there ruled the remnants of the empire, the Low Countries ([[Burgundian Netherlands]]) and [[Franche-Comté]], then still an imperial fief. The latter territory was ceded to France in the [[Treaty of Nijmegen]] of 1678.

With the [[French Revolution]] in the end of the 18th century, the administrative units of the regions disappeared, but were reconstituted during the Fifth Republic in the 1970s. The modern-day administrative ''région'' includes most of the former duchy.

==See also==
* [[Burgundian State]]
* [[List of chancellors of Burgundy]]
* [[Burgundian Netherlands]]
* [[Count of Burgundy]]
* [[County of Burgundy]]
* [[Duchy of Burgundy]]
* [[Duke of Burgundy]]
* [[French wine]]
* [[Kingdom of Burgundy]]
* [[King of Burgundy]]
* [[House of Burgundy]]
* [[Timeline of Dijon]]
* [[Burgundian Circle]]
* [[Spanish Road]]
* [[Middle Francia]]
* [[Blue Banana]]

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
{{EB1911 poster|Burgundy}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090215010535/http://bible.tmtm.com/wiki/Burgundvy_(Catholic_Encyclopedia) Burgundy in the 1913 ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' at BibleWiki]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03068a.htm Burgundy in the 1913 ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' at NewAdvent.org]
* {{in lang|en|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20190629224855/http://burgundyeye.com/ Burgundy Tourism]
* [http://www.insee.fr/fr/insee_regions/bourgogne/zoom/ries/pdf/can00.pdf Départements, arrondissements & cantons of Burgundy] ([[INSEE]] site)
* {{in lang|fr}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20140915013547/http://www.netbourgogne.com/ Netbourgogne, site sur la Bourgogne]

[[Category:History of Burgundy| ]]
[[Category:History of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté| ]]