History du Puy-de-Dôme

Since prehistoric times, the Auvergne has been occupied by various species. Traces of the inhabitants of the Paleolithic period have been discovered in several places: amphibians, sharks and giant dragonflies in the heart of the Allier, rhinoceroses and birds in the Gannat area. On the Vic-le-Comte and Polignac side, female figures linked to the goddess Venus dating from the end of this period have been found. Today, it is possible to meet these inhabitants in the Paleopolis park and in the museum of paleontology in Chilhac.

Our Neolithic ancestors also left traces of their life in Auvergne. To discover them, head for the Saint-Flour planèze in the Cantal region where dolmens and menhirs have been erected. Over time, some have been destroyed, others have been Christianized: they are topped by a cross, as in Sériers.

Funeral rites began to change during the First Iron Age, between 650 and 510 BC. Weapons are no longer placed in the male graves, which then become more sober. Conversely, women's tombs are accompanied by ornaments. Metallic objects are then deposited. The cemeteries of Mons and Saint-Pierre-Eynac illustrate this change.

It is in 500 BC that the Celts of central Europe settle in Gaul, among others, because they also take place in the current Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy. The Auvergne begins to take shape with this people. It is then the Arverne empire, composed by the Vellaves in the Velay, Helvians in the Vivarais, Gabales in the Gévaudan. The Arverne power shines: central geographical location, protection offered by the mountainous massifs, presence of natural resources such as water and wood, agricultural activity ... The craft also develops with pottery and metallurgy. The Arvernes were one of the most powerful peoples of the Gauls. Important Gallic oppidums have been found at Gergovie, Corent and Gondole. Corent is said to have been the main urban centre of the Arvernes until 50 BC and perhaps even their capital.
Vercingetorix, born in Auvergne around 82 BC, became the leader of the Arvernes. In 52 BC, he led one of the greatest battles in Gaul against Julius Caesar: the Battle of Gergovia. Since the beginning of the Gallic War, 6 years earlier, Caesar's legions had never lost a battle. Vercingetorix will draw Caesar to Gergovia and its surroundings. The battle will last and will end with the victory of the Gauls. Vercingetorix is then elected supreme leader of the Gallic peoples. This war will end with the defeat at Alesia. Today, the Archaeological Museum of the Battle located on the Gergovie plateau retraces this epic.

Caesar triumphs over Gaul. The Arvernes regain a government. Epadnactus is at the head of the assembly. The Gallic and Roman culture mixes over time. The cults are transformed, large sanctuaries are built, like the temple Mercury at the top of the puy de Dome. It was only later that Latin replaced Gallic.
It was in the middle of the 3rd century that Austremoine, an evangelist, brought the Christian religion to Auvergne. Sent by the Pope, he was the first bishop of Auvergne. In the^5th century, Christianity was established in Auvergne.
It was also in the middle of the 3rd century that Auvergne was threatened by the Germanic peoples. In 469 the region was surrounded on all sides by the Burgundians and Visigoths. The poet Sidonius Apollinaire, bishop of Auvergne, entered the resistance. But in 475 Rome ceded Auvergne to the Visigoths. It remained in their hands until 507. The Bargoin Museum in Clermont-Ferrand allows you to discover this period of Gallo-Roman antiquity.

In Auvergne, many castles stand proudly on rocky promontories, villages are fortified and the architecture is marked by this period. What happened in the Middle Ages? From 507 to the 8th century, looting became... a custom. To protect themselves, cities fortified themselves.
We told you that Christianity really took hold in the^5th century. A century later, hermitages and monasteries are more and more numerous. Churches and parishes were built in the 10th century. The priory church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Souvigny is the largest in the Allier, and is the first to be affiliated to the powerful abbey of Cluny. The one in Sauxillanges and then the one in Mozac followed. An Auvergnat was even pope! Born in Aurillac, Gerbert became the first French pope in 999 until 1003, under the name of Sylvester II. In Haute-Loire, Robert de Turlande founded the Benedictine abbey of La Chaise-Dieu. Auvergne was then an important place in Christendom.
Looting continued. Faced with this insecurity, the Church reacts and the Peace of God movement is created. It would lay the moral foundations of medieval society.
At the beginning of the 13th century, Auvergne was divided into five entities: the County of Auvergne, the Dauphiné of Auvergne, the Episcopal Lordship of Clermont, the Duchy of Auvergne and Carladès.

This very eventful period was to change Auvergne, particularly with the reunion of Upper Auvergne and Lower Auvergne: King John II confiscated the lands of Count John II of Auvergne and gave them to his son who was none other than the Duke of Berry. In 1392 he bought back the Carladès...: the reunion was made.
France was hit by the Black Death in 1348-1349, 1360 and 1383.
During the Hundred Years' War, the English were not heavily involved in Auvergne. On the other hand, the inhabitants had to deal with the "routiers". These French men-at-arms recruited from the lands occupied by England plundered and ransacked the Auvergne cities. From 1375 onwards, they succeeded in establishing themselves in Haute-Auvergne, occupying the castles and taking the place of the lords. It was a royal expedition that drove them out in 1392. The region also had to deal with the Tuchins: violent gangs who took action against the English and the wealthy. They did not want any truce with the invader. The Duke of Berry put an end to their actions.

To the north of the Auvergne, the Capetian house of Bourbon, which began in the 10th century, expanded and became a large province. Charles le Bel made it a duchy in 1327. By a game of alliances, the Bourbons were at the head of almost all of Auvergne in 1416 and for a century: "almost", because the episcopal lordship of Clermont and the county of Auvergne are not part of it. The latter was in the hands of the de La Tour d'Auvergne family. Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne married Laurent II de Médicis. They had a daughter: Catherine de Médicis, Countess of Auvergne in 1524 and Queen of France in 1547, during which reign she recovered the seigneury of Clermont.

The Auvergne will have to face a new period troubled by massacres and looting. Issoire became a centre of the Reformation. This region as well as the Haute-Auvergne will be very affected. The nobility joined the league which defended the Catholic religion against Protestantism. The success of the latter became a danger for the monarchy. The royalists will manage to recover these cities: Riom, Ambert, Saint-Flour.

The unified Auvergne is in the hands of the Bourbons. The Duchess Anne de Beaujeu embellished the castles of Moulins and Riom, the duchy was entrusted to Charles de Bourbon-Montpensier, her son-in-law. The economic activity resumes. The fortified castles are rebuilt and transformed into residences. In 1531, Auvergne was attached to the Crown. At the end of the 16th century, tensions rose, particularly in rural areas. The introduction of the royal tax and the price of raw materials did not go down well. Richelieu had fortresses destroyed, and assassinations and kidnappings of nobles were not uncommon. Louis XIV intervened by bringing in parliamentary advisors. 370 people will be judged and condemned.

Respect for royalty and religion, poverty, and excessive taxes characterize the region. The storming of the Bastille provoked a movement of fear in Auvergne. The peasants mobilized, the cities were on the defensive.

The farmers of Auvergne were called up and these were years of massacre. On the spot, an agricultural regression sets in due to a lack of manpower and the demographic curve drops considerably. The rural exodus is accentuated. As Clermont-Ferrand developed industrially, the Auvergnats joined it.

Because of its geography, Auvergne has a central place during this war.

On 22 June 1940, Marshal Pétain, then President of the Council, signed the armistice. It divided the country into a free zone and an occupied zone. The authorities left the capital and moved to Vichy. On 10 July 1940, the National Assembly passed a constitutional law giving Pétain the power to promulgate a new constitution. 80 members of parliament opposed this law, considering it to be the end of the Republic. The next day, the first constitutional acts were published and organised an authoritarian regime around Marshal Pétain. He was declared head of the French state. End of the Republic.
Three days after the signing of the armistice between the Vichy government and the Nazi regime, on 25 June 1940, France was cut in two. To mark the free zone and the occupied zone, a demarcation line was set up from east to west in the country. It passed through the Allier river, entering the town of Chassenard, and went westwards, passing south of Dompierre-sur-Besbre and the road linking Moulins to Digoin. In Moulins, it passes by the Régemortes bridge. The inhabitants see their city divided. Their daily life was disrupted. It took away their freedom of movement. Only those with a pass, called an ausweis, could go from one side to the other and thus from one area to another. In order to have an ausweis, one must be able to prove one's professional activity. The mail did not circulate either.
False identity cards, hiding in vehicles, trains, trucks...: very quickly, networks were set up to circumvent these obligations and to deceive the German surveillance. The first forms of resistance in the Allier were set up.

When the STO (compulsory labour service) was introduced and then when the Germans invaded the free zone, maquis were organised, especially in the mountainous areas, which were more difficult to reach and therefore a little more protected.

Numerous German attacks took place against the Resistance fighters, especially in the Puy-de-Dôme. In March 1944, the regional leaders of the United Resistance Movements transferred the main maquis of the region to Mont Mouchet, on the heights of the remote and isolated Margeride plateau. It became a Mecca for the Resistance. In May 1944, in 15 days, 3,700 men joined Mount Mouchet and 1,500 chose the Truyère retreat.
Armed and organized, the Resistance fighters were in contact with London and sabotaged German operations. The Nazis retaliated by reinforcing the repression. In 1944, bloody fighting took place on Mount Mouchet. On the 12th June, in Murat, the Resistance killed one of the regional heads of the Gestapo in France. From 16 to 21 June, repressive operations were carried out and, on 24 June 1944, 117 inhabitants were deported...
As soon as they arrived in Auvergne, the Germans seized the Mal Coiffée. It became the first Wehrmacht prison in France and was run by Germans. Who was imprisoned? Jews and people suspected of belonging to the Resistance. Interrogations, torture and isolation were part of the practices.

To perfect your knowledge of the Second World War in the Auvergne, the museum of the resistance in Anterrieux awaits you. It is dedicated to the fighting of 20 June 1944 between the maquis of the Réduit de la Truyère and the occupying troops. In Chambon-sur-Lignon, the inhabitants saved at least a thousand Jews during the war by hiding them. There is a permanent exhibition on the Resistance and the Righteous of the region.
The Mont-Mouchet museum deals with the organisation of the local Resistance, the Vichy regime and General de Gaulle's call to mobilise. In Frugières-le-Pin, the Joseph Lhomenède Resistance and Deportation Museum displays objects from the Second World War. The visitor is immersed in life during the occupation. The François-Charles Maestracci Resistance Museum, in Saint-Gervais-d'Auvergne, looks back at the resistance in "zone 13". Numerous objects, audio and video documents allow the subject to be discussed. In Chamalières, the Museum of the Resistance, Internment and Deportation brings together 3,000 exhibits to understand a multitude of themes: the rise of Nazism, Petainism, collaboration, the Resistance.