History History

Faced with threats from the Helvetians, the Aedui (a people from Celtic Gaul who then ruled over southern Burgundy) appealed to Caesar, who began the Gallic campaign around 58 BC. The region then became a food depot for glorious Rome. Until the day when, allied with their former enemies Arvernian led by Vercingetorix, the Aedui finally oppose Caesar. In 52 BC, the battle of Alesia rages, and Caesar will emerge glorious. Gaul becomes Roman. Autun(Augustodunum) is its capital, at the expense of the ancient oppidum located on Mount Beuvray, Bibracte. Numerous Gallo-Roman cities were then born. This period of the Pax Romana also saw the introduction of a new culture: that of the vine. The end of this Roman period is marked by the officialization of the Christian religion, and the beginnings of the Gallic civilization whose first tribes settled around the 2nd century: after the Aedui, the Senons reign over the Senonais (they will give their name to the city of Sens), and the Lingons watch over a territory that extends from the Châtillonnais to the Dijonnais through the Pays d'Armance.

At From the 10th century onwards, the Abbey of Cluny (founded in 909) reigned over Europe. It was also in Burgundy, in the Côte-d'Or, that the other great monastic reform movement of the Middle Ages was born: Cîteaux. After a journey that took them from the lands of Tonnerre to those of the Saône, these dissident monks decided to establish their community here in 1098. At their head, Robert de Molesme. Then, in 1112, Bernard of Clairvaux. The community then founded 5 abbeys: La Ferté, Pontigny, Clairvaux, Morimond, and finally Fontenay. But, beyond religion, the Cistercians - also known as the "white monks" - also gave impetus to an architectural and artistic movement as well as a system of economic exploitation. In the same way, they brought technical progress, particularly in the cultivation of vines. Above all, thanks to the monks of Cluny as well as those of Cîteaux, of the independent Vézelay in Paray-le-Monial, of Pontigny in La Charité-sur-Loire, the Burgundian Middle Ages then shone throughout Western Christendom. All the more so as one of the roads leading to Santiago de Compostela (one of the 3 great pilgrimages of the time, along with those to Rome and Jerusalem) passed through here: starting from Vézelay, pilgrims from Germany and Central Europe could reach their destination, via La Charité-sur-Loire and Nevers.

Burgundy is now attached to the crown. Among its many governors, the Condé family will endow the region with a rich architectural heritage where the splendours of Parisian and Versailles architecture will be transcribed here. Dijon benefits from a parliament that takes possession of the former palace of the dukes. For its part, Beaune saw the birth of the first wealthy wine trading companies. Nobility of dress and the bourgeois elite placed orders for sumptuous private mansions. Just as in Dijon, Auxerre and Nevers.

During the Revolution, there were few riots and severed heads. In 1790, the departments were created; these were the new administrative districts. The Dijon deputy André Arnoult, representative of the third state, will be at the origin of the name Côte-d'Or, with the idea of assimilating the "product of the vineyard to the most precious metal". In the Yonne, the calm helps the economic recomposition of the territory. The proximity of Paris and the transport of goods by the river make the department a sort of granary and wood store for the capital. It is the great era of the floaters. Wood from the Morvan, regional wines and new crops such as sugar beet were transported by this means.

In 1832, the Burgundy canal finally connected the Seine to the Saône. Three years later, the Canal du Nivernais was inaugurated, bringing the Yonne closer to the Loire. But no sooner had these canals been used than a new mode of transport appeared: the railway. In 1851, the Dijon railway station was inaugurated in the presence of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. The city is connected to Paris. A revolution!

In addition to the importance of the Franco-Prussian conflicts, the second half of the century was hit by the phylloxera epidemic that ravaged the vineyards of France. In 1878, the Burgundian vines were affected. The landscape is heavily modified. The surfaces are reduced: the wine loses quantity to gain in quality. Winegrowers had to reconvert, and took refuge in the emerging economy of crème de cassis.

The two world wars did not spare the region, which began a policy of reconstruction in the early 1950s. Dijon definitely took precedence over the other Burgundian cities. In 1964, the 4 departments were grouped together within a new entity: the headquarters of the Burgundy Region was established in the former capital of the Dukes. It became a real crossroads of communication: the TGV has been crossing it for 40 years, as well as several motorways, and air traffic is concentrated around Dijon-Burgundy airport. As for its prestige, it is no longer to be done. Several major politicians have marked the destiny of France. François Mitterrand was deputy for Nièvre, Pierre Bérégovoy, mayor of Nevers, was its Prime Minister. Let us also mention Robert Poujade and François Rebsamen in Dijon, Jean-Pierre Soisson in Auxerre, Dominique Perben in Chalon-sur-Saône, and Arnaud Montebourg, born in Clamecy and former deputy for Saône-et-Loire. In the world of culture, many have also shone, following in the footsteps of Poyaudine Colette and the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Nivernais Romain Rolland. Finally, in terms of research and teaching, the University of Burgundy has several branches in the region, and many grandes écoles are present.

As part of the territorial reform, Burgundy and Franche-Comté are now linked, giving birth to the 5th largest region in France. Dijon remains its capital, while Besançon hosts the headquarters of the Regional Council. So more than ever, Burgundy is banking on the future. While superbly assuming the legacy of its beautiful history.