Bourbonnais (Traditional province, France)

Last modified: 2004-07-03 by ivan sache
Keywords: bourbonnais | bourbon | fleur-de-lys (yellow) |
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by Pierre Gay

• History of Bourbonnais
• Description of the flag of Bourbonnais

See also:

• France
• Traditional provinces
• Regions
  • Auvergne
  • Centre
• Departments
  • Allier
  • Cher
  • Puy-de-Dôme

History of Bourbonnais

Bourbonnais was initially called Borbonensis ager. The Latin word ager, which gave agriculture and agronomy, designated a cultivated field.

In the Xth century, Adhémar (or Aymard), a lieutnant of the duke of Aquitaine, founded the first house of Bourbon, which extincted in 1218. Adhémar ceded his own land in Souvigny to the monks of the abbey of Cluny. The tombs of the saint abbeys Mayeul and Odilon attracted a lot of pilgrims in Souvigny, which became the heart of a wealthy state.

The Second house of Bourbon lasted until 1272, when Béatrix, the last Bourbon heir, brought Bourbonnais as her dowry to Robert, count of Clermont, the sixth son of king of France Louis IX (Saint Louis).

Robert, founder of the third house of Bourbon, was recognized lord of Bourbon in 1283. In 1327, Louis I le Grand, Robert's son, was given the duchy of Bourbon as his apanage. In the XIVth century, duke Louis II made of Souvigny the princely necropolis.

Charles (1490-1527) was th