Clash with the Roman Empire

In the middle of the 2nd century, under the influence of the first wave of migration of the Goths, the Burgundians first came to the borders of the Roman Empire. Around 270, as a result of the internecine wars of the Germans, the Burgundians were defeated by the Gepids in the lower reaches of the Danube, according to M. Styikovsky - in the Baltic seaside. Part of the Urugundians (Burgundians), having passed through the Bavarian Plateau, is located on the Main River. The first mention of the Burgundians dates back to 279, when the Burgundians, united with the Vandals under the leadership of Igillos (Igillo), reached the Danube-Rhine border and were defeated by Roman legions on the Lech River, near Augsburg. After this defeat, the Burgundians settled in the territory of the upper and middle reaches of the Main, the territory left by the Alemanni who retreated to the southeast.

In 286, the Burgundians, together with the Alemanni, Heruli and Haibons, raided the left bank of the Rhine.

Wars with the Alemanni

In 290, the Burgundians push the Alemanni back to the Neckar. In 291, the first conflicts between the Burgundians and Alemanni over territory are reported. Pressed from the south by the Alemanni, from the north by the Franks, who were threatened from the east by the Huns, the Burgundians set their goal to become Roman federates. However, Rome sees a potential danger in the Burgundians' transition to a sedentary lifestyle.

Since the beginning of the 3rd century, when armed clashes between the Romans and Alemanni intensified, the Burgundians increasingly acted as allies of the Romans.

In 369, Emperor Valentinian I (364-375) enlisted their support in the war with the Alamanni. Valentinian decided to get rid of the raids of the Alamanni, then led by King Macrian, forever, with the help of the Burgundians, comparable in numbers and belligerence to the Allemanni. He several times sent letters in his own hand to their kings, urging them to attack the Alamanni at an appointed time, and for his part promising to cross the Rhine with Roman troops and push back the Alamanni at a time when they would try in fear to escape from a difficult and unexpected war.

The emperor's letters were friendly received for two reasons: firstly, because since ancient times the Burgundians believed in their Roman origin, and secondly, they were often in quarrels with the Alamanni over salt pans and borders. They sent selected squads and, before the Roman troops had time to gather in one place, marched to the banks of the Rhine. The emperor was at that moment busy building fortifications, and the appearance of the Burgundians caused great fear. They waited for some time, but since Valentinian did not appear on the agreed day and did not fulfill a single promise, they sent ambassadors to the main apartment with a request to send them reinforcements so that when they returned back they would have cover from the rear. When the ambassadors realized from the excuses and delay of the matter that they were being denied this, they left with grief and indignation. Having learned about this, their kings became furious, considering themselves deceived, and, having killed all the captives, returned to their lands.

Baptism

In the second half of the 4th century, the Burgundians lived in the Main River valley. According to legends, it was they who kept the legendary Grail with the blood of Christ somewhere in the area of ​​Bayreuth or Gösweinstein. The Burgundians, unlike the pagan Alamanni, were already baptized. Under the influence of the Goths, they were baptized according to the Arian rite.

Information from Ammianus Marcellinus

Marcellinus says that: “the kings (kings) have one common name “gendinos” and, according to ancient custom, lose their power if there is a failure in the war under their command, or a crop failure befalls their land. The chief priest of the Burgundians is called a sinist and retains his title for life, without being subject to any accidents, like kings.”

Defeat of the Allemans

Valentinian did not take advantage of the help of the Burgundians, since just at that time the victorious commander Theodosius arrived from Britain, who immediately made an attack through Raetia (that is, from the Danube Valley) on the Alamanni, who fled in fear of the Burgundians. He killed many people, took some captive and sent them, according to the order of the emperor, to Italy, where they received fertile lands and lived in the time of Marcellinus, as a tax-paying population, on the Po River.

To top it all off, Valentinian was able to recapture Mainz, a large city on the Rhine, from the Alamanni, and once again established an episcopate there.

Crossing the Rhine

After the withdrawal of the main forces of the Roman army beyond the Rhine in 401, the road to the empire was open. The crossing of the Rhine near Mainz on December 31, 406 by the Burgundians probably suggested the colonization of the northern territories of the Alemanni to the lower region of the Neckar mountain. The remaining Roman troops and the Franks who served them were swept away by a powerful wave of advance by the Vandals, Suevi, Alans and Burgundians, who fled from the Hun offensive. During the second wave of migration, when the Vandals, Suevi and Alans passed through Roman territories, the empire realized that it was not able to defend its borders on its own.

Having moved to the left bank of the Rhine, the Burgundians did not move further into Gaul like other peoples, but settled in the Mainz area and there is an assumption that, like the Alamanni and Franks, the Burgundians entered into an allied treaty with the Roman usurper in Britain, Constantine III (407-411).

Kingdom of Worms

As Olympiodor writes, in 411 the Burgundians, under the leadership of Gundahar (385-437), together with the Alans, led by Gohar, supported the Roman commander Jovinus (?-413) in his claims to the Roman throne, against the emperor Honorius (395-423), for which they received lands in the lower reaches of the Rhine, on the territory of which at the beginning of the 5th century they created a small kingdom with its capital in Worms.

Apparently, in order not to disturb the peace, Emperor Honorius later officially recognized these lands as belonging to the Burgundians. However, this issue is still in doubt. There are scant indications of the Burgundian kingdom on the Rhine only in the notes of Prosper Tiron of Aquitaine. When he speaks under 413 about the settlement of the Burgundians on the Rhine. At the same time, the treaty of alliance was apparently renewed, and the Burgundians became official federates of Rome on the Rhine border.

For about 20 years, Rome and the Burgundians coexisted peacefully, and the Western Roman Empire was secure along the entire Rhine. Probably at this time an erroneous etymology spread that derived the name of the Burgundians from the word burgi (castles).

The defeat of the kingdom by the Huns

In 435, King Gundahar (385-437) decided to take advantage of the weakness of the Western Roman Empire and invaded Belgium. However, the outstanding commander of his time, Flavius ​​Aetius, opposed them and defeated them. A year later, with the help of the Huns, Aetius inflicted a crushing defeat on the Burgundians on their territory. The Burgundians lost 20,000 killed. According to legend, King Gunther of the Nibelung family died in this battle. The Burgundians were literally routed and the kingdom was destroyed. This event formed the basis of the epic of the Nibelungs - and Attila, the main character of the legend, in fact did not play any role in the decline of the Rhine Empire of the Burgundians. About 1,200 Nibelungen songs mention the Burgundians, but a distinction must be made between the 12th-century and 5th-century Burgundians who moved to Lake Geneva.

The Burgundians are an ancient Germanic tribe that was one of the first to come into contact with the Roman Empire.

The Burgundians are mentioned in the Scandinavian sagas, in which the north of Europe is called their ancestral home. However, it has not yet been possible to definitively establish the original location of the Burgundian settlement.

There are several versions of their homeland:

• Scandinavia, which the Burgundians preserved traditions as their native region.
• Bornholm Island - located in the Baltic Sea and currently belongs to Denmark; Bornholm is mentioned in ancient sagas, including under the supposedly original name - Burgundholm.
• Near the mouth of the Odra - in the territory of eastern Germany and Poland.

The presence of the Burgundians on the island of Bornholm until the year 300 is attested by archaeologists. It is possible that they arrived there from more northern regions. Among ancient authors, this tribe is mentioned by Pliny the Elder, who considered it part of the Vandals, and Claudius Ptolemy. But Tacitus has no information about the Burgundians.

In the Roman Empire

The borders of Burgundy were approached in the middle of the 2nd century AD. They took part in battles with various Germanic tribes, were defeated by the Gepids, and then settled along the banks of the Main. From here they carried out raids along the Rhine coast, uniting with other tribes.

Finding themselves between the Alemanni and the Franks, the Burgundians were forced to engage in skirmishes with them. The Burgundians experienced a particularly strong confrontation with the Alemanni, a large people with a large army. The Alemanni were longtime enemies of the Romans, so Valentinian decided to enter into an alliance with the Burgundians for a joint attack on them.

And when the Burgundian army arrived at the gathering place, the emperor did not send his army, citing more important matters. The Burgundians, having fallen into despondency, had to go back. Later, Valentinian defeated the Alemanni on his own - more precisely, with the help of his commander Theodosius, who returned victorious from Britain.

Initially, the Burgundians hoped to unite with the Romans also because they considered themselves to come from the Roman Empire. In the 5th century, the Burgundians supported the commander Jovinus, who became emperor as a result of the fight against Honorius, and therefore received land in the middle Rhine region as a reward.

There they created a kingdom, the capital of which was Worms. However, it did not last long and in 435 it was defeated by the Huns. King Gundahar died in the battle, and this event was subsequently reflected in the “Song of the Nibelungs”. The Burgundians later formed a new kingdom in what is now Switzerland. This state existed for quite a long time and managed to expand thoroughly. The center of the new kingdom was Geneva, the current Swiss capital.

Culture and religion

According to Marcellinus, the rulers of the Burgundians were called "gendinos". The Burgundians followed a curious custom: the king lost power if he lost a war or if there was a crop failure in the country. Greater powers were possessed by the sinist, the high priest, who held his post for life and was not removed under any circumstances.

Unlike many Germanic tribes (including the Alemanni), who remained pagans for a long time, the Burgundians were baptized quite early - already in the 4th century they professed Christianity, accepting its Arian trend. It was believed that it was the Burgundians who kept the Holy Grail - the legendary cup with the blood of Jesus Christ, which had magical properties.

There is an opinion that the image of the Grail was formed on the basis of Germanic or Celtic pagan myths. In 516, Sigismund became king of the new Burgundian kingdom. He moved away from Arianism and adopted the Catholic (Western Christian) faith, into which he tried to persuade all his subjects. Even before his accession to the throne, he founded the Abbey of St. Mauritius, which became a place of pilgrimage.

Sigismund is the first Burgundian king to be canonized by the Catholic Church. However, there is an opinion that before his death, Gundobad, Sigismund’s father, accepted the Western Christian faith. It should be noted that the Burgundians were quite zealous Christians, which, however, coexisted with cruel barbaric customs. Such was Sigismund, who in anger strangled his own son only because his relationship with the king’s second wife did not work out. Sigismund then prayed for this act of his for a long time in the monastery.

War with the Franks

The Franco-Burgundian War took place in 523–524. Burgundy retained its independence, but suffered from the Ostrogoths, who captured a number of outlying lands at the height of the conflict. Subsequently, Burgundy was still conquered by the Franks. It became a region of the kingdom of the Franks, but its population, who hardly resisted the rule of the invaders, retained their customs, legislation and legal system for a long time.

) in the West. Thus, the Burgundians lived in what is now Eastern Pomerania and partly in Brandenburg. Perhaps the Burgundians were pushed away from the Baltic coast by the Rugs, moving to the Warta and Vistula.

Archaeological excavations of Burgundian settlements are associated with the Oxiv archaeological culture, widespread in the territory of Brandenburg, Eastern Pomerania and the Lusatian region itself, east of the Vistula. In Sarmatia, south of the Goths, according to Ptolemy, lived the Frugundians, possibly a branch of the Burgundians who joined the Goths for fear of the Vandals. The historian Zosima (5th century) mentions the Urugund people during the barbarian invasion of the Danube in /257. This eastern part of the Burgundians was settled within the Sea of ​​Azov, where it was assimilated by the Huns, after the latter completely drove out the Goths from there in 291. We must assume that only small groups moved, and not entire peoples. If successful, they created alliances with a name going back to the main or more well-known core, such as the Goths, Burgundians, etc. H. Wolfram suggests that such large national associations arose only as a result of military clashes with the Roman Empire.

Story

Clash with the Roman Empire

Wars with the Alemanni

Information from Ammianus Marcellinus

To top it all off, Valentinian was able to recapture Mainz, a major city on the Rhine, from the Alamanni, and once again established an episcopate there.

Crossing the Rhine

After the withdrawal of the main forces of the Roman army beyond the Rhine in 401, the road to the empire was open. The crossing of the Rhine near Mainz on December 31, 406 by the Burgundians probably suggested the colonization of the northern territories of the Alemanni to the lower region of the Neckar mountain. The remaining Roman troops and the Franks serving them were swept away by a powerful wave of advance by the Vandals, Suevi, Alans and Burgundians who fled the Hunnic advance. During the second wave of migration, when the Vandals, Suevi and Alans passed through Roman territories, the empire realized that it was not able to defend its borders on its own.

Having moved to the left bank of the Rhine, the Burgundians did not move further into Gaul like other peoples, but settled in the Mainz area and there is an assumption that, like the Alamanni and Franks, the Burgundians entered into an allied treaty with the Roman usurper in Britain, Constantine III (407-411).

Kingdom of Worms

Apparently, in order not to disturb the peace, Emperor Honorius later officially recognized these lands as belonging to the Burgundians. However, this issue is still in doubt. Scanty indications of the Burgundian kingdom on the Rhine are found only in the notes of Prosper Tiron of Aquitaine, when he spoke under 413 about the settlement of the Burgundians on the Rhine. At the same time, the treaty of alliance was apparently renewed, and the Burgundians became official federates of Rome on the Rhine border.

For about 20 years, Rome and the Burgundians coexisted peacefully, and the Western Roman Empire was secure along the entire Rhine. Probably at this time an erroneous etymology spread that derived the name of the Burgundians from the word burgi (castles).

The defeat of the kingdom by the Huns

New Kingdom in Geneva

Under Gundioch

Part of the Burgundians remained dependent on the king of the Huns, Attila, who was located in Pannonia, while the majority, although defeated in 443, was settled by Aetius as federates in western Switzerland and the territory of present-day Savoy, in which lived the Celtic tribe of the Helvetii, who were subjected to devastation from the outside. Alemannov. Aetius thus created a buffer against the Alemanni. The Burgundians were saved from destruction and absorption by the Huns. Thus arose the kingdom of the Burgundians in Sabaudia, with its capital in Geneva.

Gundioch's internal policy was aimed at a strict separation of army posts, which were occupied exclusively by the Burgundians, and internal political administration, entrusted to the local population. Pope Gilarius calls King Gundiochos, despite the fact that he was an Arian, “our son.”

Ricimer replaced Majorian with Livius Severus (461-465). But this candidacy, as well as the murder of Majorian, aroused the disapproval of the emperor of the Eastern Empire Leo I and the governor of Gaul Aegidius (?-464/465). After the death of Severus in 465, Ricimer did not appoint a new emperor for eighteen months and held the reins of government himself; but the danger from the Vandals forced him in 467 to enter into an alliance with the Eastern Roman Empire and accept the new Roman emperor appointed by the Byzantine court, the patrician Procopius Anthemius (467-472). The latter married his daughter to Ricimer, but soon an open struggle arose between them: Ricimer recruited a large army of Germans in Milan, went to Rome and, after a three-month siege, took it (July 11, 472); the city was given over to the barbarians for plunder, and Antemius was killed. At the same time, Ricimer asks for help from his brother-in-law Gundiokh, who sends him warriors led by his son Gundobad (?-516). Gundobad apparently personally beheaded Emperor Anthemius.

From this time on, Burgundy became a real power not only in Gaul, but throughout the entire empire. The Burgundians tried to extend their state to the Mediterranean Sea, but were unable to take Arles and Marseille. Among the Burgundians, who settled among the Gallo-Roman population, tribal relations gradually died out, and the foundations of feudalism emerged.

In 472-474, Burgundian troops, together with the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, defended Auvergne from the attack of the Visigoths.

Under Chilperic I

In 473, King Gundioch dies, Gundobad decides to return to his homeland so as not to lose his position in Burgundy. All power and the title of magister militum (literally: commander-in-chief of the allied army) passes to Chilperic. At the same time, Gundobad bore the title of master militum praesentialis, imperial commander. In fact, power in the kingdom was shared by Chilperic and his nephews, the sons of Gundioch Chilperic II (Valence), Godomar I (Vienne), Gundobad (Lyon) and Godegisel (Geneva). However, their relationship remains unclear. This certainly had a negative impact on the influence of Burgundy in Rome. It fades away with the departure of Gundebad, where already in June 474 his protege Glycerius was removed. The nephew of the wife of the Eastern Emperor Leo, Julius Nepos (474-475), became the new emperor.

From about 474, the Burgundians gradually advanced north of Lake Geneva, pushing back the Alemanni. Chilperic continued the fight against the Visigoths, supporting his nephew Gundobad in 474, when he fell into disgrace as a supporter of Emperor Glycerius by the Roman Emperor Julius Nepos. Helperic led negotiations, during which Julius Nepos extended the treaty under which the Burgundians remained federates of Rome, defended not only the independence of Burgundy, but also the possessions of the province of Finnensis (Rhônetal) captured earlier. However, these provinces were still lost in 476.

The Burgundian kings maintained good relations with the basileus of Byzantium, nominally confirming their submission while receiving the title (from Gundiochos onwards) of magister militum (literally: commander-in-chief of the allied army).

Under Sigismund

There was no good agreement between the Gothic father-in-law and the Burgundian son-in-law. Nevertheless, peace reigned on the border on both sides for almost 15 years.

Burgundians

Germanic tribe. Formed kingdoms: in bass. Reina - at the beginning 5th century (conquered by the Huns in 436), in bass. Rhone - in mid. 5th century (conquered by the Franks in 534). The name Burgundy comes from the Burgundians.

Burgundians

(lat. Burgundii, Burgundiones), a tribe of East Germans. In the first centuries A.D. e. B. (who originally lived, presumably, on the island of Bornholm) penetrated the continent. In 406 they founded a kingdom on the Rhine with its center in Worms (destroyed in 436 by the Huns). In 443 they were settled as Roman federates in the territory of Savoy. Taking advantage of the weakening of the empire, B. occupied the river basin in 457. Rhone, where they formed a new kingdom centered in Lyon - one of the first “barbarian” kingdoms on the territory of the disintegrating Western Roman Empire. Among the Gallo-Romans who settled among the Gallo-Romans, clan ties quickly disintegrated, and the emergence of feudal relations began on the basis of a synthesis of the institutions of Gallo-Roman (slaveholding) and so-called barbarian societies (with a large preponderance of the late Roman element). Of great importance for the process of feudalization in Byelorussia was the seizure and division of the lands of the Gallo-Romans (this was carried out especially widely in the late 5th and early 6th centuries under King Gundobad). The most important source for studying the social system of Belgium in the 6th century. ≈ the so-called Burgundian truth. At the beginning of the 6th century. B. converted to Catholicism (before that they were Arians). In 534, the kingdom of Byelorussia was finally annexed to the Frankish state. Subsequently, B. became part of the emerging southern French nation.

Lit.: Gratsiansky N.P.. On the division of lands among the Burgundians and Visigoths, in his book: From the socio-economic history of the Western European Middle Ages, M., 1960; Serovaysky Ya. D., Changes in the agrarian system in the territory of Burgundy in the 5th century, in the collection: Middle Ages, c. 14, M., 1959. See also lit. at Art. Germans.

Ya. D. Serovaisky.

Wikipedia

Burgundians

Wielbar culture before migration to the Black Sea.
The Scandinavian sagas call Bornholm the island of the Burgundians, and the old name of the island “Burgundholm” supposedly testifies to this. They moved to the island from Scandinavia, which is confirmed by the “Brief Biography of Sigismund”. Early research was based on a later legend about the origin of the Burgundians. However, due to the fact that these people did not leave an independent epic, the conclusions of these studies are not confirmed by other sources and are considered unlikely. This theory is confirmed by the fact that the Burgundians in the 6th century preserved the legend of Scandinavia as their homeland. The theory is also confirmed by toponymy and archeology, according to studies of which around 300 the population almost completely left the island of Bornholm.

Pliny the Elder mentioned them first as part of the Vandal people. Tacitus, however, did not know this name. The geographer Ptolemy left the most important historical account of the original areas of Burgundian settlement in the mid-2nd century. The Burgundians lived east of the Semnonians, north of the Lugians, between the Vistula in the east and Suebia (Oder - Spree - Havel) in the west. Thus, the Burgundians lived in the territory of what is now Eastern Pomerania and partly in the territory of Brandenburg. Perhaps the Burgundians were pushed away from the Baltic coast by the Rugs, moving to the Warta and Vistula.

Archaeological excavations of Burgundian settlements are associated with the Oxiv archaeological culture, widespread in the territory of Brandenburg, Eastern Pomerania and the Lusatian region itself, east of the Vistula. In Sarmatia, south of the Goths, according to Ptolemy, lived the Frugundians, possibly a branch of the Burgundians who joined the Goths for fear of the Vandals. The historian Zosima (5th century) mentions the Urugund people, who in the past lived on the Danube, and during the time of Gallienus (253-268 AD) plundered the regions of Italy and Illyricum. We must proceed from the fact that not entire peoples migrated, but only small groups, which, if successful, created unions with a name going back to the main or more well-known core, such as the Goths, Burgundians, etc. H. Wolfram suggests that such large tribal associations arose only as a result of military clashes with the Roman Empire.

Examples of the use of the word Burgundy in literature.

When Sigmund told Sieglinde about everything, She grieved for her son: They instilled great fear in her Burgundians from time immemorial.

Let's come take off your armor Burgundians They helped and gave them the best rooms in the palace.

Here is Gernot and Burgundians They jumped on their horses, and Volker raised the banner above his head.

We went to Worms again Burgundians, taking the armor into view: In the battle, their guest and friend won victory, And that only Siegfried scattered their enemies, Any of Gunther’s warriors was ready to swear.

Meanwhile, on the Rhine, a reliable ship was built by him Burgundians with great zeal, So that the king boldly goes out to sea on that ship.

When he finally said goodbye to her politely, everything was done Burgundians just as the messenger told them.

Their canoes flew like an arrow along the Rhine waves, And with each stroke of the oars, the land was getting closer, Where they were waiting impatiently Burgundians king.

And the guests and Burgundians They jumped on the horses, And the field darkened with a black cloud of dust, As if the smoke of a fire had spread over the ground.

Siegfried had fun with the embassy for nine days, but, finally, having had enough of his master’s hospitality, Burgundians They hinted that it was time for them to go.

When they told Hera and the rest of the messengers that Siegfried had agreed to come to the feast of the brothers-in-law, they left Burgundians to his lord with the news that his son-in-law will come to him for the festival.

So the vassal managed to incite the king into baseness, and Siegfried Burgundians They decided to destroy them until he found out everything and killed them himself.

He rushed to the hunting camp like a whirlwind, and rushed Burgundians towards him from all sides.

To the stream, like two panthers, Burgundians rushed And yet, later than Siegfried, they reached the goal.

I want you to Burgundians When we appeared, they said in amazement about who we serve?

The poor priest climbed aboard in vain - In trouble Burgundians They had no power to help him: Hagen ruled the boat, and he tried to send the servant of Christ down to the bottom with the end of the pole.

The French region of Burgundy (Bourgogne) is a historical region located in eastern France, bordering on the north with Ile-de-France and Champagne-Ardenne, in the west with the Center, in the east with Franche-Comté, and in the south with Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes.

The total area of ​​the region is approximately 31,582 square kilometers and the population exceeds 1,642,734. The administrative center of the region is the city of Dijon.

Today, pleasant rural Burgundy is one of the most prosperous regions of modern France, but in the past its powerful dukes maintained independence from the official French crown for many centuries. During the Hundred Years' War, some of the dukes even managed to defect to the side of the British Empire. It was during this difficult period of Burgundian history that the captured Joan of Arc was sold to the British.

By the beginning of the 15th century, the Burgundians owned the entire province of Franche-Comté, Alsace and Lorraine, Belgium, Holland, Picardy and Flanders, and their state at that time was the most organized and richest in all of Europe (its income could only be compared with the profit of the Venetian Republic). Burgundian statehood came under the jurisdiction of the French monarchs only after Duke Charles the Bold was killed during the siege Nancy in 1477.

In Burgundy, everywhere you will find evidence of former wealth and power, both secular and religious life: in the capital of the duchy of Dijon, and in the magnificent abbeys of Vézelay and Fontenay, and in the ruins of the monastery at Cluny (in terms of influence, its abbots were second only to the Pope ), and in the castles of Tanle and Annecy.

History of Burgundy

It is generally accepted that the name Burgundy comes from the German tribe of the Burgundians, who created their own kingdom centered first in Worms, and then in Lyon in the southeast of France (5th century). Around 534 it completely became part of the Frankish state.

At the beginning of the 9th century, two kingdoms were formed: Upper Burgundy (with its capital in Geneva) and Lower Burgundy (Provence). In 933 they united into a single Kingdom of Burgundy (Arelat), which in 1034 became part of the Holy Roman Empire. The lands of both of the above entities did not in any way affect the current territory of Burgundy.

As a counterbalance to the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Duchy of Burgundy was created in the southeastern French territorial limits. In 1032, the brother of the French monarch Henry Robert became Duke of Burgundy.

In 1363, King John II the Good handed Burgundy over to his youngest son, Philip II the Bold, who became the founder of a new ducal dynasty. From the south it bordered with Savoy, in the southwest with Auvergne. Subsequently, the Dukes of Burgundy annexed Flanders and the Netherlands to their possessions. The capital of Burgundy was the city of Dijon.

The last great ruler of the duchy was Duke Charles the Bold after the death of whom, in 1477, Burgundy became entirely part of France. Until 1790, Burgundy had the status of a province within the Kingdom of France. In addition, the asteroid (374) Burgundy, discovered by scientists in 1893, is named after Burgundy.

Sights and wines of Burgundy

In addition to various excursion routes through the vineyards and wineries of Burgundy, historical attractions provinces, among which the most popular places are Basilica of Mary Magdalene(Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine) in Vézelay and the Cistercian Abbey in Fontaine (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site). When in the Yonne department you should definitely visit Guedelon Castle(Chateau Guedelon) and Annecy-le-Franc (Chateau d’Ancy-le-Franc).

Recommended visit in Dijon Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy(Palais Ducal) - in addition to the large-scale medieval architecture, here you can also fully enjoy the unsurpassed works of applied and fine art from the collection of the castle owners. For walks in the fresh air, the Darcy Garden, located near the Dijon train station, is ideal. In Nièvres you can take a river voyage along the local canals: the picturesque surroundings and 16 locks provide an intimate and authentic atmosphere.

The Alesia Museum-Park is entirely dedicated to the Gallic history of France. At the moment, the excavation site and the giant statue of the Gallic leader Vercingetorix are open to tourists, and in the future there are plans to build a modern historical museum, which will be equipped with the latest high-tech equipment.

For gourmets, the main attraction of the region, without a doubt, remains Burgundian cuisine and wine. Fans of Burgundy wines head straight to the magnificent vineyards, whose products have played a decisive role in the local economy since the days when doctors prescribed the wine to Louis XIV himself as a soothing remedy for indigestion.

If you don’t have enough money to enjoy an expensive drink, then come here in September or October, when winemakers hire grape pickers. In this case, you can taste exquisite Burgundy wines completely free of charge. Between the gourmet lunches and numerous wine tastings, it's worth making time for a more active holiday: hikers will find a huge variety of routes, both easy and relatively difficult, in the Morvan Regional Park and the Gold Coast.

There are also several long routes along the banks of the canals, ideal for cycling. As for boat trips, lovers of this type of recreation will appreciate the Canal de Bourgogne and the Canal Nivernais - you can rent a barge for a cruise on both canals.