The Bugey (, ;
Arpitan: ''Bugê'') is a historical region in the
department of Ain, eastern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, located between
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
and
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
. It is located in a loop of the
Rhône River
The Rhône ( , ; Occitan: ''Ròse''; Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea (Gulf ...
in the southeast of the department. It includes the foothills of the
Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains ( ) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the French–Swiss border. While the Jura range proper (" folded Jura", ) is located in France and Switzerla ...
, and the highest point is the
Grand Colombier
Grand Colombier is a small, uninhabited island in the French North American territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Only 50 ha in area, it lies 500 m off the north coast of Saint Pierre Island and rises to an elevation of 150 m. I ...
. Bugey is divided into two sub-regions: Haut Bugey and Bas Bugey. The inhabitants of Bugey are known as ''Bugistes'' or alternatively as ''Bugeysiens''.
History
The Bugey was a fief of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. When
Emperor Henry IV
Henry IV (; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son of Henry III, Holy ...
received the much-needed support of
Adelaide of Susa
Adelaide of Susa (also ''Adelheid'', ''Adelais'', or ''Adeline''; – 19 December 1091) was the countess of part of the March of Ivrea and the Marchioness of Turin in Northwestern Italy from 1034 to her death. She was the last of the Arduin ...
,
marchesa of Turin, when he came to Italy to submit to
Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
One of the great ...
and
Matilda of Tuscany
Matilda of Tuscany (; or ; – 24 July 1115), or Matilda of Canossa ( ), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as the Attonids) in the second half of the eleventh century. Matilda was on ...
at
Canossa
Canossa ( Reggiano: ) is a ''comune'' and castle town in the Province of Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is where Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV did penance in 1077 and stood three days bare-headed in the snow to reverse his excom ...
, in return for her permission to travel through her lands, Henry gave Bugey to Adelaide.
[ Previté-Orton, ''The Early History of the House of Savoy (1000-1233)'' (Cambridge, 1912'', pp. 237f.] Henceforth it belonged to the
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...
until 1601, when it was ceded to France by the
Treaty of Lyon.
Geography
Bugey is delimited by the
Rhone in the south and east and by the
Ain
Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...
in the west. The northern boundary of Bugey is disputed. In 1867 Baron Achille Raverat declared the
Valserine
The river Valserine () is a tributary of the Rhône that flows for from the Col de la Faucille in the Jura Mountains to its confluence with the Rhône at Bellegarde-sur-Valserine. The Valserine Valley has great charm; it includes the Pont des Pi ...
to be the northern border of Bugey, but contemporary definitions generally include the entire
Ain department as part of Bugey. The region of
Revermont
Revermont () is a natural region of France located in the departments of Ain, Jura, and a small portion of Saône-et-Loire.
Geography
Geographically defined as the western foothills of the Jura Massif, the Revermont is characterized by lime ...
has never been considered part of Bugey.
Culture
The residents of rural areas in the Bugey,
Valromey
The canton of Champagne-en-Valromey is a former administrative division in eastern France. It was disbanded following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. It consisted of 14 communes, which joined the canton of ...
, and
Chautagne speak
Savorêt, a dialect of the
Arpitan language, and spoke it in everyday life until the 1970s.
The area is known for its wine,
Bugey AOC.
See also
*
Bugey Nuclear Power Plant
The Bugey Nuclear Power Plant is located in Bugey in the Saint-Vulbas commune (Ain), about 75 km from the Swiss border. The site occupies 100 hectares. It is on the edge of the Rhône River, from where it gets its cooling water, and is a ...
*
Bugey wine
Bugey wine () is produced in the Bugey region in the Ain département of France, under the two VDQS designations Bugey and Roussette du Bugey. On May 28, 2009, Institut National des Appellations d'Origine, INAO gave its final approval for the eleva ...
*
Ligne du Haut-Bugey
The Haut-Bugey line () (also nicknamed ''Lignes des Carpates'') is a railway line in France. It is 65 kilometres in length and connects Bourg-en-Bresse with Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, Bellegarde, travelling through the Jura Mountains.
For a cent ...
, railroad line
References
External links
Gazetteer Entry*
Geography of Ain
Former provinces of France
{{Ain-geo-stub