Beaujeu is a commune of the Rhône department in eastern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

It lies between Mâcon

Mâcon

Mâcon is a small city in central France. It is prefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department, in the region of Bourgogne, and the capital of the Mâconnais district. Mâcon is home to over 35,000 residents, called Mâconnais.-Geography:...

 and Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

.

Beaujeu gives its name to the famous wine region

Beaujolais

Beaujolais is a French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée wine generally made of the Gamay grape which has a thin skin and is low in tannins. Like most AOC wines they are not labeled varietally. Whites from the region, which make up only 1% of its production, are made mostly with Chardonnay grapes...

 of Beaujolais

Beaujolais (province)

Beaujolais is a historical province and a wine-producing region in France. It is located north of Lyon, and covers parts of the north of the Rhône département and parts of the south of the Saône-et-Loire département...

 (Biôjolês), a former province

Provinces of France

The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces. The provinces of France were roughly equivalent to the historic counties of England...

 of France of which it is the historical capital. However it was overtaken in the 14th century by Villefranche-sur-Saône

Villefranche-sur-Saône

Villefranche-sur-Saône is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France.It lies 1 mile west of the Saône River, and is around north of Lyon...

, which remains the main commercial centre of the region.

History

Beaujolais was a semi-autonomous fiefdom of the Lords of Beaujeu. The barony was acquired in the 9th century by Guillaume, Comte du Lyonnais and Count of Forez

Forez

Forez is a former province of France, corresponding approximately to the central part of the modern Loire département and a part of the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme départements....

; on his death, his son Bérard became the first Lord of Beaujeu.

List of rulers

Lords:

• Berard of Beaujeu + c. 966
• Guichard I of Beaujeu c. 966-977
• Humbert I of Beaujeu + c. 977-1016
• Guichard II of Beaujeu c. 1016-1050
• Guichard III of Beaujeu c. 1050-1070
• Humbert II of Beaujeu c. 1070-1102
• Guichard IV of Beaujeu 1102-1137
• Humbert III of Beaujeu 1137-1174
• Humbert IV of Beaujeu 1174-1202
• Guichard V le Grand of Beaujeu 1202-1216
• Humbert V of Beaujeu 1216-1250
• Isabelle de Beaujeu 1250-1297 (married Renaud)
• Renaud I of Forez, count of Forez 1250-1297
• Louis de Beaujeu 1250-1295
• Guichard VI of Beaujeu 1295-1331
• Edouard I of Beaujeu 1331-1351 (Marshal of France
  Marshal of France
  The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
  
  )
• Antoine of Beaujeu 1351-1374
• Edouard II of Beaujeu 1374-1400 (+1400 without succession)

After the death of Edouard II, the barony passed to his uncle Louis II, Duke of Bourbon

Louis II, Duke of Bourbon

Louis de Bourbon, called the Good , son of Peter de Bourbon and Isabella de Valois, was the third Duke of Bourbon....

 and was used as a title first by members of the Bourbon family and then by the House of Orléans

House of Orleans

Orléans is the name used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. It became a tradition during France's ancien régime for the duchy of Orléans to be granted as an appanage to a younger son of the king...

. In 1522, Francis I of France

Francis I of France

Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...

 confiscated the title and gave it to his mother Louise of Savoy

Louise of Savoy

Louise of Savoy was a French noble, Duchess regnant of Auvergne and Bourbon, Duchess of Nemours, the mother of King Francis I of France...

, but it reverted to the French crown on her death in 1531.