County of Auvergne

Auvergne---- planning region (French region de programme),

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encompassing thecentral French departements of Alier,

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Puy-de-Dome, Cantal, and Haute-Loire. Thecaptial is

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Clermont-Ferrand. The region has an area of 10,034 sq mi

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(25,988 sq km) and is bounded by the departements of Cher

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and Nievre to the north, Saone-et-Loire to the east, Lozere and

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Aveyron to the south, Lot to the southwest, and Correze and

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Creuse to the west. The following article summarizes the political

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history, geography, demographic patterns, and economy of

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modern Auvergne; for additional treatment of its geography and

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history, see MACROPAEDIA: France. The Arverni, a powerful

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confederation under the chieftain Vercingetorix, inhabited the

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region during Julius Caesar's time; later the Romans made

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Arvernia part of Aquitania Prima. After 913 the viscounts of

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Clermont (now Clermont-Ferrand) adopted the hereditary title of

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Counts of Auvergne. In the countships developed in the region:

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the Dauphine d'Auvergne, the Terre d'Auvergne, and the espiscopal

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countship of Clermont. Charles, duc de Bourbon, united the Terre

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d'Auvergne and the Dauphine d'Auvergne in 1503; these Bourbon

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domains were later confiscated by King Francis I, who gave them to

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his mother, Louise of Savoy, for the rest of her life, after which they were annexed to the kingdom of France (1532). The countship of

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Auvergne, having passed in 1422 to THE HOUSE OF LA TOUR,

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descended to CATHERINE DE MEDICI, who also got possession of

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CLERMONT in 1551. These domains were annexed to the

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crown by 1610.

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