Beaujeu, Rhône

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Coordinates: 46°09′18″N 4°35′20″E / 46.155, 4.58888888889

Administration
Commune of Beaujeu Coat of arms of Beaujeu
Location

Country	France
Region	Rhône-Alpes
Department	Rhône
Arrondissement	Villefranche-sur-Saône
Canton	Beaujeu
Mayor	Sylvain Sotton (2008 – 2014)
Statistics
Elevation	277 m–880 m (avg. 293 m)
Land area^¹	17.85 km²
Population^² (1999)	1,905
- Density	106/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	69018/ 69430
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Beaujeu (Bôjor / Biôjœr in Arpitan) is a small town between Mâcon and Lyon. It lies in the French département of Rhône, in the east-central Rhône-Alpes (Rôno-Arpes) région of the country.

Beaujeu gives its name to the famous wine region of Beaujolais (Biôjolês), a former province of France of which it is the historical capital. However it was overtaken in the 14th century by Villefranche-sur-Saône, which remains the main commercial centre of the region.

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

[edit] 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)
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 and was used as a title first by members of the Bourbon family and then by the House of Orléans. In 1522, Francis I of France confiscated the title and gave it to his mother Louise of Savoy, but it reverted to the French crown on her death in 1531.