Auxonne ( or ) is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France.
Auxonne is one of the sites of the defensive structures of Vauban, clearly seen from the train bridge as it enters the train station on the Dijon–Vallorbe line railway line. It also was home to the Artillery School where Napoleon Bonaparte was stationed as a lieutenant and audited classes from 1788 to 1791.
The commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.Auxonne in the Competition for Towns and Villages in Bloom
Pronunciation Due to an exception in the French language, the name is pronounced [osɔn]Jean-Marie Pierret, Historical phonetics of French and general phonetics, Louvain-la-Neuve, Peeters, 1994, p. 104. (In Aussonne the "x" is pronounced "ss"). The current spelling of the name comes from a habit of copyists of the Middle Ages who replaced the double "s" by a cross which does not change the pronunciation. This cross, equated with "x" in ancient Greek, was pronounced "ks" in French only from the 18th century but this modification does not change the usage.According to Jean d'Osta, Historic Dictionary of the suburbs of Brussels, Bruxelles, Le Livre, 1996, . In practice, however, the pronunciation of Auxonne is debatable, the inhabitants themselves being divided between a pronunciation of "ks" and "ss": local elected officials as well as SNCF announcements retain the pronunciation "ks".Announcements aboard trains This pronunciation has the merit of avoiding a homophone with the Upper Garonne commune of Aussonne.
Geography The city of Auxonne is located at the edge of Côte-d'Or department along the boundary between Burgundy and Franche-Comté some 30 km south-east of Dijon and 45 km west by south-west of Besançon. Access to the commune is by road D905 from Genlis in the north-west which passes through the town and continues south-east to Sampans. The D24 road goes south from the town to Labergement-lès-Auxonne, the D110A goes south-east to Rainans, the D208 goes east to Peintre, and the D20 goes north-east to Flammerans. There are very large forests along the western side of the commune and Auxonne town has a large urban area with the rest of the commune farmland.Google Maps
The western border of the commune is the Saône river as it flows south to eventually join the Rhône at Lyon. The commune is at an altitude ranging between 181 m and 211 mIGN data which makes it virtually immune to floods that envelop the region during major floods.
Geology Auxonne belongs to a region called the plain of Saône. The plain, with Bresse, is a geo-morphological unit of the Bressan depression: an extensive collapsed formation dating from the Miocene extending from the Upper Rhine Plain and the Rhone basin. The plain of Saône is limited in the north by the Upper Saône plateau, to the west by the Burgundian limestone ridge, to the east by the plateaux of the Jura then by the Bresse, and finally to the south by the Beaujolais vineyards. The plain of Saône drops from 250 m altitude in the north to 175 m in the south-east is traversed by the river from north to south for over 150 km.
The city of Auxonne is specifically in the alluvial ribbon called the Val de Saône – a band a few kilometres wide that follows the river. Its immediate limit in the Auxonne area is ten kilometres to the east where there is a rise of the Massif de la Serre to an altitude of about 400 metres.
Climate The climate of the Val de Saône has several conflicting influences but is still a dominant continental climate. It is marked, however, by an oceanic influence that is strongly attenuated by the hills of Morvan which acts as a barrier. There is also a meridional influence in summer which allows the Saône valley, an extension of the Rhone valley, to enjoy good sunshine which is also seen in late spring and early autumn thereby lengthening the summer. Finally there is the continental influence on the Saône valley climate with cold winters and sometimes late frosts. Fog is common from October to March (65 to 70 days per year). The summers are hot enough. Rainfall is well distributed throughout the year with summer and winter relatively less than autumn and spring.
Surrounding municipalities
History
Origins Modern historians agree on doubting the veracity of the assertions contained in the Chronicle of Saint-Pierre de Bèze (the name of the monastery founded by Amalgaire who is referred to as Amauger in the History of BurgundyIn Jean Richard, History of Burgundy, édition Privat, 1978, p. 119. ) in the first half of the 7th century concerning the term Assona to refer to Auxonne in the first half of the 7th century.
The first three authentic instruments where the name Auxonne appears date from 1172, 1173 and 1178.
The first two are associated with Count Stephen II of Auxonne (died 1173) and the third is in a bull of Pope Alexander III. The act of 1173 was a donation made by the Count to the monastery of Saint-Vivant de Vergy. The pontifical act of 1178 was a confirmation of all the possessions of the priory of Saint-Vivant which included the town of Auxonne.
Religious rights of Auxonne date back to around 870, the date of establishment of their monastery in the pagus (County) of Amous (or Amaous) in the Jura of Burgundy (later called the County of Burgundy then Franche-Comté), six miles from the Saône on land belonging to Agilmar, bishop of Clermont. The place took the name which it still has today: Saint-Vivant-en-Amous (between Auxonne and Dole). The monks remained in Amous for more than twenty years; the Normans from Hastings destroyed the monastery when they invaded Burgundy. Count Manassès built them a new monastery (circa 895–896) in Frankish Burgundy in the County of Beaune on the slopes of Mount Vergy. While they were in Amous they cleared the area and installed fishermen's huts along the Saône. According to a hypothesis by some historians, these huts became the germ of the future town of Auxonne. Installed in their remote region of Vergy, far from their difficult to defend lands, the monks of Saint-Vivant felt the need to subordinate (undoubtedly to William IV, Count of Vienne and Mâcon (died 1155)) their lands in Amous to remove the covetousness and retain their rights and properties. According to a second hypothesis, the feudal lord established a new town along Saône which took the name of Auxonne. Auxonne therefore was in the pagus of Amous.
The division of the Treaty of Verdun of 843 placed Amous in the prize of Lothair I and, despite the complicated divisions that followed, this county was Holy Roman Empire land and fell within the sphere of influence of the Count of Burgundy – i.e. the future Franche-Comté.
The attachment to the Duchy of Burgundy
In 1172 the city had grown in importance: Count Stephen I of Auxonne, the younger branch of Burgundy County and son of William (died 1157), had settled there. His successor Stephen II, Count of Auxonne (died 1241) and son of the previous head of the younger branch of Burgundy County, was master of rich domains, ambitious, powerful, and supported by the premier families of the country, nourished some pretensions to supplant the elder branch. He worked conspicuously. In 1197, taking advantage of unrest in Germany, Stephen III, renounced loyalty to Otto I (died 14 January 1201), and took the Auxonne tribute to the Duke of Burgundy, Odo III, while guaranteeing the rights of Saint-Vivant de Vergy. In return, Odo III promised to help him in his fight against the Palatinate. Auxonne escaped the county movement.
In 1237 the head of the County was Otto III (died 19 June 1248), son and successor of Otto I, Duke of Merania (died 6 May 1234). On 15 June that year, under an exchange agreement concluded at Saint-Jean-de-Losne between John, Count of Chalon (1190-30 September 1267) (the main character of the agreement and son of Stephen III, long associated with his father's business and heir of Beatrice de Chalon (1170-7 April 1227) his mother and Stephen III himself) and Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy, the town of Auxonne and all the possessions of Stephen III in the basin of the Saône were transferred to the Duke of Burgundy in exchange for the Barony of Salins and ten strategic positions of the first importance in the County. In coming under the rule of the Dukes of Burgundy, Auxonne became a bridgehead of the duchy on the eastern bank of the Saône, on Holy Roman Empire soil, and escaped the Germanic influence.
The attachment of Auxonne to the Duchy of Burgundy gave it the status as of a border town between the Duchy of Burgundy and the County of Burgundy, between French and Germanic influence that would determine the fate of the town in the following centuries.
Auxonne under the Dukes of Valois Sheltered behind its ramparts that it continued to fortify, the fortress was a major base for launching military operations: it was from Auxonne that Odo IV in 1336 dismissed the threat of dissenting county barons entering as he was their lawful sovereign since his marriage with Jeanne de France (1308–1349), heir to the County. Between 1364 and 1369 there was fighting at the castle of Philip the Bold from Auxonne against the county barons and free companies. At the beginning of the 15th century, with the civil war that ravaged France, war was constant around the walls which forced the city to remain constantly alert. Between 1434 and 1444 there was a new threat: bands of idle soldiers called Écorcheurs because they took all. The people of Auxonne kept watch on the ramparts while the formidable soldiery ravaged the countryside. As if their misfortune were not enough there were two fires five years apart on 7 March 1419 and 15 September 1424 which devastated the city.
It was not until 1444 that there was a period of peace that lasted until the advent of Charles the Bold in 1467.
In 1468, following the Treaty of Peronne, tension revived between the king of France and the Duke of Burgundy – Charles the Bold. The town soon looked to put its defenses in order. In 1471 it made a contribution to the fight against the army of the Dauphiné which was sent by Louis XI and which penetrated the duchy. The adventurous policy of the fiery Duke finally led his dynasty to ruin. On the death of the Duke on 5 January 1477 Louis XI seized the duchy without delay with virtually no resistance. The royal army returned to Dijon on 1 February 1477.
The attachment to the kingdom of France The special status of Outer Saône lands, which were not a domain of the crown given prerogatives, did not stop Louis XI from his conquest. But the Comtois people revolted followed by those from Auxonne. After two years of resistance to the invader and after the carnage of Dole at the Chateau of Dole on 25 May 1479 they were left without support by Mary of Burgundy. Auxonne held out for 12 days in the siege by the royal army commanded by Charles d'Amboise before opening its doors on 4 June 1477 to the French invader. The town, attached to the crown of France, would share the fate of the monarchy.
The Duchy of Burgundy and the County of Burgundy were always united but this time under the crown of France had changed masters and for another 14 years had a common destiny.
For political ends Louis XI, while he solemnly confirmed the maintenance of all the privileges of the town to ensure the loyalty of his new subjects, hastened to build a mighty fortress, the Chateau d'Auxonne, at Auxonne at the province's expense, which still dominates Iliote square, to guard against any attempt of rebellion.