Autun

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Administration
Commune of Autun
Location
Longitude	4°17'E
Latitude	46°57'N
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne
Department	Saône-et-Loire
Arrondissement	Autun
Canton	Autun
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes de l'Autunois
Mayor	Rémi Rebeyrotte
Statistics
Land area¹	61.52 km²
Population² (1999)	16,419
- Density (1999)	267/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	710014/ 71400
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Autun

Roman theater of Autun

Autun is a town in the Saône-et-Loire département in Burgundy, France, and has a history which dates back to Roman times.

1 History
- 1.1 Ecclesiastical history
2 Sights
3 Other notable connections
4 Sister Cities
5 See also
6 Sources and external links

[edit] History

Autun was founded during the reign of the Roman emperor Augustus (Autun derives from its Latin name Augustodunum), and was famous for having schools of rhetoric. Several elements of Roman architecture such as walls, gates, and a Roman theatre are still visible in the town. The area also lies in the area of Burgundy, and in the Middle Ages, it was a Count of Autun who became the first Duke of Burgundy.

[edit] Ecclesiastical history

Main article: Diocese of Autun

Christian teaching reached Autun at a very early period, as we know from the famous funeral inscription, in Greek, of a certain Pectorius inscription of Pectorius which dates from the third century. The first bishop known to history is Saint Reticius, an ecclesiastical writer, and contemporary of the Emperor Constantine I (306-337). The Bishop of Autun enjoys the right of wearing the pallium, in virtue of a privilege accorded to the see in 599 by pope St. Gregory the Great (590-604). The diocese comprises the entire Department of Saone et Loire in France.

[edit] Sights

The city boasts ancient Roman gates and other ruins dating to the time of Augustus (Augustodonum).

Autun has a major Romanesque cathedral dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, which was formerly the chapel of the Dukes of Burgundy; their palace was the actual episcopal residence. [Cathedral:[1],[2]]

[edit] Other notable connections

Bishop and Saint Leodegar
Nivelon I (d. 768) was known as Count of Autun
In the late 9th century, Charles Martel's daughter (name listed as Auda, Alane, or Aldana) married Thierry IV (also called Theoderich or Theoderic), Count of Autun and Toulouse. According to the controversial book Holy Blood Holy Grail (which may merely be repeating local legend), Theoderic was declared a King by the Carolingians, and his son was Saint William of Gellone. (For more details on this topic, see Septimania#References in popular culture.)
In the late 9th century, the countship was vacant after the death of Robert the Strong, but was returned to Bernard Plantilosa, son of Bernard of Septimania, and then later to Bernat of Gothia, Count of Barcelona after Bernard fell out of favor.
In 878, King Louis the Younger took the countship away and gave it to his chamberlain, Theodoric.
Richard of Autun (c.867-921), also Count of Autun, was also the first Duke of Burgundy, whose ducal principality amalagmated several countships including Autun
Honorius of Autun (died c. 1151)
Napoleon I's foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord was a sometime bishop of Autun.