Moulins is a
communeThe commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a small gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis, things held in common.French communes are roughly...
in central
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, capital of the
AllierAllier is a department in south-central France named after the Allier River.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
department.
Before the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, Moulins was the capital of the
provinceThe Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces...
of
BourbonnaisBourbonnais was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponded to the modern département of Allier, along with part of the département of Cher. Its capital was Moulins.- History :...
and the seat of the Dukes of Bourbon. Its documented existence may be traced back at least as far as the year 990. In 1232, Archambaud VIII, Sire de Bourbon, granted a franchise to the village's inhabitants. The town achieved greater prominence in 1327, when
Charles IVCharles IV , was the King of France and of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1322 to his death: he was the last French king of the senior Capetian lineage.-Biography:He was the third son of Philip IV...
elevated
Louis I de ClermontLouis I of Bourbon, le Boiteux, the Lame was Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis and La Marche, and the first Duke of Bourbon.-Life:...
to Duke of Bourbon.
Moulins is a
communeThe commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a small gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis, things held in common.French communes are roughly...
in central
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, capital of the
AllierAllier is a department in south-central France named after the Allier River.- History :Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
department.
History
Before the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, Moulins was the capital of the
provinceThe Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces...
of
BourbonnaisBourbonnais was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponded to the modern département of Allier, along with part of the département of Cher. Its capital was Moulins.- History :...
and the seat of the Dukes of Bourbon. Its documented existence may be traced back at least as far as the year 990. In 1232, Archambaud VIII, Sire de Bourbon, granted a franchise to the village's inhabitants. The town achieved greater prominence in 1327, when
Charles IVCharles IV , was the King of France and of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1322 to his death: he was the last French king of the senior Capetian lineage.-Biography:He was the third son of Philip IV...
elevated
Louis I de ClermontLouis I of Bourbon, le Boiteux, the Lame was Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis and La Marche, and the first Duke of Bourbon.-Life:...
to Duke of Bourbon. Either Louis or the later
Peter II, Duke of BourbonPeter II, Duke of Bourbon was the son of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon and Agnes of Burgundy, and a member of the House of Bourbon...
and of Auvergne moved the capital of the province from
Bourbon-l'ArchambaultBourbon-l'Archambault is a spa town and a commune in the Allier department in Auvergne in central France.In 1681, Louise Marie Anne de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Tours, the third daughter of Louis XIV and his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan died there at the age of seven.Over three...
to Moulins.
- Note: This article in French suggests Pierre II moved the capital, while the local tourism website (also in French) suggests it was Louis I.
In February 1566 it became eponymous to the
edict of Moulins, an important royal ordinance dealing with many aspects of the administration of justice and feudal and ecclesiastical privilege, e.g. limitations of the
appanageAn apanage or appanage is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who under the system of primogeniture would otherwise have no inheritance...
s held by French princes, abrogation of the levy of rights of
tallageTallage or talliage may have signified at first any tax, but became in England and France a landuse or land tenure tax. Later in England it was further limited to assessments by the crown upon cities, boroughs, and royal domains...
claimed by seigneurs over their dependants, provisions for a system of concessions on rivers etc.
Moulins is known for
Coco ChanelGabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist philosophy, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of the famous fashion brand Chanel...
.
External links