Timeline of Besançon

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Besançon, France.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Prior to 19th century

• 58 BCE - Julius Caesar occupied Vesontio, the chief town of the Sequani.^[1]
• 1st C. CE – Arènes de Besançon [fr] (amphitheatre) built on outskirts of La Boucle [fr] in Vesontio [fr].
• 175 CE – Porte Noire (Besançon) [fr] (arch) built (approximate date).^[1]
• 4th C. – Roman Catholic diocese of Besançon active.^[2]
• 11th C. – Church of Notre-Dame, Besançon [fr] built.
• 1184 - Frederick I made it a free imperial city.^[1]
• 1393 – Besançon Town Hall [fr] built.
• 1487 – Printing press in operation.^[3]
• 1537 – Besançon coat of arms [fr] adopted.
• 1540 – Palais Granvelle (Besançon) [fr] built by Nicolas Perrenot de Granvelle.^[1]
• 1668 – Citadel of Besançon construction begins.
• 1674 – Siege of Besançon.
• 1676 – Parlement of Besançon established.
• 1678 – Besançon becomes part of France per Treaty of Nijmegen.^[1]
• 1694 - Bibliothèque municipale de Besançon (municipal library) founded.^[1]
• 1749 – Besançon courthouse [fr] rebuilt.
• 1751 - Birth of Marquis de Jouffroy d'Abbans, inventor of steam-navigation.^[1]
• 1752 – Besançon Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Arts [fr] founded.^[4]
• 1766 – St. Madeleine Church built.
• 1786 – St. Peter's Church, Besançon [fr] built.^[5]
• 1790 – Besançon becomes part of the Doubs souveraineté.^[6]
• 1793 – Population: 25,328.
• 1796 – Departmental archives of Doubs established.

19th century

• 1802 – 26 February: Birth of Victor Hugo, writer.^[1]
• 1814 – Besançon besieged by Austrian forces.^[1]
• 1818 – Besançon municipal library building opens.
• 1819 – Chamber of Commerce established.^[7]
• 1831 – Fort Beauregard built.^[8]
• 1833 – Rhone–Rhine Canal opens.^{[citation needed]}
• 1843 – Parc Micaud [fr] created.^[8]
• 1850 – Rue de Dole [fr] laid out.
• 1854 – Fountain installed in the Place de la Révolution (Besançon) [fr].
• 1856 – Railway begins operating.^[8]
• 1871 – A project of Besançon Commune is engaged.
• 1876 – Population: 54,404.^[9]
• 1883 – Le Petit Comtois [fr] newspaper in publication.^[10]
• 1888 – Dairy College [fr] founded.[1]
• 1892 – Besançon-les-Bains [fr] built.^[8]
• 1893 – Kursaal de Besançon [fr] (theatre) opens.^[11]
• 1896 – Dépêche Républicaine newspaper begins publication.^[10]
• 1897 – Besançon tramway begins operating.^(fr)
• 1899 – Société d'histoire naturelle du Doubs established.^[12]
• 1900 – Fountain built on the Place Jean-Cornet.^(fr)

20th century

• 1902 – Victor Hugo statue erected on the Promenade Granvelle.^(fr)
• 1903 – Eclair Comtois newspaper begins publication.^[10]
• 1906 - Population: 56,168.^[1]
• 1910 – January 1910 Doubs river flood.
• 1911 – Population: 57,978.^[13]
• 1945 – Jean Minjoz becomes mayor.
• 1948 – Besançon International Music Festival begins.
• 1951 – International Besançon Competition for Young Conductors begins.
• 1953 – Battant Bridge [fr] rebuilt.
• 1954 – Population: 73,445.
• 1957 – Botanical garden established at Place Leclerc.^[14]
• 1960 – Planoise redevelopment process begins.
• 1964 – Gare de Besançon-Viotte rebuilt.
• 1968 – Population: 113,220.
• 1970 – Besançon courthouse attack.
• 1972
  • Centre dramatique national Besançon Franche-Comté [fr] established.[2]
  • Francis of Assisi Church built.
• 1975 – Population: 120,315.
• 1977 – Robert Schwint [fr] becomes mayor.
• 1983 – Jean Minjoz Hospital opens.
• 1994 – Sunna Mosque, Besançon [fr] established.^(fr)

21st century

• 2001 – Jean-Louis Fousseret becomes mayor.
• 2002 – Musée du Temps de Besançon [fr] opens.
• 2005 – 3 November: 2005 Planoise Forum fire.
• 2010 – 13 December: School hostage crisis.^[15]
• 2011 – Population: 115,879.
• 2014 – 30 August: commissioning of the Besançon tramway.
• 2015 – December: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regional election, 2015 [fr] held.^[16]
• 2016 – Besançon becomes part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.
• 2001 – Anne Vignot becomes mayor.

See also

• Besançon history
• History of Besançon [fr]
• Chronology of Planoise, a neighborhood in Besançon
• Other names of Besançon e.g. Bisanz, Vesontio
• List of mayors of Besançon [fr]
• List of heritage sites in Besançon [fr]
• History of Doubs [fr] department
• History of Franche-Comté [fr] region

other cities in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region

• Timeline of Dijon

References

1. Britannica 1910.
2. "Chronology of Catholic Dioceses: France". Norway: Roman Catholic Diocese of Oslo. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
3. Henri Bouchot [in French] (1890). "Topographical index of the principal towns where early printing presses were established". In H. Grevel (ed.). The book: its printers, illustrators, and binders, from Gutenberg to the present time. London: H. Grevel & Co.
4. Jim Parrott (ed.). . Scholarly Societies Project. Canada: University of Waterloo. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
5. "Besancon". Encyclopédie Larousse (in French). Éditions Larousse. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
6. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Besançon, EHESS (in French).
7. United States Department of Commerce; Archibald J. Wolfe (1915). "List of Chambers". Commercial Organizations in France. USA: Government Printing Office.
8. Histoire et formes urbaines (in French), Ville de Besançon, retrieved 30 December 2015
9. Hunter, Brian; Paxton, John; Steinberg, S. H.; Epstein, Mortimer; Renwick, Isaac Parker Anderson; Keltie, John Scott; Martin, Frederick (1882). "France". Statesman's Year-Book. London: Macmillan and Co. hdl:2027/nyp.33433081590428.
10. A. de Chambure (1914). A travers la presse (in French). Paris: Fert, Albouy & cie.
11. Salles de spectacles (in French), Ville de Besançon, retrieved 30 December 2015
12. "Sociétés savantes de France (Besançon)" (in French). Paris: Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
13. "France: Area and Population: Principal Towns". Statesman's Year-Book. London: Macmillan and Co. 1921. hdl:2027/njp.32101072368440.
14. "Garden Search: France". London: Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
15. French nursery hostage drama ends safely, Reuters, 13 December 2010
16. "Résultats élections: Besançon", Le Monde (in French), retrieved 11 April 2022

This article incorporates information from the French Wikipedia.

Bibliography

in English

• "Besançon", Northern France (4th ed.), Leipzig: Karl Baedeker, 1905, hdl:2027/hvd.hnny8y, OCLC 01820283
• "Besançon" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). 1910. pp. 819–820.

in French

• L'Indicateur de Besançon: ou Almanach administratif, industriel et commercial (in French). Ch. Deis. 1837.
• Alexandre Guénard (1860). Besançon: description historique des monuments et établissements publics (in French). Baudin.
• Auguste Castan [in French] (1880). Besançon et ses environs (in French). Marion.
• "Besancon". Le Jura. À la France: sites et monuments (in French). Paris: Touring-Club de France. 1905. OCLC 457600236.
• "Besançon". Bourgogne, Morvan, Nivernais, Lyonnais. Guides Joanne (in French). 1907. hdl:2027/uc1.$b192332.
• Claude Fohlen [in French] (1964). Histoire de Besançon (in French). Nouvelle Librairie de France.

External links

 

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• Items related to Besançon, various dates (via Europeana).
• Items related to Besançon, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).