Dombes
Dombes (in French both Les Dombes and La Dombes , Arpitan : La Domba ) is a landscape in eastern France , in the early Middle Ages part of the province of Burgundy , today part of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region .
geography
The Dombes are bordered by the Saône to the west, the Rhone to the south, the Ain to the east and the Bresse landscape to the north . The area forms a hilly plateau with a slight incline to the northwest, with the highest points on the Ain and Rhône reaching a height of around 300 m above sea level.
The near-surface subsurface of the Dombes consists of glacial sediment deposits, mainly of water-impermeable boulder clay . Characteristic are therefore the numerous fish ponds (étangs) , which were created by the landowners since the 15th century, but in some cases even earlier, using the natural depressions. Pond farming provided the landlords with a secure source of income, but it led to a population decline due to diseases such as malaria , the relocation of entire villages and the decrease in arable land. At the end of the 18th century, the number of ponds was therefore reduced by a decision of the Legislative National Assembly . At the same time, the region began to be developed through roads. Today there are around 1000 fish ponds in the Dombes, which cover a total area of around 100 km²; precise statistical information is difficult here, since the ponds are regularly drained to cultivate the soil; a new pond is then created elsewhere for this purpose. Mainly carp , pike and tench are bred .
history
The Dombes (lat. Dumbae ) were once part of the Kingdom of Arelat . In the 11th century, when the kingdom began to fall apart, they came under the influence of local rulers. In 1400 Louis II , Duke of Bourbon , acquired the northern part and two years later the southern part and made it the Principality of Dombes with Trévoux as its capital.
The principality was founded in 1523 by Francis I along with other possessions of Charles III. de Bourbon-Montpensier was drafted, awarded to Queen Mother Luise of Savoy in 1527 and held one after the other by Franz I, Heinrich II , Franz II and Catherine de Medici after her death . In 1561 it was awarded to Louis de Bourbon-Montpensier, whose descendants kept it until 1682. Then Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans , Duchess of Montpensier , gave it to the Duke of Maine , an illegitimate son of Louis XIV , as part of the ransom for the release of her lover, the Duke of Lauzun .
The eldest son of the Duke of Maine, Louis Auguste II. De Bourbon , Prince of Dombes, served in the army of Eugene of Savoy in the Venetian-Austrian Turkish War against the Ottomans (1717), participated in the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1734) and in the Austrian War of Succession (1742–1747). He was followed as Prince of Dombes by his brother, Louis Charles de Bourbon (1701–1775), the Comte d'Eu , who left the principality to the French crown in 1762.
