FRANCE : LYON HISTORY
Lyon was
founded as a Roman colony in 43 BCE by Munatius Plancus, a lieutenant of
Caesar, on the site of a Gaulish hill-fort settlement called
Lug[o]dunon—from the Celtic sun god Lugus ('Light', cognate to Old Irish
Lugh, Modern Irish Lú) and dúnon (hill-fort). The name was latinised as
Lugdunum.
In Roman
times Lugdunum was the capital of the three Gauls and symbolized the
colonial power that made it a natural outpost of Rome. In the 11th
century, after the barbarian invasions, Lyon awoke from the torpor into
which it had subsequently fallen.
Later, the Christian
Religion would have a profound influence on the city’s development. With
the advent of the Renaissance, the town prospered and became a major
trade centre, drawing numerous merchants and financiers. More
particularly, Lyon found a new vocation at the end of the 15th century
with the introduction of printing. In the middle of the 16th century the
arrival of silk weavers from Italy gave birth to an industry that would
continue to grow up until the 20th century. In the 18th century the town
expanded as the renown of Lyon’s silk manufacturers spread across
Europe.
The Revolution also strongly marked Lyon when, in 1793, the
Convention ordered the troops to seize the city and destroy it. In the
early 1800s, Jacquard invented the celebrated mechanism that doubled the
number of looms working in the city and sparked off unrest that
culminated in the silk weavers’ riots. During the 19th century, the city
absorbed the surrounding villages and undertook a series of major
planning projects with the development of the city centre, the
construction of the basilica, a hospital, schools, etc.
