Charolais [key], small region, Saône-et-Loire dept., E central France, in Burgundy, in the Massif Central, named after the town of Charolles. Cattle breeding is the chief occupation. The countship of Charolais was acquired by Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, in 1390. In 1477 the county passed to the Hapsburgs; from then on it shared the fortunes of Franche-Comté until it was acquired from Spain by Louis XIV and was definitively united with France and incorporated into Burgundy in 1761.
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