Le château et la collégiale de Neuchâtel (1011)

The two Burgundian kingdoms, Sapaudia and Switzerland

21 September 2025

The history of the Burgundians is intertwined with that of Switzerland, allowing us to reconstruct an important episode. Between 443 and 1032, the two Burgundian kingdoms were among the most distinctive of the barbarian kingdoms that emerged in the early Middle Ages following the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Burgundians

Who were the Burgundians? The Roman encyclopaedist Pliny the Elder first named this Germanic people. He places them on the river Oder in present-day Poland. They likely came from the island of Bornholm (now Danish territory) in the Baltic Sea.

In the 2nd century, they were located between the Oder and the Vistula. Over the next century, they moved south-westwards. At the end of the third century, the Burgundians settled on the Main, a tributary of the Rhine. In 359, they allied themselves with the Romans against the Alemanni.

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794-1872), Nibelungen, 1847, the death of  Siegfried. Image: Wikipedia/Nibelungen-Forum

Around 409, the Burgundians entered the Roman Empire in the region of Worms (Germany), where they enjoyed the status of federates (foederatus). The tribe founded its first kingdom at Worms (413-436) but was defeated by the Huns in 436. This battle was the origin of the Nibelungen saga. The Burgundians then moved further south, settling on the southern shores of Lake Geneva, in the Rhône valley and the Saône region.

The first Burgundian kingdom

The Burgundians founded a new kingdom that encompassed the regions of Besançon, Geneva, Lake Constance (Bodensee), and Saint-Maurice, extending as far south as Avignon.

Unlike other Germanic tribes, the Burgundians adopted the local language and culture, Gallo-Roman. It is remarkable because, although these newcomers were the new rulers, the Gallo-Roman population was much larger. It was at this time that the French-speaking Switzerland came to the fore. Gallo-Romanic became Franco-Provençal, the basis of the French spoken in French-speaking Switzerland.

The Alemanni, another German-speaking tribe, settled in other parts of Switzerland and introduced the Germanic language and culture, which replaced the Gallo-Roman language and culture within a few generations. 

The first Burgundian kingdom (443-534). Image: Wikiwand.com

It was during the 500s that Burgundian distinctiveness was forged. The inhabitants began to feel that they were subjects of the same king, living in the same entity and sharing a common destiny, in a complex historical period due to the religious situation (paganism, Arianism, the Church) and the ethnic, political and cultural situation (the bishops, the Franks, the Alamanni, the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths and other peoples and kingdoms).

This situation gave rise to Burgundian particularism and an identity that persisted even after the political entity’s breakup when the Frankish kings annexed the kingdom in 534.

Despite the fall of the Burgundian kingdom in 534, the Frankish conquerors (Merovingians and later the Carolingians) also called themselves kings of Burgundy (regnum Burgundiae), such was its prestige.

Burgundy was an accepted concept as a political entity, which was applied in various areas and to other political entities in later centuries.

Sapaudia around 475. Image: Marco Zanoli/Wikipedia

Sapaudia (Savoye)

Sapaudia consisted of the territory of Geneva (Genava).  Sapaudia means ‘pays des sapins’ (‘land of fir trees) in Celtic. Sapaudia formed the city and diocese of Geneva, adding the territories of Nyon and Avenches (a large part of today’s French-speaking Switzerland), as far as the Rhine and Lake Constance (Bodensee).

Treaty of Verdun

After the Frankish Empire (534-888) of the Merovingians and Carolingians, the division of the political legacy of Charlemagne’s Empire (748-814) in 843 (Treaty of Verdun) led to a period of unrest.

The three sons of Louis the Pious (778-840), Charlemagne’s son, divided the empire. The territory of the old Burgundian kingdom (443-543) was given to Lothair (795-855). This Middle Kingdom included the Low Countries, Alsace, Lorraine, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Italy.

The eastern part, ruled by Louis the German (804-876), became, roughly, present-day Germany and the core of the Holy Roman Empire (962-1806), while the western part, ruled by Charles the Bold (823-877), became, more or less, present-day France and the Kingdom of France (987-1789).

In the years 843, 879 and 887, there were four political entities named Burgundy, essentially areas of the old Kingdom of Burgundy (443-534):

  • the Duchy of Burgundy in the north-west, roughly the area of present-day French Burgundy and the later administrative centre of the illustrious Dukes of Burgundy of the 14th and 15th centuries;
  • the County of Burgundy, present-day Franche-Comté, with Besançon as its capital;
  • the kingdom of Lower Burgundy in the south, which stretched from Geneva to the Rhône delta;
  • the kingdom of Upper Burgundy stretched across the present-day cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Jura and the two Basel cantons (Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft).

  • Payerne

The second kingdom and Burgundian distinctiveness

The Burgundian kingdom fell in 534, but the territory retained its identity until the Treaty of Verdun (843). The Burgundians’ first expansion determined the future and shape of the second kingdom (888-1032), an intermediate domain between Gaul and Italy. The Burgundians also took over the Rhône and Saône river basins.

The second Burgundian kingdom (in green). Image: Marco Zanoli/Wikipedia

The second kingdom of Burgundy extended from Basel to the Mediterranean in 1032, when it was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire. The territory even gave rise to several entities known as Burgundy: the Duchy of Burgundy, the County of Burgundy, and the Duchy of Transjurane Burgundy, also referred to as Upper Burgundy.

Karl Giradet (1813-1871),  1857. The battle of Murten (1476). Collection: Museum Murten

The third Burgundian kingdom that never came

Burgundy has always remained a prestigious concept. Ironically, the Swiss Confederation prevented the creation of the third kingdom of Burgundy between 1474 and 1477. Establishing a third Burgundian kingdom was the ambition of the (last) Duke Charles the Bold (1433-1477).

He almost achieved his goal, and the powerless kingdom of France could have been consigned to history. In three battles (Grandson, Murten and Nancy), the Confederation defeated the Burgundian army and ended the last duke’s life and ambitions.

Conclusion

The Duchy and Kingdoms of Burgundy have long since ceased to exist, having been absorbed into France, Germany and Switzerland.

However, during this period, the current French-speaking part of Switzerland strengthened its linguistic and cultural identity. The French-German language border in Switzerland did not shift significantly after 1033.

Fribourg/Freiburg, la Sarine/ die Saane

Only the Burgundian Wars between 1474 and 1477 and the occupation of French-speaking Vaud in 1536 by the partly French-speaking canton and Catholic city of Fribourg (Freiburg) and the German-speaking Protestant city of Bern led to bilingualism and the prevalence of Catholicism or Protestantism in some towns and areas.

But what culture, colour, and lustre did the two Burgundian kingdoms and the Duchy of Burgundy give to Europe and Switzerland! Payerne, Saint-Maurice, and Neuchâtel are just a few of their notable heritage sites.

(Bron: J. Favrod, Les Burgondes. Un royaume oublié au cœur de l’Europe, Lausanne 2011; F. Demotz, L’an 888. Le royaume de Bourgogne. Une puissance européenne au bord du Léman, Lausanne 2012; F. Walter, Une histoire de la Suisse, Neuchâtel, 2016)