Beaujolais

Beaujolais, a district of France, now comprised in the departments of Rhone and Loire, having Beaujeu for its chief town. In the 9th century it was a barony in the hands of the Counts of the Lyonnais and Forez. About 1400 it passed to the Bourbons, and Anne of France, daughter of Louis XI., was known as La Dame de Beaujeu. In 1626, by the marriage of Marie de Montpensier with Gaston d'Orleans, it was acquired by the House of Orleans, who retained it till 1808. Its name is still preserved to designate the excellent wine for which it has long been famous.