Place · city

Villefranche-sur-Saône

Villefranche-sur-Saône is a town in the Rhône department of eastern France, north of Lyon near the Saône. It was founded around 1140 by the lords of Beaujeu as a 'free town' with privileges to attract settlers, and it became the commercial centre and later the capital of the Beaujolais in place of Beaujeu.

Villefranche-sur-Saône — Image: Saturnyn · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Lordship of Beaujeu

See also

Cite this entry

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Villefranche-sur-Saône. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/villefranche-sur-saone
MLA: “Villefranche-sur-Saône.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/villefranche-sur-saone. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Villefranche-sur-Saône.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/villefranche-sur-saone.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Villefranche-sur-Saône’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/villefranche-sur-saone (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻