Clermont-Ferrand: History

Pre-20th-Century History

The name Clermont-Ferrand combines two towns which were once distinct entities: Clermont and Montferrand. At the time of merging in the 18th century, Clermont was the larger of the two - as one of the oldest cities in France, its history stretches back to ancient times. As recorded by ancient Greek geographer Strabo in his Geographica , it was known as 'Nemessos' - a Gaulish word for 'sacred forest' - and is cited as the 'metropolis of Arvernes'. In 52 BC, the Gauls devastated Caesar's troops at Gergovia, just a short canter from Clermont-Ferrand. It was the Gauls' tribal heartland and the victory caused an uprising of most Gallic tribes. These tribes were led into guerrilla warfare by Vercingétorix, hounding the Romans successfully for years. The Gauls eventually weakened and lost their supremacy, but Vercingétorix, who was put to death by Rome, is honoured in the city's square today. The Romans cumbersomely renamed the town 'Augustonemetum'. By the 2nd century it was one of the largest cities in Roman Gaul. Three centuries later, in 475, as the Roman Empire was dwindling, the Visigoths moved through and claimed the town. The royal shuffle continued when the town, along with the rest of the Auvergne region, was conquered by the Franks in the 6th century. The town became 'Clairmont' in 848, named for the castle Clarus Mons.

In 1095, following the Consecration of the Cathedral of Etienne II, the town was Episcopal (Christian and ruled by a bishop) and became the launching point for the First Crusade's attempt to reign over the dominant Muslim population of Jerusalem. In the 12th century, the Notre Dame du Port (Church of Notre Dame) was constructed, bolstering the Catholic Church's physical presence in the town.

The counts of Auvergne effectively founded Montferrand in 1120 by building a castle there - putting them beyond the immediate influence of the clerics - and by 1292 this newly established town was a royal city. In the 13th century, construction began on Clermont's distinctive black cathedral but the building would not be complete for another six centuries.

Clermont became a royal city in 1551 and sixty years later was inseparable property of the Crown. Blaise Pascal, its most famous citizen, was born here in 1631 - the university is named for the philosopher and mathematician. In 1630 came the First Edict of Union (Troyes) - an attempt to unite Clermont and Montferrand. It took another 100 years, however, for this to be confirmed: unification only arrived when Louis XV ushered in the Second Edict of Union. Fifty years later, and numerous times through to the beginning of the 20th century, Montferrand made demands for independence.

Modern History

The history of Clermont-Ferrand in the 20th century is entwined with the broader sweep of French history during this era: war, political action and reconstruction. As the industrial base for Michelin, which single-handedly employed thousands of workers after inventing the radial tyre, Clermont-Ferrand was an important site of political unrest during the Popular Front's post-WWI reign. With the election of this left-wing coalition, the workers believed a revolution was imminent. They occupied factories and took up strikes to do their bit in initiating this long-awaited upheaval. These strikes ran for some time until Léon Blum, the Prime Minister, urged the workers to return to work and accept pay-rises - a committed socialist, he believed the capitalist system could not be altered by parliamentary changes and so dampened the workers' movement.

Nevertheless, this spirit of struggle was kindled again by WWII and the fight to overpower fascism and Adolf Hitler. With fascism's ugly tendrils reaching the French population through the Vichy regime's collaboration with the German dictator, pockets of the French Resistance were fighting tiny but important battles against the oppressive surge. The strong Clermont-Ferrand Resistance is immortalised in part one of Marcel Ophüls' revered two-part documentary film The Sorrow and the Pity . The second part captures the reasons for those locals who chose to fight and collaborate with the Germans. It depicts a town riven by choices - women shunned for marrying Vichy men, others looking on apathetically - and haunted for decades by these divisions.

The town prospered after WWII: by 1972, Michelin was celebrating its 30,000th employee and substantial reconstruction works gathered momentum by the 1980s. The Charade motor-racing circuit, close to Clermont-Ferrand and built on open roads around an extinct volcano, hosted the first of four French Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1965.

Recent History

With philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal as its most famous citizen, Clermont-Ferrand is now a strong university town - its student population is ever growing. This lends it a sense of vibrancy and a strong cultural base on which to advertise itself to the important tourist trade. The manufacturing sector is still important to the town - Michelin's place is firmly embedded in Clermont-Ferrand's tissue.

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