Besançon

Besançon was a free imperial city on a bend of the Doubs, alongside its archbishopric. Its independence was confirmed in 1290, and its magistrates governed the city under imperial protection.

After Mary of Burgundy married Maximilian in 1477, the Habsburgs became its protectors. Besançon lost imperial status in 1651; Louis XIV took it in 1668, returned it, and captured it again in 1674. The 1678 Treaty of Nijmegen confirmed it to France, which made it the capital of Franche-Comté.