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The history of Lyon began in the first BC under the Romans when the city was declared capital of the three Gauls. This period of prosperity lasted three centuries but fell along with the fall of the roman empire. The long period of upheaval and no man's land status possessed the city not being fully a part of any of the Burgandys or Francs. By the ninth century the church was on the rise and in the eleventh century the church named Lyon the seat of the Primate of Gaul and order was restored. At this time many of the churches were built and commerce began again and trade contributed to the development of the craft industries that maintained the city for many years. In the fourteenth centuries they received three national fairs from the king to keep them happy. By the sixteenth century the prestige of Lyon was unrivalled. The arrival of foreign banking houses made Lyon on of Europe's great banking and trading centres. The arrival of the Renaissance heralded the arrival of Lyon on the European map and its influence spread across the continent. The city lost its rebirth to the greed of trade and the banking city changed into a manufacturing city in the seventeenth century. The city thus became the second largest city in the kingdom manufacturing silk and populating the city with industrious weavers. The French revolution threatened to destroy the city judging it too royalist and ordered the destruction of the builings on the Place Bellcour. But the arrival of Napoleon was favourable for the city and the city thrived again thanks to it workers until they got fed up with the bad conditions and revolted. The revolt killed six hundred of them but marks an important point in history as a first organised strike in the country. |