Historical region, central France.
Originally part of Burgundy , it became a county 0441; 10th century. Francis I of France made it a duchy in 1539 for Francis of Cleves. In 1659 it was sold to Cardinal Mazarin . His descendants possessed it until the French Revolution , when it was the last great fief to be reunited to the French crown. During the ancien régime it was administered from Nevers.