Charolles

Charolles
Coat of arms
Charolles
Location within Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region  Charolles
Coordinates: 46°26′04″N 4°16′31″E / 46.4344°N 4.2753°E / 46.4344; 4.2753Coordinates: 46°26′04″N 4°16′31″E / 46.4344°N 4.2753°E / 46.4344; 4.2753
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department	Saône-et-Loire
Arrondissement	Charolles
Canton	Charolles
Area1	19.92 km2 (7.69 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	3,153
• Density	160/km2 (410/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code	71106 /71120
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Charolles (French pronunciation: ​[ʃaʁɔl]) is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.

Charolles is located at the confluence of the Semence and the Arconce rivers, 60 kilometres (37 mi). west-northwest of Mâcon.

Charolles was the capital of Charolais, an old division of France, which from the early 14th century gave the title of count to its possessors. In 1327 the county passed by marriage to the house of Armagnac, and in 1390 it was sold to Philip of Burgundy. After the death of Charles the Bold, who in his youth had borne the title of count of Charolais, it was seized by Louis XI of France, but in 1493 it was ceded by Charles VIII to Maximilian of Austria, the representative of the Burgundian family. Ultimately passing to the Spanish kings, it became for a considerable period an object of dispute between France and Spain, until at length in 1684 it was assigned to the great Condé, a creditor of the king of Spain. It was united to the French crown in 1771.