170 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 252. 



and the " seignorial ''territory ".'of Genevois : a 

 distinction which the Counts of Genevois, and 

 their successors the Counts of Savoy, would have 

 gladly done away. 



Gonderic, first King of the Burgundians, dying, 

 his kingdom was divided, A. i>. 466, between his 

 four sons. Gondeband had Vienne; Chilperie, 

 Lyons ; Godesigile, Geneva ; and Gotmar, Be- 

 sangon. After various struggles among these 

 petty states, and interventions of the kings of 

 France, a. n. 620 : 



" The French king, Clotairius II., drove out the Bur- 

 gundians from the country of the Allobroges, and settled 

 magistrates at Geneva." — Spon, pp. 13 — 14. 



I am more particular in making this quotation, 

 unsatisfactory as it is, because every subsequent 

 charter that I have seen noticed seems less an 

 original grant than a confirmation of one already 

 existing. 



About A.D. 773 



"Charlemain came to Geneva, where he called a council 

 of war about his passing into Italy against Didier, King 

 of the Lombards : he confirmed the liberties and privileges 

 of Geneva, both in church and state." — Spo7i, p. 15. 



Under date of a.d. 1050, Spon says: 



" The following ages will j'ield us more matter, through 

 the ambition of three lords, who would become masters of 

 Geneva : which three were the Bishop, the Earl of Gene- 

 vois, and the Earl of Savoy, who have several times 

 brought it near to destruction : but this their striving 

 who should become masters of it, hath been a means to 

 continue its privileges and liberties as an imperial city, 

 which the magistracy claims time out of mind, as well by 

 the death of Oblius, who left his countreys free, as also b\' 

 the privilege of a Roman colony under the first emperors, 

 and by a confirmation from Charlemain, for they tell us 

 the kings of Burgundy were usurpers. It belongs not to 

 us to decide the contrary pretensions of these three above- 

 mentioned lords : Guichsenon and other authors call the 

 Earls of Genevois Earls of Geneva, which is contrary to 

 several ancient titles of these earls, which name them 

 Comites Gebennesii, and not Gebennenses ; for it is well 

 known that Gebenesium is Genevois, which is separate 

 from the jurisdiction of Geneva. But it is very likely 

 some have taken upon them this title, as may be seen on 

 an ancient coin of an earl who lived about the year 1370, 

 who called himself Petrus Comes Gebennensis, which the 

 bishops have resented ill, especiallj' John Lewis of 

 Savoy." 



The Counts of Genevois are understood to have 

 been at first merely the administrators for the 

 . emperor over that province (which I think Pichot 

 says was at that time bounded by the three moun- 

 tains Jura, Saleve, and Vuache, though a much 

 larger extent of Savoy seems now distinguished 

 by the name of the province of Genevois), though 

 they became at length nearly independent. The 

 contest lay at first between them and the bishops, 

 the people of Geneva generally siding with the 

 bishop as the least formidable. During which 

 time they obtained several confirmatory charters 

 from the emperors, of which one from Frederick 



Barbarossa, a.d. 1162, was long known as "the 

 Golden Bull of Geneva." 



The Count of Savoy (formerly Count of Mau- 

 rlenne) first comes on the scene about 1211, 

 when, alarmed by the threatening power of the 

 Count of Genevois, the bishop entered into a 

 league with Thomas I. of Savoy. But the 

 Counts of Savoy soon proved more dangerous 

 neighbours even than the other, especially when in 

 1402 Odo of Villars, the last Count of Genevois, 

 ceded his lands, &c. to Ame VIII. of Savoy. 



Having already occupied too large a space, I 

 must content myself with referring to the under- 

 mentioned works for the details of the further 

 struggles and the extremities to which Geneva 

 was at one time reduced, till finally delivered from 

 the Duke of Savoy in 1526, by an alliance with 

 Berne and Fribourg, and from the bishop about 

 1532 by the Reformation. (^Keate, pp.48. 52.) 



"Whatever trivial disputes have accidentally arisen, 

 were all finally adjusted by a treaty concluded in 1754 

 between the present King of Sardinia and the State of 

 Geneva, in which the latter is acknowledged by that 

 crown to be free and independent." — Keate, p. 60. 



Has L. C. D. adverted to this treaty ? 



Perhaps the following passage relative to the 

 arms of Geneva may interest your correspondents : 



"About the end of this year [1535] the city being 

 surrounded by enemies, wanting provision and destitute 

 of money ; this put the magistrates upon coining some 

 with the city stamp, the Savoy co_vn having been most 

 current before amongst them. 'And for better assurance 

 in this point of privilege; there was search made for all 

 old pieces of the city coyn. At length there were found 

 some pieces, on one side of which there was s. pktkvs 

 written round St. Peter's head ; and on the other side a 

 cross, with this motto, 'Geneva Civitas,' The City of 

 Geneva, after the same manner as we have represented it 

 on the next side \_i. e. in the plate]. And because the 

 ancient device of the citj' in its arms was ' Post tenebras 

 spero lucem,' / expect light after darkness, there was 

 coyned on one side of the new money, ' Post tenebras lux 

 or lucem,' After darkness light. On the other side was 

 the arms of Geneva, the key and eagle, with this device, 

 ' Deus noster pugnat pro nobis, 1585,' Our God fights for 

 us. There were likewise some coyned the year following, 

 which instead of this superscription, had this about the 

 name of Jesus ; ' Mihi sese flectet omne genu : ' Every 

 knee shall bow before me." — Spon, p. 107. 



I do not think any of your correspondents have 

 noticed the motto " Post tenebras lux," always 

 now used ; nor that the shield is surmounted (by 

 way of crest I suppose) by the letters i. h. s. en- 

 circled by a glory. 



Whatever the field of the dexter shield may 

 have at one period been, it is decidedly or at 

 present. The flag of the canton is scarlet and 

 yellow, and the macer who precedes the syndics 

 in a procession wears (or did so in 1846) a cloak 

 made half of scarlet cloth, half of yellow. 



The works consulted in writing the above are, 

 — The History of the City and State of Geneva, hy 

 Jacob Spon, Doctor of Physic, &c. Translation 



