Besançon in the context of James Chappuis

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (/ˈpruːdɒ̃/, also US: /pruːˈdoʊn/; French: [pjɛʁ ʒozɛf pʁudɔ̃]; 15 January 1809 – 19 January 1865) was a French anarchist, socialist, philosopher, and economist who founded mutualist philosophy and is considered by many to be the "father of anarchism". He was the first person to call himself an anarchist, and is widely regarded as one of anarchism's most influential theorists. Proudhon became a member of the French Parliament after the Revolution of 1848, whereafter he referred to himself as a federalist. Proudhon described the liberty he pursued as the synthesis of community and individualism. Some consider his mutualism to be part of individualist anarchism while others regard it to be part of social anarchism.

Proudhon, who was born in Besançon, was a printer who taught himself Latin in order to better print books in the language. His best-known assertion is that "property is theft!", contained in his first major work, What Is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right and Government (Qu'est-ce que la propriété? Recherche sur le principe du droit et du gouvernement), published in 1840. The book's publication attracted the attention of the French authorities. It also attracted the scrutiny of Karl Marx, who started a correspondence with its author. The two influenced each other and they met in Paris while Marx was exiled there. Their friendship finally ended when Marx responded to Proudhon's The System of Economic Contradictions, or The Philosophy of Poverty with the provocatively titled The Poverty of Philosophy. The dispute became one of the sources of the split between the anarchist and Marxist wings of the International Working Men's Association. Some such as Edmund Wilson have contended that Marx's attack on Proudhon had its origin in the latter's defense of Karl Grün, whom Marx bitterly disliked, but who had been preparing translations of Proudhon's work.

Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon (Vesontio), Strasbourg (Argentoratum), Wiesbaden (Aquae Mattiacae), and Germania Superior's capital, Mainz (Mogontiacum). It comprised the Middle Rhine, bordering on the Limes Germanicus, and on the Alpine province of Raetia to the south-east. Although it had been occupied militarily since the reign of Augustus, Germania Superior (along with Germania Inferior) was not made into an official province until c. 85 AD.

Henri Charles Antoine Baron (23 June 1816, in Besançon – 11 September 1885, in Geneva) was a French genre painter, engraver and illustrator.

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (French pronunciation: [buʁɡɔɲ fʁɑ̃ʃ kɔ̃te] ; lit. 'Burgundy-Free County', sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: Borgogne-Franche-Comtât) is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region came into existence on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections of December 2015, electing 100 members to the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

The region covers an area of 47,783 km (18,449 sq mi) and eight departments; it had a population of 2,811,423 in 2017. Its prefecture and largest city is Dijon, although the regional council sits in Besançon, making Bourgogne-Franche-Comté one of two regions in France (along with Normandy) in which the prefect does not sit in the same city as the regional council.

The Battle of Vesontio was a conflict in 68 AD in which Lucius Verginius Rufus defeated Gaius Julius Vindex. Vindex had rebelled against the Emperor Nero and declared his allegiance to Galba. Verginius advanced against him and a battle between their two forces took place near Vesontio (modern Besançon). What occurred then is unclear, but, despite a meeting between Verginius and Vindex, the forces under Verginius seem to have decided on a battle without orders. Desire for plunder and the weakness of Verginius as a commander are possible explanations. Vindex was defeated in the resulting battle and subsequently committed suicide.

James II of Bourbon-La Marche (1370 – 1438 in Besançon) was count of La Marche. He was captured at the battle of Nicopolis in 1396, later being ransomed. In 1403, James led an attack on English soil and burned Plymouth. He married Queen Joanna II of Naples in 1415, and was largely unpopular being imprisoned then forced to leave the kingdom of Naples in 1419. James relinquished his titles and became a monk in 1435. He died in 1438.

The GR 59 Grande Randonnée long-distance footpath in France connects two mountain ranges across relatively low-lying terrain. In the north, it begins at Ballon d'Alsace in the Vosges at a height of over 1000m. It loses height rapidly, and runs south-south-west through the département of the Haute-Saône to Besançon on the river Doubs, in the département of the same name. It then follows a circuitous route, partly along the river Loue (a tributary of the Doubs) to Lons-le-Saunier in the département of Jura. At St-Amour just south of Lons, the GR 9 splits from the GR 59 and takes a more easterly route, near the Swiss border, while the GR59 continues into the regions of Bugey and Revermont in the département of Ain, finally rejoining the GR 9 near Yenne on the banks of the Rhône; the GR 9 then continues to the Mediterranean at St-Tropez.

Towns and villages that the path passes through, with approximate heights and distances from the northern end of the path, include:

Paul-Jean-Louis Azan (Besançon 1874 – Lons-le-Saunier 1951) was a French general and author. He is remembered for his missions to the United States during World War I and his French historical and military writings which examined and celebrated French Colonial rule in North Africa.

William I (1020 – 12 November 1087), called the Great (le Grand or Tête Hardie, "the Stubborn"), was Count of Burgundy from 1057 to 1087 and Mâcon from 1078 to 1087. He was a son of Reginald I, Count of Burgundy and Alice of Normandy, daughter of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. William was the father of several notable children including Pope Callixtus II.

In 1057, William succeeded his father and reigned over a territory larger than that of the Franche-Comté itself. In 1087, he died in Besançon, Prince-Archbishopric of Besançon, Holy Roman Empire—an independent city within the County of Burgundy. He was buried in Besançon's Cathedral of St John.

Doubs (/duː/ DOO; French: [du] ; Arpitan: Dubs) is an administrative department in the northeastern French region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019. Its prefecture is Besançon and subprefectures are Montbéliard and Pontarlier.

Situated in the east of France and the east of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, it shares a border with Switzerland of almost 170 km and most of its territory is located in the Jura Mountains. Its highest point is the Mont d'Or (1,463 m), and the three main rivers that flow through it are the Doubs, the Ognon and the Loue.

Baume Abbey, in its village of Baume-les-Messieurs, Jura, France, was founded as a Benedictine abbey not far from the still-travelled Roman road linking Besançon and Lyon. It stands near the source of the Dard. Around it the village of Baume-les-Messieurs is congregated. The abbey is known for its sixteenth-century retable.

The Fortifications of Vauban is a UNESCO World Heritage Site made up of 12 groups of fortified buildings and sites along the borders of France. They were designed by military architect Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633–1707) during the reign of King Louis XIV. These sites include a variety of fortifications, ranging from citadels, to mountain batteries and sea fortifications, to bastion walls and towers. In addition, the site includes cities built from scratch by Vauban and communication towers. These sites were chosen because they exemplify Vauban's work, bearing witness to the influence of his designs on military and civilian engineering on a global scale from the 17th century to the 20th century.

The network of major sites of Vauban is an association of cities created on 30 March 2005 at the initiative of the city of Besançon. It includes the twelve sites which best represent the fortification system erected by Vauban. The application file was selected on 5 January 2007 by the Ministry of Culture to represent France. On 7 July 2008, twelve of the network's fourteen sites were added to the list at the UNESCO annual meeting in Quebec City.