Upper Burgundy in the context of "County of Burgundy"

The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by several different cultures on different sides, the Provençals maintained a unity which was reinforced when the region was made a separate kingdom during the Carolingian decline of the later ninth century. When Boso of Provence acquired the region in 879, it was known as Lower Burgundy until it was merged with Upper Burgundy in 933 to form the Kingdom of Arles. The counts of Arles began calling themselves "count of Provence"; although in name vassals, they were de facto autonomous princes. After 1032, the county was part of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the eleventh century, Provence became disputed between the traditional line and the counts of Toulouse, who claimed the title of "Margrave of Provence". In the High Middle Ages, the title of Count of Provence belonged to local families of Frankish origin, from 1112 to 1245 to the House of Barcelona (a cadet branch of the House of Aragón), from 1245 to 1382 to the House of Anjou, and from 1382 to 1481 to a cadet branch of the House of Valois. It was inherited by King Louis XI of France in 1481, and definitively incorporated into the French royal domain by his son Charles VIII in 1487.

The Helvetii (Ancient Greek: Ἐλουήτιοι, Latin: Helvētiī [hɛɫˈweːti.iː], Gaulish: *Heluētī), anglicized as Helvetians, were a Celtic tribe or tribal confederation occupying most of the Swiss plateau at the time of their contact with the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. According to Julius Caesar, the Helvetians were divided into four subgroups or pagi. Of these, Caesar names only the Verbigeni and the Tigurini, while Posidonius mentions the Tigurini and the Tougeni (Τωυγενοί). They feature prominently in the Commentaries on the Gallic War, with their failed migration attempt to southwestern Gaul (58 BC) serving as a catalyst for Caesar's conquest of Gaul.

The Helvetians were subjugated after 52 BC, and under Augustus, Celtic oppida, such as Vindonissa or Basilea, were re-purposed as garrisons. In AD 68, a Helvetian uprising was crushed by Aulus Caecina Alienus.The Swiss plateau was at first incorporated into the Roman province of Gallia Belgica (22 BC), later into Germania Superior (AD 83).The Helvetians, like the rest of Gaul, were largely Romanized by the 2nd century. In the later 3rd century, Roman control over the region waned, and the Swiss plateau was exposed to the invading Alemanni. The Alemanni and Burgundians established permanent settlements in the Swiss plateau in the 5th and 6th centuries, resulting in the early medieval territories of Alemannia (Swabia) and Upper Burgundy. The Helvetii were largely assimilated by their new rulers, contributing to the ethnogenesis of modern Swiss people.

The Kingdom of Burgundy (Latin: Regnum Burgundiae), also known as the Kingdom of Arles (Latin: Regnum Arleatense), was a realm established in 933 by the unification of Lower Burgundy with the Upper Burgundy. As an independent kingdom, it was ruled by monarchs from the Elder House of Welf until 1032, when it was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire, becoming one of the empire's three constituent realms, together with the Kingdom of Germany and the Kingdom of Italy. By the 13th century it went through the process of feudal fragmentation, and since the 14th century the imperial rule over the kingdom became mainly nominal, weakening further during the 15th century.

Its territory stretched from the Mediterranean Sea in the south to the High Rhine in the north, and from the Western Alps in the east to the Rhône basin in the west, thus encompassing almost all of the historical Burgundian lands, and roughly corresponding to the present-day French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes and Franche-Comté, as well as the region of Romandy in western Switzerland.

Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was a Carolingian king and ruler of northern parts of Middle Francia, that came to be known as Lotharingia, reigning there from 855 until his death in 869. He also ruled over Burgundy, holding from 855 just the Upper regions, and from 863 also the Lower Burgundy. He was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga (died 875), daughter of Boso the Elder.

Lower Burgundy (Latin: Burgundia inferior; French: Bourgogne inférieure) was a historical region in the early medieval Burgundy, and a distinctive realm known as the Kingdom of Lower Burgundy, that existed from 879 to 933, when it was incorporated into the reunited Kingdom of Burgundy. During that period, Lower Burgundy was encompassing the entire Cisjuran Burgundy (fr. Bourgogne cisjurane), centered on the region of Vienne (fr. Bourgogne viennoise), and also the entire southern region around Arles (fr. Bourgogne arlésienne), centered on Provence. The borders of Lower Burgundy were the region of Upper Burgundy to the north, the Kingdom of Italy to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, Septimania to the southwest, and Aquitaine to the west.