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Several genealogists and historians as Louis Gollut author of the "History of the Republic of the Sequani and princes of Franche-Comté Burgundy" (published in 1592) , present the House of Poligny as heir of Count Girart, castle Grimont founder in Poligny.
Girart, known as "de Roussillon" (819 - 877), Burgundian Prince and for a while Count of Paris, also founded the abbey of Vézelay in 858 in the diocese of Autun and gathered there the relics of many saints including those of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
"La chanson de Girart de Roussillon" (around 1150) which is one of the oldest known songs of gesture, relates his conflict with the French King Charles "the Bald".
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The House of Poligny is also of stock Capetian, both, through its multiple alliances with the House of Salins and through its parentage with the Houses of Hénin-Liétard and Fierlant .
It descends in particular directly from the Duke of Burgundy Jean "the fearless" (1371 - 1419), son of Philippe "the Hardy" and grandson of Jean II, King of France .
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It offers several Constables and Bailiffs to the County of Burgundy, provides for several centuries the captaincy of the castle of Poligny, the provost of Poligny and Dole. It is the head of the County of Poligny and many lord's domain including Augéa, Evans, Toulouse, Darbonnay, Antorpe, Berthelange, Fraisans, Painter, Parcey, Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne, Cosges, Monay, Névy-les-Dole , Ecrilles, Molprey, Chatillon, Courbouzon, Rahon, St Germain-en-Montagne, Miéry, Lizine, Palantine, Le Fied ... It still had rights in the town of Poligny shortly before the French Revolution (butcher's rights for example).
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Conrad de Poligny
named "The Teutonic"
Provost Martial of Dole in 1198
Polemniacum - A Deum absit
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The domain of Poligny extends over the centuries on a territory mainly anchored in the center and north of the current department of Jura and west of Doubs.
Covering an area a little larger than the Principality of Liechtenstein, the county of Poligny experienced a real golden age in the 15th century.
The extraction of salt, the cultivation of the vines but also the trade favored by its strategic position between Switzerland and the kingdom of France, make its prosperity.
Several calamities subsequently ruined the county.
The plague of 1629 decimated for six long years nearly half of the population. The Thirty Years' war which immediately followed it provoked massacres, unprecedented exactions on the part of the armies and mercenaries of Louis XIV.
Desolation overwhelms the county and the forest regains its rights over nature. After more than a century of reconstruction, the French revolution finally sounded the death knell for the county in 1792.
The house of Poligny survives thanks in particular to the remoteness of Count Jean-Baptiste during the darkest hours of the French revolution and then to his return outside Franche-Comté.
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Girart de Roussillon
and his wife Berthe
The domain of Poligny
The Poligny coat of arms is made up of:
- the coat of arms: red with a white chevron, wearing the crown of a marquis (or count),
- exterior ornaments: helm with lambrequins surmounted by a star resting on a tortil, shield supported by two angels.
The motto of this family is: "A Dieu, Playse" ("Lord, I'm in your hands").
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