County of Provence

County of Provence
(oc) Comtat de Provença
Coat of arms
What remained of the County of Provence in 1789 before its disappearance in 1790
StatusCounty, fief of
- Kingdom of Arles (947–1032)
- Holy Roman Empire (1032–1481)
- Kingdom of France (1481)
CapitalAix
Other languagesLatin, Old Occitan, Occitan (expressed in the sub-dialects of the Provençal and Alpine groups), French (administration), Ligurian (some municipalities)
DemonymProvençal
Establishment
• Boson II, Count of Arles
947
• Division between the county and marquisate of Provence
1125
• Passage at the Maison d'Anjou
1246
• Surrender of Nice to Savoy
1388
• Bequest to Louis XI of France
1481
• Perpetual union with the Kingdom of France
1487
• Dissolution of the provincial institutions
1790

The County of Provence was a largely autonomous medieval state that eventually became incorporated into the Kingdom of France in 1481. For four centuries Provence was ruled by a series of counts that were vassals of the Carolingian Empire, Burgundy and finally the Holy Roman Empire, but in practice they were largely independent.