AUVERGNE, formerly a province of France, correspond ing to the departments of Cantal and Puy-de-Dome, with the arrondissement of Brioude in Haute-Loire. It contains many mountains volcanic in origin (Plomb du Cantal, Puy de Dome, Mont Dore), fertile valleys such as that of Limagne, vast pas ture lands, and numerous medicinal springs. The population still retains strongly marked Celtic characteristics. In the time of Caesar the Arverni were a powerful confederation, the Arver nian Vercingetorix being the most famous of the Gallic chief tains who fought against the Romans. Under the empire Arver nia formed part of Prima Aquitania, and the district shared in the fortunes of Aquitaine during the Merovingian and Carolin gian periods. Auvergne was the seat of a separate countship before the end of the 8th century; the first hereditary count was William the Pious (886). By the marriage of Eleanor of Aqui taine with Henry Plantagenet, the countship passed under the suzerainty of the kings of England, but at the same time it was divided, William VII., called the Young (1145-68), having been despoiled of a portion of his domain by his uncle (William VIII., called the Old, who was supported by Henry II. of England), so that he only retained the region bounded by the Allier and the Coux. It is this district that from the end of the 13th century was called the Dauphine d'Auvergne. This family quarrel occa sioned the intervention of Philip Augustus, king of France, who succeeded in possessing himself of a large part of the country, which was annexed to the royal domains under the name of Terre d'Auvergne. As the price of his concurrence with the king in this matter, the bishop of Clermont, Robert I. (1195-1227) was granted the lordship of the town of Clermont, which subse quently became a countship. Such was the origin of the four great historic lordships of Auvergne. The Terre d'Auvergne was first an appanage of Count Alphonse of Poitiers (1241-71), and in 136o was erected into a duchy in the peerage of France (duchy pairie) by King John II. in favour of his son John, through whose daughter the new title passed in 1416 to the house of Bourbon. The last duke, the celebrated constable Charles of Bourbon, united the domains of the Dauphine to those of the duchy, but all were confiscated by the crown in consequence of the sentence which punished the constable's treason in 1527. The countship, however, had passed in 1422 to the house of La Tour, and was not annexed to the domain until 1615. At the time of the revolution it formed a gouvernement, with two divi sions: Upper Auvergne (Aurillac), and Lower Auvergne (Clermont) .