Lyons has been a flourishing industrial centre since the Roman period. lts industries have been fostered from time to time by royal grants of privileges; thus Francis 1. granted the work ers of Lyons exemption from military service. Although it suffered heavily through emigration after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, it still retains its place as the chief centre of the silk industry in the world. One-third of all the raw silk produced in or brought to Europe is prepared at Lyons or its immediate surround ings. Two-thirds of this quantity is imported from the Orient, one-eighth comes from Italy. and only one-tenth is produced in France. About one-half of the prepared silk is used in the local industries, the rest being exported. The total value of the silk manufactures of Lyons and the surrounding region in 1899 was $87,074,400, and, with the allied industries, they gave employ ment to over 200.000 persons. The chief of the allied industries is the manufacture of chem icals, especially of dyes: the annual value of the chemical products amounts to over $10,000,000. There are also extensive iron-work: and machine shops. and establishments for the preparation of leather and skins, while printing has for cen turies been one of the distinctive industries. The commerce of the city is also considerable. Lyons is one of the principal railroad centres of France, and the river traffic in 1899 amounted to 1,325, 000 tons. The city has 13 miles of quays along the river-fronts. and the width of the Rhone at this point is 625 feet, while that of the Saone is from 250 to 450 feet. The principal trade, be sides that in silk products. is in grain and wine, amounting respectively to $30.000,000 and $20, 000.000 annually. Lyons is also, next to Paris, the most important financial centre of France. Its exchange is almost independent of that of Paris. and it has large amounts of capital in vested in foreign enterprises. At the head of its financial institutions is the Credit Lyonnais, which has branches in over one hundred cities.
The United States is represented by a consul. The population of the city, in 1901, was 450.000. In 1891 the population was 438.077, and in 1801, 109.500. though before 1789 it was over 200.000.
Lyons was an ancient Gallic town with the name of Lugdunum. In n.c. 43 L. Manutius Planeus, a lieutenant of Cxsar, founded a Roman colony on the Fourviere Hill, which soon became the chief colony in Gaul, and in A.D. 13 it was made the capita] of all the Gallic municipali ties, from which deputies gathered annually in the Roman forum built in the city. Christianity rapidly gained ground in the city. In Am. 197 it was pillaged by the soldiers of the Emperor Severns. In 208 it witnessed a massacre of ninny thousands of its Christian citizens. and it was deprived of its title of capital. In the Mid dle Ages the city was for sonic time under the rule of counts (counts of Lyonnais, counts of Forez), later under that of the Archbishops of Lyons. with whom the inhabitants waged bloody conflicts, and finally, in the fourteenth century, passed under the sway of the French kings. In 1320 it received a municipal charter. Two councils of the Church were held there in 1•45 and 1274. In 1793 the people of Lyons rose in insurrection against the terrorism of the Convention. An army was sent against the city, which was taken in October and subjected to a frightful chastisement, thousands of the citizens being massacred at the hands of Collot d'Herbois and Fouchi% Many of the finest edi fices were demolished. The city gradually re covered under Napoleon, and has since enjoyed prosperity, though it has several times suffered from floods, and in 1831. 1834. and 157I from labor riots and insurrections. Among a long list of celebrities born at Lyons are the Emperors Claudius, Marcus Aurelius, Caraea and Geta, Saints tremens and Ambrose, Philibert de Forme, the Coustous, Jussieu, Sachet, Ampere, and Sleissonier.