1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Bourbon-Lancy

BOURBON-LANCY, a watering-place of east-central France in the department of Saône-et-Loire, on a hill about 2 m. from the right bank of the Loire and on the Borne, 52 m. S.S.E. of Nevers by rail. Pop. (1906) town, 1896; commune, 4266. The town possesses thermal springs, resorted to in the Roman period, and ancient baths and other remains have been found. The waters, which are saline and ferruginous, are used for drinking and bathing, in cases of rheumatism, &c. Their temperature varies from 117° to 132° F. Cardinal Richelieu, Madame de Sévigné, James II. of England, and other celebrated persons visited the springs in the 17th and 18th centuries. The town has a well-equipped bathing establishment, a large hospital, and a church of the 11th and 12th centuries (used as an archaeological museum), and there are ruins of an old stronghold on a hill overlooking the town. A belfry pierced by a gateway of the 15th century and houses of the 15th and 16th centuries also remain. The industries of the town include the manufacture of farm implements.

In the middle ages Bourbon-Lancy was an important stronghold and a fief of the Bourbon family, from the name of a member of which the suffix to its name is derived.