The earliest reference to a count of Forez so far identified is the donation to Cluny by "Artaldus comes Forensis" dated 1078, although two generations of his ancestors are recorded with the title "count" without a territorial qualification since 994.... The "pagus forensi" was based around Feurs, Monbrison. Auguste Bernard suggests that the counts of Forez were the only counts in the county of Lyon by the end of the 10th century and that they extended their jurisdiction over the whole county except for the town of Lyon itself. They may have used “Forez” to describe their county to avoid conflict with the archbishops. Maybe the counts of Forez had always been the only counts in the pagus Lugdunensis. Agreement between the counts of Forez and the archbishop of Lyon was reached in 1173, after which there was presumably no further question of the title “comte de Lyon”.
The reconstruction of parts of the genealogy of the comtes de Forez is based only on information set out in the work of Jean-Marie de La Mure, which is based on a manuscript dated 1675 but was published in Paris in 1860... La Mure’s conclusions about some family relationships are based on primary sources which he refers to, but does not quote in full, and for which he cites no precise source references. It has not proved possible to assess the accuracy of his information, based on published cartularies. For example, La Mure refers to several charters relating to the monastery of Cluny which are not included in the compilation of Cluny charters published by Bernard and Bruel. It is not known whether La Mure consulted original documentation which has since disappeared or whether his information is unreliable, although his description of the documents in question is in most cases detailed and includes precise names of the properties donated which does inspire some confidence...
--------------------------------
Auguste Bernard states that Guillaume Comte de Lyon divided his territories between his children: "à Guillaume l’aîné…le Lyonnais, à Artaud le Forez, et à Bernard ou Béraud ou Gérard, la sirerie de Beaujolais", but he cites no primary source on which he bases his statement.... Samuel Guichenon, in his Histoire de la Souverainté de Dombes written in 1662, refers to Comte Artaud [I] who lived in 900 and his son Geraud, but does not cite the primary source on which this is based. According to Auguste Bernard, Artaud [I] died in 960, but he cites no primary source on which he bases his statement.
The name of Artaud's wife is not known. According to Auguste Bernard, the wife of Artaud [I] was "Taresia", whose death, he says, is recorded "V Id Jun" in the necrology of the priory of Ambierle... 1
Research Notes: