and other barbarians: in 413, the Goths under Ataulf besieged and captured the
brother of the usurper Jovinus, Sebastianus, at Valentia on behalf of the
emperor Honorius. In 440, Alans led by Sambida were given deserted lands in
Valentia by the Romans. Three years later, Aetius settled the Burgundians in
the region, which became part of their kingdom until 534. The city then fell
successively under the power of the Franks, the Arabs of Spain, the sovereigns
of Arles, the emperors of Germany, the counts of Valentinois, the counts of
Toulouse, as well as its own bishops, who struggled to retain the control of the
city they had won in the fifth century. These bishops were often in conflict
with the citizens and the counts of Valentinois and to strengthen their hands
against the latter the pope in 1275 united their bishopric with that of Die.
The citizens put themselves under the
protection of the dauphin, and in 1456 had their rights and privileges
confirmed by Louis XI and put on an equal footing with those of the rest of
Dauphiné, the bishops consenting to recognize the suzerainty of the dauphin. In
the 16th century Valence became the center of Protestantism for the province in
1563. The town was fortified by King Francis I. It became the seat of a
celebrated university in the middle of the 15th century; but the revocation of
the Edict of Nantes in 1685 struck a fatal blow at its industry, commerce and
population
