Grenoble occupies the site of Cularo, a village of the Allobroges, which only became of importance when fortified by Diocletian and Maximian at the end of the 3rd century. Its present name is a corruption of Gratianopolis, a title assumed probably in honour of Gratian (4th century), who raised it to the rank of a _civitas_. After passing under the power of the Burgundians (c. 440) and the Franks (532) it became part of the kingdom of Provence (879-1032). On the break-up of that kingdom a long struggle for supremacy ensued between the bishops of the city and the counts of Albon, the latter finally winning the day in the 12th century, and taking the title of Dauphins of the Viennois in the 13th century. In 1349 Grenoble was ceded with the rest of the Dauphine to France, but retained various municipal privileges which had been granted by the dauphins to the town, originally by a charter of 1242. In 1562 it was sacked by the Protestants under the baron des Adrets, but in 1572 the firmness of its governor, Bertrand de Gordes, saved it from a repetition of the Massacre of St Bartholomew. In 1590 Lesdiguieres (1543-1626) took the town in the name of Henry IV., then still a Protestant, and during his long governorship (which lasted to his death) did much for it by the construction of fortifications, quays, &c. In 1788 the attempt of the king to weaken the power of the parlement of Grenoble (which, though strictly a judicial authority, had preserved traditions of independence, since the suspension of the states-general of the Dauphine in 1628) roused the people to arms, and the "day of the tiles" (7th of June 1788) is memorable for the defeat of the royal forces. In 1790, on the formation of the department of the Isere, Grenoble became its capital. Grenoble was the first important town to open its gates to Napoleon on his return from Elba (7th of March 1815), but a few months later (July) it was obliged to surrender to the Austrian army. Owing to its situation Grenoble was formerly much subject to floods, particularly in the case of the wild Drac. One of the worst took place in 1219, while that of 1778 was known as the _deluge de la Saint Crepin_. Among the celebrities who have been born at Grenoble are Vaucanson (1709-1782), Mably (1709-1785), Condillac (1715-1780), Beyle, best known as Stendhal, his _nom de guerre_ (1783-1842), Barnave (1761-1793) and Casimir Perier (1777-1832). See A. Prudhomme, _Histoire de Grenoble_ (1888); X. Roux, _La Corporation des gantiers de Grenoble_ (1887); H. Duhamel, _Grenoble considere comme centre d'excursions_ (1902); J. Marion, _Cartulaires de l'eglise cathedrale de Grenoble_ (Paris, 1869). (W. A. B. C.)