Forez, former region of France lying on the eastern side of the Massif Central and included within the modern département of Loire. The name is derived from that of Feurs (Forum Segusiavorum in Roman times), a town midway between Roanne and Saint-Étienne, in an agriculturally rich area watered by the Loire River. The Forez counts of the Artaud family vied with the archbishops of Lyon for control of the Lyonnais from the latter part of the 10th century until 1173, when they were forced to renounce their claims to all but the county of Forez. From 1368 until 1527 Forez formed part of the Bourbon territories; in 1527 King Francis I seized the county and incorporated it into the new province of Lyonnais.