The Free County of Burgundy (French: Franche Comté de Bourgogne; German: Freigrafschaft Burgund), was a medieval county (from 982 to 1678), within the traditional province and modern French region Franche-Comté, whose very French name is still reminiscent of the unusual title of its count: Freigraf ('free count', or franc comte in French, hence the term franc(he) comté for his feudal principality). It should not be confused with the more westerly Duchy of Burgundy (Bourgogne), a fiefdom of France since 843.