From the 16th to the 18th centuries, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue was part of the Comtat Venaissin, a papal enclave annexed to France in September 1791. The city was then first attached to the Bouches-du-Rhône department before being incorporated into that of Vaucluse after its creation in August 1793. The hydraulic energy of the Sorgue river, at the origin of the economic development of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the Middle Ages, largely contributed to its prosperity at the time of the mid-19th century Industrial Revolution. It operated textile and woolen factories as well as other industries (flour mills, paper mills, plasterwork) and artisan workshops of carpentry and metallurgy.