![[Flag of Talant]](../images/f/fr-21-ta.gif)
Last modified: 2005-12-24 by ivan sache
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Municipal flag of Talant - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 22 September 2005
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The municipality of Talant (12,332 inhabitants in 1999; 498 ha) is located a few kilometers north-west of Dijon. It is now part of the Greater Dijon.
Until the XIIth century, the mons de Talanz (Mount Talant), a rocky
spur dominating the river Ouche (353 m a.s.l.) belonged to the St.
Bénigne's abbey in Dijon. It was a desert place known to be inhabited
by fairies and other magic creatures.
In 1208, Duke Eudes III of Burgundy, member of the Capetian House of
Burgundy, built the fortress of Talant in order to secure his treasures
and archives. North of the castle, he founded a new fortified city and
a priory, ran by a few monks from the St. Bénigne's abbey. The wall of
the fortress surrounded the hill on more than 1 km, and was protected
by 33 towers. The Confrairie Tower is the only remain of Eudes'
fortress. In November 1216, Eudes III granted a chart to the city of
Talant (Charte des Communes): the inhabitants of Talant were granted
an independent municipal council, rules by four échevins appointed
each year on St. John the Baptist's Day (24 June). The Talantais were
also exempted of all taxes and military service.
Eudes III died in September 1218, and was succeeded by his widow Alix
de Vergy until their son Hugues IV reached his majority. Hugues
increased his father's domain and went on Crusade in Egypt with King
Saint Louis. Back to Talant, he built the castle of la Maladière. His
son Robert II also enjoyed staying in Talant and increased the domain
of Talant with the domains of Val Suzon and Daix, reaching the river
Ouche.
Eudes IV confirmed the privileges of Talant and used the fortress as
his headquarters for his political and military operations. On 9
February 1326, Eudes IV welcomed in Talant his mother-in-law Jeanne,
widow of King of France Philippe V le Long. Ten years later, a
brilliant festival was organized in Talant to honour King of France
Philippe VI de Valois, on his way to Avignon where he asked the Pope to
negotiate a truth with the English.
Eudes IV died of black plague in 1349 and a civil war broke out in
Burgundy. His daughter-in-law Jeanne de Boulogne married the (not yet)
King of France Jean II le Bon and became Queen of France in 1350. Her
son Philippe de Rouvres died in 1361, one year after having confirmed
the privileges of Talant, and Burgundy was reincorporated to the
Kingdom of France. Jean le Bon visited the castle of Talant in December
1361 and confirmed once again the privileges of the city.
On 6 September 1363, Jean le Bon's fourth son, Philippe le Hardi,
already Duke of Touraine, was granted Burgundy as his apanage, and
founded the second house of Burgundy. Philippe confirmed the privileges
of Talant by a solemn act in 1370 and suppressed the tax on salt
(gabelle). On 23 September 1373, Duchess Marguerite de Flandres,
ruling the Duchy during the leave of her husband, moved her court to
the castle of Talant, which increased the wealth of the city. In 1376,
there were c. 700 inhabitants in the city and Lombard moneymakers set
up there. Jean sans Peur, Philippe's son and successor, said that the
castle of Talant was "the most beautiful, the most lordly and one of
the keys of his duchy". Back from the Crusade in 1396, he offered the
painting of St. Luke's Virgin to the church Notre-Dame in Talant. On 11
February 1421, Duke Philippe le Bon was crowned; he confirmed the
privileges of Talant by new Patented Letters and ordered the building
of two more towers. In 1431, Isabelle de Portugal moved to Talant with
her son Charles (later duke Charles le Téméraire) to be protected from
the Flayers, the bands of sacked soldiers who threatened Dijon. When
the black plague hit Dijon in 1466, Charles le Téméraire moved the
Chamber of Accounting of the duchy to Talant.
After the reincorporation of Burgundy to France in 1477, the privileges of Talant were confirmed by Kings Charles VIII (1494), Louis XII (1501) and François I (1524). King Henri III increased the garrison of the fortress. During the Religious Wars, the Guise party seized the castle by guile in 1585; the cannons of the fortress shot on Henri IV in 1594 when he marched against Dijon. After his victory in Fontaine Française, the king recovered the castles of Dijon and Talant. In July 1598, the destruction of the fortress and the city walls was decided and achieved within six months. Talant became a simple village and lost all its municipal privileges.
Nothing important occurred in Talant until January 1871. During the Franco-Prussian war, the Eastern French Army, commanded by General Bourbaki and helped by Garibaldi's volunteers, defended the strategic place of Talant against the Prussians.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 22 September 2005
The municipal flag of Talant, as hoisted in front of the city hall, is vertically divided blue-yellow.
The flag is based on the municipal arms of Talant, which are (municipal website):
Bandé d'azur et d'or de six pièces.
That is:
Bendy azure and or six pieces.
These arms were those of Duke Eudes III, the founder of the city. They
can be seen with a red bordure in the banner of arms of Burgundy,
second and fourth quarters (aka Bourgogne ancien).
Note that Eudes III's seal (Sigullum Odonis, Ducis Burgundie) dated
1193 shows a barry instead of bendy shield.
The greater municipal arms of Talant are surmonted with a golden
five-tower mural crown and surrounded by two wreath tied by a white
scroll with the name of the municipality.
Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 22 September 2005