Last modified: 2004-07-03 by ivan sache
Keywords: berry | fleur-de-lys: 3 (yellow) |
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Berry was the country of the Bituriges Curbi, whose capital city was Avaricum (now Bourges, the capital city of Berry). The inhabitants of Berry ar called Berrichons and the inhabitants of Bourges Berruyers.
In the Carolingian times, Berry was a county. Around 1100, count Eudes Herpin (or Arpin) went on Crusade and sold his duchy to King of France Philippe I. In 1200, John Lackland withdrew his claims on Berry to the benefit of king of France Philippe-Auguste. In 1234, King Louis XI purchased the last rights on Berry kept by the count of Champagne.
In 1360, Berry was granted by King Jean II le Bon to
his third son Jean as his
apanage, which also included
Auvergne. Jean was kept as an hostage in
England until 1367. Berry suffered from the Black Prince's army until
1370, and then from the duke of Berry, who was always lacking money
and overburdened his states by taxation. The duke fought the English
with constable Du Guesclin and his brother the duke of
Anjou, and incorporated
Poitou to his apanage in 1373.
When king Charles V died in 1380, his brothers shared the powers
among themselves, claiming new king Charles VI was too young. Jean de
Berry was appointed governor of Languedoc
but dismissed in 1388. Four years later, Charles VI lost his reason,
and the duke came back to the power. He negotiated with the English
and promised them Guyenne (1412), causing
the siege of Bourges by the royal army and the duke's capitulation.
Although he was a mediocre and greedy warlord, the duke of Berry had
refined tastes; he built a palace in each of his three capital
cities, Bourges (Berry), Riom (Auvergne) and Poitiers (Poitou) and
princely houses in other cities. Jean enjoyed art, music, hunting and
good food. He also collected precious manuscripts, jewels, enamels,
tapestries, birds and exotic animals. He sponsored the best artists
and is mostly known for the wonderful illuminated book called Les
Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, realized by Pol,
Herman and Jan van Limburg (1413-1416) and now preserved in the
Condé Museum in Chantilly.
Berry was eventually incorporated to the royal domain in 1601,
under Henri IV.
The title of duke de Berry was then born by royal princes, but
without any territorial power.
Charles-Ferdinand de Bourbon (1778-1820), duke of Berry, was the son of the count of Artois, later king Louis XVIII, and therefore crown prince. He was murdered on 13 February 1820 by Louvel at the exit of Opera in Paris. His wife Marie-Caroline-Ferdinande-Louise de Naples (1798-1870), duchess of Berry, attempted to organize in June-September a Bourbonic revolution in the west of France. She was arrested in Nantes and had a baby in the fortress of Blaye in 1833, this illegitimate birth eventually ruining her fame. Charles and Marie-Caroline's legitimate son was Henri, count of Chambord, who caused in 1871 the abortion of the monarchic restauration because he refused to accept the French tricolor flag.
Ivan Sache, 18 December 2002
The banner of arms of Berry is:
D'azur aux trois fleurs de lys d'or, à la bordure engrêlée cousue de gueules (GASO)
In English:
Azure three fleurs de lys or within a bordure engrailed gules (Brian Timms)
These arms are the arms of France with the engrailed border as a mark of cadency.
Ivan Sache, 18 December 2002
There is an other flag for the province of Berry, which is exactly
like the flag of Mali, that is vertically
divided green-yellow-red. These colours were adopted by
the regionalists from Berry at the end of the XIXth century.
Green represents the meadows, yellow wheat and red the red wine.
This flag is flying in the department of
Indre, especially in
Châteauroux, the
préfecture of the department, but not in the department
of Cher, which uses the banner of the arms
of Berry.
Pascal Vagnat, 15 August 1998