The Duchy of Berry (; ; ) was a former province located in central France. It was a province of France until

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

replaced the provinces on 4 March 1790, when Berry became divided between the ''départements'' of

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industr ...

(Upper Berry) and

Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

(Lower Berry).

History

Berry is notable as the birthplace of several kings and other members of the French royal family, and was the birthplace of the knight

Baldwin Chauderon Baldwin Chauderon (died 1097) was a knight from Berry, France, Berry who was killed during the siege of Nicaea. It is unclear whether or not he belonged to any of the major armies of the First Crusade. Baldwin was described by William of Tyre as � ...

, who fought in the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...

. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, Berry became the center of the Duchy of Berry's holdings. It is also known for an

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...

produced in the 14th–15th century called '' Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry''. In later times, the writer George Sand spent much of her life at her Berry estate in Nohant, and Berry's landscape and specific culture figure in much of Sand's writings. The Duchy was governed by the Duke/Duchess of Berry, who after 1601 was a senior member of the French royal family. The title of 'Duke of Berry' was by this period divested of territorial significance, and instead held by princes of the royal house, the last of which was

Charles Ferdinand d'Artois Charles Ferdinand d'Artois, Duke of Berry (24 January 1778 – 14 February 1820) was the third child and younger son of Charles X, King of France, (whom he predeceased) by his wife Maria Theresa of Savoy. In June 1832, two years after the overt ...

. In c.750, the Counties of Berry and Bourges were created by the King of the Franks. In 843, the County of Berry became part of the Royal domain or crown lands controlled by the king. From 878 to 892, the county was part of the County of Auvergne, but became independent once more in 893. In 972, the County of Bourges was reduced to a Viscounty as the ''Viscomte de Bourges'', and in 1101 was annexed by France. In 1360, the county was raised to a duchy as the Duchy of Berry. In 1221, the Seigneuries of Châteauroux and

Issoudun Issoudun () is a commune in the Indre department, administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is also referred to as ''Issoundun'', which is the ancient name. Geography Location Issoudun is a sub-prefecture, located in the east o ...

were annexed into the duchy. The first governor of the province appears to have been appointed on 14 March 1698, when Adrien Maurice de Noailles, Duke of Noailles became military governor when he was only 19 years old. In 1778,

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

convened the provincial assemblies of Berry, and considered expanding the assembly to other provinces, but abandoned this idea after experiencing the opposition of the privileged classes in Berry. In 1790, when the former provinces were dissolved, the Duchy of Berry was split between two departments:

in Upper (eastern) Berry and

in Lower (western) Berry. Some communes also became part of the Allier,

Creuse Creuse (; oc, Cruesa or ) is a department in central France named after the river Creuse. After Lozère, it is the second least populated department in France. It is bordered by Indre and Cher to the north, Allier and Puy-de-Dôme to the ea ...

Loiret Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434.

, and Loir-et-Cher departments as well.

Governors

The governors of French provinces during the Ancien Régime were typically military commanders and provided military oversight in the region. This included recruitment, movement of troops, and – if needed – dealing with civil disobedience. Below is a list of the governors of Berry during its time as a province.

Duke of Berry

In October 1360, the title 'Duke of Berry' was created by King John II of France for his third-born son, John of Poitiers. The duke was followed by several members of the senior royal family, establishing a tradition of the duke being a member of the House of Valois. In 1505 however, the last Duchess of Berry Joan of France died of natural causes and the title was merged into the royal domain. In 1527, the title was re-created for Marguerite de Navarre until the title was once again dissolved in 1601 following the death of Duchess

Louise of Lorraine Louise of Lorraine (french: Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont; 30 April 1553 – 29 January 1601) was Queen of France as the wife of King Henry III from their marriage on 15 February 1575 until his death on 2 August 1589. During the first three mon ...

. In 1686, King Louis XIV re-created the title for his third grandson Charles de Bourbon, however the title was dissolved following the death of the Duke in 1714. In 1754, Louis XV re-created the title for his grandson Louis-Auguste de Bourbon (later King Louis XVI), who dropped the title in 1765 when he became Dauphin. In 1778, Louis XVI one again re-created the title for his nephew Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry. In 1820, the title was finally dissolved once more when the last duke was assassinated. While Berry was a province, the Duke of Berry was de-jure leader of the area. The dukes included:

Etymology

The name of ''Berry'', like that of its capital, Bourges, originated with the Gaulish tribe of the Bituriges,Compare: who settled in the area before the Roman armies of Julius Caesar conquered Gaul. The name of the tribe gave name to the region, often mentioned in

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used f ...

sources as: ''Bituria''.

Brenne

La Brenne, located west of Châteauroux and east of Tournon-Saint-Martin in the

department, is a region which of old straddled on the former provinces of Berry and

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and V ...

, and is now a protected natural area ( Parc naturel régional de la Brenne) as well called ''Pays des mille étangs'', because of its many ponds created since the 8th c. by the monks of the local abbeys for

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Citations

General and cited sources

* *

External links

Pictures

Accommodation

Former provinces of France History of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes History of Centre-Val de Loire History of Nouvelle-Aquitaine History of Allier History of Cher (department) History of Creuse History of Indre History of Loir-et-Cher History of Loiret {{France-hist-stub