The House of Vergy is one of the oldest French noble families, a cadet dynasty related to the 5th century Merovingian Kingdom of Burgundy, attested since the 9th century.

Château de Vergy

The reputedly impregnable Château de Vergy was sited on a rocky spur near Beaune in

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

(present-day communes of Reulle-Vergy,

L'Étang-Vergy L'Étang-Vergy is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Côte-d'Or department The following is a list of the 698 communes of the Côte-d'Or department of France. The communes co ...

and

Curtil-Vergy Curtil-Vergy is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in eastern France. It has an average population density of 51 people per km2, and an unemployment rate between 9.4 and 10.6%. It is known for its hiking. Population See also *Communes of ...

). The first fort on the site dates to the Roman period. The medieval castle was razed in 1609 and only small traces remain.

Lords

7th century

The first known lord of Vergy is Guérin (Warin) de Vergy, brother of saint Leodegar. Guérin was stoned around 681 at the foot of the rocky spur at Vergy, shortly after his brother's martyrdom.L'association L'Abbaye de Saint-Vivant

First House of Vergy (9th–10th centuries)

The first house of Vergy arose in the 9th century with Warin, or Guérin, I of Vergy(760 – >819), who was

count of Chalon The House of Chalon-Arlay was a French noble house, a cadet branch of the House of Ivrea. The founder of the house is John I of Chalon-Arlay, fifth son of John, Count of Chalon. When John III lord of Arlay married to Mary de Baux, princess of Or ...

and count of Mâcon, then

count of Auvergne This is a list of the various rulers of Auvergne. History In the 7th century Auvergne was disputed between the Franks and Aquitanians. It was later conquered by the Carolingians, and was integrated for a time into the kingdom of Aquitaine. The ...

(818). P. Guinard, ''Recherches sur les origines des seigneurs de Semur-en-Brionnais'', Semur-en-Brionnais, 1996 Se
Heratlas
, with the main lines.

Second House of Vergy (11th–12th centuries)

In the 12th century Vergy was considered one of the most impregnable fortresses in the kingdom by

Louis VII of France Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger, or the Young (french: link=no, le Jeune), was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI (hence the epithet "the Young") and married Duchess ...

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland ( it, Rolando), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a con ...

took refuge there in 1159. It was during this era that the church of Saint-Saturnin was built, still to be seen today.

Castle (13th–17th century)

With the other Burgundian possessions, Vergy was merged into the royal domains in 1477, on the death of Charles the Bold. The castle was immediately ceded to William IV de Vergy-Autrey by Louis XI. In 1609, following the participation Charles of Lorraine (governor of Burgundy) in the Catholic League from 1589 onwards, Henri IV completely razed the castle. Except for the church of Saint-Saturnin, the burg of Vergy has now entirely disappeared.

Notable members

* Jeanne de Vergy * Théodoric de Vergy * Jean III de Vergy, ( -1418), sénéchal marshal and governor of the county of Burgundy *

Antoine de Vergy Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...

(1375–1439),

count of Dammartin The Counts of Dammartin were the rulers of the county of Dammartin, based in the current commune of Dammartin-en-Goële as early as the 10th century. Located at the central plain of France, the county controlled the roads of Paris to Soissons and L ...

, King's chamberlain, marshal of France,

Order of the Golden Fleece The Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece ( es, Insigne Orden del Toisón de Oro, german: Orden vom Goldenen Vlies) is a Catholic order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1430, to celebrate his marriage ...

* Pierre-Henri de Treyssac de Vergy (v. 1740 – 1774), writer, pamphleteer and diplomatic agent Bishops of Autun : *Walo (895–919) *Hervé (920-v.929) (''or Hervaeus, Herivaeus'') *Guy de Vergy (1224–1245) (''or Guido'')

Bishops of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Parisiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Paris'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France ...

: *Humbert de Vergy (1030–1060) (''ou Imbert''), lord of Vergy

Bishops of Mâcon A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

: *Renaud de Vergy (1185–1197)

Archbishops of Besançon In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

: *Guillaume de Vergy (1371–1391), made a cardinal in 1391 by Antipope Clement VII, favourite of Charles V of France *Antoine de Vergy (1528–1541)

Vergy in medieval literature

* ''La Chastelaine de Vergy'' : 13th century

courtly romance As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalric ...

, in octosyllabes, anonymous. Very popular in royal and noble courts, Marguerite de Navarre made a summary of its plot in ''

Heptaméron The ''Heptaméron'' is a collection of 72 short stories written in French by Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), published posthumously in 1558. It has the form of a frame narrative and was inspired by ''The Decameron'' of Giovanni Boccaccio ...

'', printed in 1558. The story recounts the trials of the forbidden love suffered by a knight for the châtelaine of Vergy. * G. de Montreuil, ''La violette'' (or ''Gérard de Nevers'') : in this 13th-century chivalric romance, Gérard de Nevers defends the château de Vergy against another knight

Notes

Sources

* Duchesne, André, ''Grande Histoire de la Maison de Vergy'', Paris, 1625

External links

Members of the House of Vergy

on Portail Histoire Bourgogne France-Comté {{DEFAULTSORT:House of Vergy

Vergy The House of Vergy is one of the oldest French noble families, a cadet dynasty related to the 5th century Merovingian Kingdom of Burgundy, attested since the 9th century. Château de Vergy The reputedly impregnable Château de Vergy was sited on ...