Saint-Privé () is a commune in the

Yonne Yonne (, in Burgundian: ''Ghienne'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight con ...

department in

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

in north-central France. The commune is crossed by the river

Loing The Loing () is a long river in central France, a left tributary of the Seine. Its source is in Sainte-Colombe-sur-Loing, in the southwest of the departments of France, department of Yonne, and it flows into the Seine in Saint-Mammès, near Mo ...

. The river Beaune, an affluent of the Loing, takes its source on the territory of the commune. The name of the village came from Privat of Mende, a French

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

and

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy 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 and administration of di ...

from Guevaudan who died as a martyr in 260. His cult became really popular during the

Middle Age Middle age (or middle adulthood) is the age range of the years halfway between childhood and old age. The exact range is subject to public debate, but the term is commonly used to denote the age range from 45 to 65 years. Overall This time span ...

and many villages and parishes took his name. The first known written trace on the village is from a 13th-century text, in a book on the

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

owned by Philippe Auguste. Humane presence on the territory is present since

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

, and many

silex Separation of isotopes by laser excitation (SILEX) is a process for enriching uranium to fuel nuclear reactors that may also present a growing nuclear weapons proliferation risk. It is strongly suspected that SILEX utilizes laser condensation repre ...

tools were found, notably by André Huchet on a site on the limit between Saint-Privé and Bléneau. More than 2000 silex tools were collected on a territory of less than 25 hectares. It seems the village had been named ''Laoderus'' before taking the name Saint-Privé. Laoderus was a 6th-century parish under the direction of the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

, but the exact location had never been officially established. The church of the commune was built in the 16th century and is dedicated to Saint-Privat. It was named

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

and national heritage site in 1903. The church has three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s with four

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

each and a vaulted stone cellar. The fleur-de-lys keystone of the

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

give indication of the builders of the church: Nicolas d'Anjou, lord of the area, François de Courtenay, lord of Bléneau, the abbey of Laurey and Philippe de Courtenay. The French painter

Henri Harpignies Henri-Joseph Harpignies (; June 28, 1819 – August 28, 1916) was a French landscape painter of the Barbizon school. Life He was born at Valenciennes. His parents intended for him to pursue a business career, but his determination to become ...

, surnamed the "Michelangelo of trees", lived in Saint-Privé until his death in 1916. A barrack was built in the commune in 1938 to lodge the mobile guard in preparation of the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

to come. Many were expropriated in order to build the camp. On 15 June 1940,

Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km southeast from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second la ...

and all of Yonne are taken by Germany. Thousands of refugees crossed the department trying to get to the south. On the night of 17 June, an arch of the Saint-Privé bridge exploded, causing severe damage to many house in the village.

Climate

References

External links

Official site
of the commune (in French) * Communes of Yonne {{Auxerre-geo-stub

Climate

See also

References

External links