![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-berry.gif)
Last modified: 2019-01-14 by ivan sache
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Flag of Berry - Image by Pierre Gay, 18 December 2002
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Berry was the country of the Bituriges Curbi tribe, whose capital was Avaricum (now Bourges, the capital 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 state to King of France Philip I. In 1200, John Lackland withdrew his claims on Berry to the benefit of King of France Philip II Augustus. In 1234, King Louis XI purchased the last rights on Berry kept by the Count of Champagne.
In 1360, Berry was granted by King John II the Good to
his third son John as his
apanage, which also included
Auvergne. John 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. John of
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 capitals, Bourges (Berry), Riom (Auvergne) and Poitiers (Poitou) and
princely houses in other towns as well. John 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 of Bourbon (1778-1820), Duke of Berry, was the son of the Count of Artois, later King Louis XVIII, and therefore the Crown Prince. He was murdered on 13 February 1820 by Louvel at the exit of the Opera of Paris. His wife Marie-Caroline-Ferdinande-Louise of 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 gave birth to a child in the fortress of Blaye in 1833, this illegitimate birth eventually ruining her fame. Charles and Marie-Caroline's legitimate son was Henry, 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 flag of Berry is the banner of the arms, "Azure three fleurs-de-lis or a bordure engrailed gules".
In his Notice historique sur les blasons des anciennes provinces de France (Historical note on the coats of arms of the ancient French provinces, 1941), Jacques Meurgey shows the arms known as Berry ancient, with a semy of fleurs-de-lis. He claims that Berry never bore other arms than those of the Dukes of Berry, even if the arms of the town of Bourges, "Azure three sheep argent a border engrailed gules a chief azure three fleurs-de-lis or") were sometimes ascribed to the province.
Ivan Sache, 14 June 2009
![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-ber2.gif)
Other flag of Berry - Image by António Martins, 15 August 1998
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
regionalists from Berry at the end of the 19th century.
Green represents the meadows, yellow wheat and red the red wine.
This flag is used in the department of
Indre, especially in
Châteauroux, the
préfecture of the department, but not in the department
of Cher, which only uses the banner of the arms
of Berry.
Pascal Vagnat, 15 August 1998
