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24-515: Bléneau, the administrative centre of its natural area, is a commune of around 1,289 inhabitants (in 2017) of the Puisaye area. The commune is on the site of an ancient route that crossed the Loing . The commune covers 3941 hectares and has forests , ponds and grazing lands on its territory. Bléneau is situated at 150 km from Paris , 56 km from Auxerre and 29 km from Gien . Like

48-488: A site near the limit of Bléneau and Saint-Privé. More than 2000 silex tools were collected on a territory of less than 25 hectares. Tombs from the Gallo-Roman period were found in 1832 near the heart of the commune. Approximatively twenty tombs dug directly in coral-rag were discovered, inside which were human remains and a few metallic objects, amon others were a copper ring, an iron belt plate and an iron hook. All

72-745: The House of Courtenay in their overseas endeavors. Meanwhile, the south of the Puisaye was in the orbit of the County of Nevers and specifically of the Barony of Donzy . The crisis of the late Middle Ages and specifically the Hundred Years' War marked a rupture in the history of the region. Toucy was devastated in the runup to the Battle of Cravant , and was subsequently displaced by Saint-Fargeau as

96-458: The "battle of Bléneau" of 1652. The Jardins d'eau de Pierre Doudeau were created in 1994 and are now the property of the commune. Botanical garden combining water and green landscapes, the Jardin d'eau extends on 4 hectares and contains more than 800 plant species, many of them rare or endemic. Many waterfowls live in the park: ducks , swans , red-crested pochards , moorhens , etc. The island on

120-408: The 1255 marriage between Theobald II, Count of Bar and Joanna of Toucy , heiress of a lineage that started with Ythier de Narbonne in the 11th century ( Maison de Toucy  [ fr ] ). On Joanna of Toucy's death in 1317 the lordship went to Edward I, Count of Bar and then to his son Henry IV, Count of Bar , and grandson, Robert, Duke of Bar . One of Robert's sons, John of Bar , inherited

144-479: The Auxerrois, both to the east. The name Puisaye appears to exert a certain attraction, leading communities that are not historically part of Puisaye to adopt it. This has been the case of Sougères-en-Puisaye , which changed its name from Sougères-les-Simon in 1955, and of Charny-Orée-de-Puisaye , which adopted this name when it was formed by the merger of 14 villages in 2016. As a result, the contemporary usage of

168-674: The County of Saint-Fargeau to a Duché- Pairie . After that, the reference to Puisaye as a lordship or political entity, which had already been infrequent under Nicolas d'Anjou, appears to fade away. In the archives of the Château de Saint-Fargeau , however, there are references to the "duché de Saint-Fargeau et de Puisaye" in a document from 1606 and "duché de Saint-Fargeau et du païs de Puisaie" in another one from 1714. 47°38′N 3°04′E  /  47.633°N 3.067°E  / 47.633; 3.067 Saint-Fargeau Saint-Fargeau

192-558: The area, and sarcophagus and traces of iron mining were found near the commune. The first feudal lords of the area are unknown, and the first known house governing Bléneau was the Saint-Verrain House that acquired it in 1286, and the fief got into the hands of the Courtenay House in 1328. The castellany stayed under their control until 1773, when they sold it to pay their debt. The name of the commune if linked to

216-565: The biggest pond of the parc has more than 5000 bulbs of daffodils. Every year during summer, a familial celebration is held in the garden. Puisaye The Puisaye ( French pronunciation: [pɥizɛ] ) is a natural and historical region of France, now divided between the departments of Loiret , Nièvre and Yonne . Its historical and administrative center is the town of Saint-Fargeau . Its inhabitants are known as Poyaudins (or Puisayens ). According to local 19th-century historian Ambroise Challe  [ fr ] ,

240-516: The early 17th century. By the end of France's Ancien Régime , the core of Puisaye including Bléneau, Saint-Fargeau, Toucy and Saint-Sauveur was part of the province of Orléanais . It was a provincial borderland, with parts of the present communauté de communes de Puisaye-Forterre in Champagne (e.g. Charny ), Burgundy (e.g. Pourrain , Courson-les-Carrières ), and Nivernais (e.g. Saint-Vérain ). Moreover, Île-de-France (e.g. Courtenay )

264-399: The individuals buried had their head pointing toward the east. Other tombs of the same period were found in the area. The presence of these tombstone indicate the presence of a roman upper class in the city. The commune is first mentioned in the 6th century in an official text called "Statuts de Saint-Aunaire évèque d'Auxerre de 572 à 603" which listed the 38 parishes of Puisaye . The commune

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288-499: The itinerary of Saint Aunarius , Bishop of Auxerre in the late 6th century, namely Neuvy-sur-Loire ( Novus Vicus ), Briare ( Brioderus ), Bléneau ( Blanoilus ), Bitry ( Vitriacus ), and Arquian ( Arcuncius ), and also refers to Toucy ( Tociacus ). The lordship of Toucy was prominent in the High Middle Ages , as several of its leaders and family affiliates played significant roles, not least as associates of

312-624: The lands of Saint-Maurice-sur-Aveyron , Melleroy , La Frenaie, Fontenelles , and their dependencies; (3) the Barony of Toucy with its belongings and dependencies." Jacques Coeur's family sued, but eventually the Chabannes were able to keep their Puisaye domains. After the death of Antoine's son John of Chabannes in 1503, the lordship was divided between his two young daughters. Antoinette (1498-ca. 1527) received most of Puisaye including Saint-Fargeau . In 1515 she married René d'Anjou- Mézières (1483-1521) who thus became lord of Puisaye as later

336-711: The lordship (but not the Duchy of Bar) when Robert died in 1411, but he was himself soon killed at the Battle of Agincourt in October 1415. The Lordship of Puisaye was then seized, together with the Duchy (whose ruler Edward III was also killed in Agincourt) by Cardinal Louis of Bar , brother of John and Edward and a significant political figure of the era. On Louis's death the lordship of Puisaye went to John Jacob, Marquis of Montferrat , son of Marquis Theodore II who had married Louis's sister Joanna. John Jacob sold parts of

360-614: The lordship to Georges de La Trémoille , but he was not able or willing to pay and John Jacob's sons recovered them in the late 1440s. They in turn sold the entire lordship to Jacques Coeur in February 1450. After Jacques Coeur's downfall in 1451, the lordship was taken by Antoine de Chabannes . Charles VII 's decision of 29 May 1453 specifically granted him: "(1) the lands, castles and lordships of Saint-Fargeau , of Lavau , of La Couldre, of Perreuse , of Champignelles , of Mézilles , or Villeneuve-les-Genêts and their dependencies; (2)

384-473: The main urban center of the Puisaye. Antoine de Chabannes significantly developed Saint-Fargeau, reconstructing its castle but also founding a hospital there. Generally, the century between 1450 and 1550 was a time of prosperity and renewal in the region, still represented in the landscape by numerous village churches built during that era. This period of prosperity ended with the Wars of Religion and troubles of

408-409: The name Puisaye first appeared in 12th-century charters . It was variously spelled Poiseia , Puseium , Pusaya , Puiseia , Puteacia , or Poidaceia . Since the Puisaye is not an administrative region, its exact definition and limits can vary depending on time and context. Its core is a land of forests and ponds, traversed by several rivers including the Loing . It is bordered by Sancerrois to

432-412: The neighbouring commune of Saint-Privé . That natural site is composed of oligotrophic ponds where littorella plants grow and their adjacent damp meadows. The protected site presents a complexe ensemble of green landscapes, damp or dry, in every stage of plant colonisation. Humane presence on the territory is present since Palaeolithic , and many silex tools were found, notably by André Huchet on

456-459: The rest of Yonne, Bléneau is on the geological region of the Paris Bassin , but the natural area of Puisaye is characterized by the presence of Puisaye sand and the presence of groundwater that permeate the soil. Bléneau thus presents many wetland habitats and meadows on its territory. There is a Natural site of importance ( Natura 2000 ) on the territory of the commune, at the limit of

480-511: The west across the Loire river, Gâtinais to the northwest, Auxerrois to the northeast, Forterre to the southeast, and Donziais to the south. The Communauté de communes de Puisaye-Forterre  [ fr ] , created in 2017, covers most of the historical Puisaye, though not its Western fringe in the Loiret . It also includes the geologically distinct land of Forterre as well as parts of

504-733: The word Puisaye can cover a broader territory than has been the case in the past. The Lac du Bourdon is the largest body of water in Puisaye, albeit far from the only one. It is a reservoir formed in 1901 to help regulate water levels of the Briare Canal . The Bourdon is a small tributary of the Loing that feeds into and from the lake. The territory of Puisaye was Christianized in late antiquity . Some villages are traditionally associated with late-Antiquity saints, e.g. Priscus  [ fr ] in Saints-en-Puisaye . A Carolingian manuscript lists several Puisaye parishes on

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528-531: Was close by to the north, and Berry just across the Loire river. The Lordship of Puisaye is attested under that name from the late 13th century to the late 16th century, corresponding to an area that varied across time but generally included the towns of Bléneau , Mézilles , Saint-Fargeau , and until the early 16th century, Toucy . The lordship of Puisaye was inherited by the Counts, then Dukes of Bar following

552-474: Was his son Nicolas (1518-1569). These domains later went to François, Duke of Montpensier following his 1566 marriage with Renée d'Anjou-Mézière  [ fr ] , daughter of Nicolas d'Anjou. John of Chabannes's elder daughter Avoye (1492-ca. 1545) kept other Chabannes domains including Toucy , and in 1504 she married Aymon du Prie (or Prye ). The latter's family kept the Barony of Toucy following Aymon's death in 1510. In 1575, King Henry III elevated

576-482: Was listed under the name Blanoilus and is considered an important community of the area. The origin of the name Bléneau is unclear, and there are hypothesis of a gaulish or Celtic origin. The city was on an ancient road called Voie des marchands , meaning "merchants' road", which connected Auxerre to Briare by crossing the Loing. Archeological researches in the area showed that there were notable Gallo-Roman settlements in

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