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Nevers (Municipality, Nièvre, France)

Flag of Nevers - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 13 June 2021

Presentation of Nevers
Coat of arms or Nevers
Flag of Nevers
- Former variant flags of Nevers

See also:

Presentation of Nevers

Nevers (32,830 inhabitants in 2007; 1,733 ha) is a commune and the prefecture of the Nièvre department.

At the end of the Roman era, it was known as Nevirnum, a name believed to be a contraction of its earlier Roman name Noviodunum Aeduorum.

It became the seat of a bishopric at the end of the 5th century. The county dates at least from the beginning of the 10th century. The citizens of Nevers obtained charters in 1194 and in 1231. In the Middle Ages it changed hands among powerful families of Europe several times. The House of Nevers died out in 1181: after the death of William V, his sister Agnès became the countess of Nevers, and married with Peter of Courtenay. Their daughter Mahaut de Courtenay (born in 1188) married with Hervé IV de Donzy in 1199. Her daughter Agnès de Donzy, married to Guy of Châtillon-Saint-Pol, died in 1237 ; their son Gaucher of Châtillon died in 1250 without children and their daughter Yolanda of Châtillon, married to Archambaud IX of Bourbon, died in 1254. When Mahaut de Courtenay died in 1257, the county of Nevers went to the daughter of Yolanda, Matilda
II of Bourbon. As heiress to the counties of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnerre, she was married off to Odo, the eldest son of Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy. This marriage was meant to reunite two important counties with the Duchy of Burgundy, but he predeceased his father, and so the duchy passed to his brother Robert II. With Odo she had three children: Yolanda of Burgundy (1247-1280), Countess of Nevers, Margaret of Burgundy (1249-1308), Countess of Tonnerre, and Adelaide of Auxerre (1254-1290), Countess of Auxerre. Yolanda's first marriage was to John Tristan, Count of Valois, son of Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence, in June 1265; they had no children, and he died of dysentery in 1270 at Tunis while on the Eighth Crusade. She married with Robert III, Count of Flanders, and the county of Nevers was then held by the Count of Flanders and then the Duke of Burgundy again in the 14th century.

In 1491, Nevers went to the House of La Marck, and in 1565, it was held by the House of Gonzaga. A cadet branch inherited the Duchy of Mantua from the senior Gonzaga line (when it became extinct in 1627) and ruled Mantua until 1708, when the branch died out in the male line. The Gonzaga family introduced the manufacture of ceramics to Nevers. Charles IV Gonzaga sold the duchies of Nevers and Rethel in 1659 to Cardinal
Mazarin. His family held the duchy of Nevers until the French Revolution.

The cathedral of Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Juliette, built between the 11th and 16th centuries, was restored after it was severely damaged by bombing in World War II. The former palace of the dukes of Nevers now houses the law courts. The chapel of the Saint-Gildard convent contains the body of St. Bernadette Soubirous, the visionary of Lourdes, who lived in Nevers from 1860 to 1879.

Olivier Touzeau, 13 June 2021

Coat of arms of Nevers

The arms of the commune Nevers are inherited from those of the first counts of Nevers: Azure billetty or, a lion Or armed and langued gules.
The family of the first counts of Nevers who had this coat of arms died out in 1181.

The first Counts of Nevers were also counts of Auxerre, and these two towns have exactly the same coat of arms today.

Nota:
The counts of Burgundy, at the end of the 12th century, were of the family of Hohenstaufen, and their arms were then blazoned Gules an eagle displayed argent.
Otto IV, Count of Burgundy (1248 -1302), abandoned his arms in 1279, when he changed his alliances and left the imperial camp to join the Guelph camp. To mark this reversal of alliance, he adopted new arms with a lion, an animal carried by many Guelph partisans. He used the colors azure and Or which referred to the kingdom of France, in order to highlight the new alliance with this kingdom, which is reflected in his matrimonial policy (he married the Caeétian Mahaut d'Artois and his two daughters married two sons of Philip IV the Fair). With billets added, the arms were granted to the house of Burgundy-Comté, and are now known as those of Franche-Comté (with a crowned lion).

Although neighbouring each other, these similar coats of arms have a different history, and should not be confused.

Olivier Touzeau, 13 June 2021

Flag of Nevers

The flag of Nevers is vertically divided, with the colours of the arms: blue and yellow: photo (2016), photo (2015).

Olivier Touzeau, 13 June 2021

Former variant flags of Nevers

Former variant flag of Nevers - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 13 June 2021 & 25 December 2024

According to observations made in august 1998 by French vexillologist Pascal Vagnat (see emblemes.free.fr website), banners of arms and white flags based on the pre-2008 logo have also been previously in use.

Olivier Touzeau, 6 July 2021