#yonne river

[postcard-from-the-past]

Source of the Yonne river by Glux, Burgundy region of France

French vintage postcard

[marclamhofer]

Saturday morning walk around Auxerre

[scotianostra]

31st July 1423 saw the Battle of Cravant.

Around 4,500 French and Scots soldiers, commanded by John Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Seigneur of Aubigny fell in defence of the town against the English commanded by Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury

Both sides had learned their lessons from previous battles and were drawn up opposed along the banks of the small river Yonne, no flashy cavalry charges, knights were to fight in close orders and dismounted, both sides had their archers and crossbowmen and artillery, both had reasonable defensive positions, the Dauphinists just had twice the numbers of the Anglo-Burgundians. However, a Burgundian artillery and English archery barrage brought the French centre into disorder

Salisbury ordered a quite unEnglish massive charge across the river and turned the enemy’s disorder into a rout, while a charge of Robert Willoughby’s men across a small bridge separated the French from the Scots.

The Scots tried to make a stand and refused to back down as as the French began to withdraw, when the rest of the Dauphinists fled they were overwhelmed and slaughtered, almost to a man. The Anglo-Burgundians had won the day against the odds.

Buchan was lucky to be taken alive, Henry V of England had re-asserted the English claim of suzerainty over Scotland, and therefore executed Scots prisoners of war on the grounds that they were traitors, fighting against their own King.

After the battle Buchan was exchanged, and after his release in 1424 he was appointed Constable of France making him the effective Commander-in-Chief of the French army. To recover from the losses sustained at Cravant, fresh troops under the Earl of Douglas were dispatched from Scotland to France.

Buchan was killed a year later at the Battle of Verneuil, along with most of the Scottish troops in France, when abandoned by their French allies and almost completely surrounded, the Scots made a ferocious last stand, but were overwhelmed.

[vivelafranceblog]

Château de Boutissaint

Historical landmark in Treigny-Perreuse-Sainte-Colombe

Commune: Treigny, Moutiers-en-Puisaye

Department: Yonne

Région: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Castle and park of Boutissaint

Old priory, now Château de Boutissaint near Treigny en Puisaye, south of the Yonne department, Burgundy, France. Built in the16th century, it is now renowned for its 400-hectare animal park created in 1968. The park includes European bison, mouflons, deer, fallow deer, wild boar and many other animals of local origin, all in a typical Puisaye forest: wild, with many ponds and small streams and filled with fascinating secret places. This façade of the castle faces north-east. Park of the old priory-castle of Boutissaint near Treigny en Puisaye, south of the department of Yonne, Burgundy, France. A wild boar walking on the slope that bordered the north side of the Étang des Moines before the dike of this pond was broken by a tree that fell during a storm in 2013. The pond completely disappeared in just a few months. The owner and director of the park, Mrs. Valérie Galabert, daughter of the park's creator, Mr. Pierre-Elie Borione, undertook to raise the necessary funds to rebuild the and restore the pond, a water source necessary for the park's animals. At the old priory-castle of Boutissaint near Treigny en Puisaye, south of the Yonne department, Burgundy, France: the "fountain of Sainte-Langueur", a spring on the south side of the castle about 130 m from the main building.

Castle and, on the right, Sainte-Langueur chapel

The Château de Boutissaint is located in Treigny in the natural region of Puisaye, in the Yonne department of Burgundy, France.

Fallow deer at the Sainte-Langueur pond

It is notable for its 400-hectare animal vision park, the first created in France, in 1968.

Boutissaint is situated on the banks of the Nièvre River, in the south of the Yonne department and in the north-west of the commune of Treigny, with the commune of Moutiers 300 m to the west. The Loiret department is 11 km to the west, as the crow flies

The nearest point of the Loire is at La Celle-sur-Loire, 20 km to the southwest as the crow flies.

The castle dates back to the 16th century.

An annex of the castle has been transformed into a gîte, with the label Gîte de France.

Next to the castle is the spring known as the fountain of Sainte-Langueur

Château de Boutissaint - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chateau de Boutissaint, France (by Michel Rouyer)

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.31 (before 1940)

30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide. 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: Sixth day of the seventh month of the first year of the Ten'o (天応) era). 1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII. 1201 – Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos. 1423 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant: A Franco-Scottish army is defeated by the Anglo-Burgundians at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. 1451 – Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France. 1492 – All remaining Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect. 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad. 1618 – Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions. 1655 – Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years. 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India. 1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers. 1715 – Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks. 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia. 1763 – Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War. 1777 – The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States." 1790 – The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process. 1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city. 1865 – The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia. 1874 – Patrick Francis Healy became the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University. 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation. 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Passchendaele begins near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium. 1932 – The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections. 1938 – Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia). 1938 – Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.

[sparksofmelody]

Yonne River, France

[dwarfsmut]

Yonne River, France

[rockerrepro]

Yonne River, France

[nozoya]

Yonne River, France

[mbtilistings]

Yonne River, France

[lesbianlovewonderland]

Yonne River, France

[notebleue]

Auxerre and the Yonne River, France

[hochgouez-nerzhus]

The Gallic water goddesses:

Damona and Acionna

Goddess Damona - Bourbonne les Bains- France

The cult of water in Gaul was long-lived, as evidenced by the toponymy of many places, rivers or spa towns. It was particularly embodied through two goddesses with unknown names, but with traces still present.

The cult of water in Gaul was perennial, as evidenced by the toponymy of many places, rivers and spa towns. The goddess Divona, for example, venerated among other Gallic peoples by the Bituriges and the Cadurques, is at the origin of the name of Divonne-les-Bains (Ain). We can also cite Vesunna which gave Vésone, a district of Périgueux (Dordogne). The ending in – onna or – unna is typical and common to Gallo-Roman water deities and means “river” in the Celtic language. Other examples are better known, such as Icaunis (Yonne), Matrona (Marne), Sequana (Seine). The survival of the theme of water in toponymy can also be found later in Roman times, as with the cities bearing the name of "Aix" (Aquis, ablative of Aqua ). This article presents two goddesses associated with French localities: Damona and Acionna.

Damona (Bourbonne les Bains)

Damona

Damona is associated with Borvo, who is the Celtic equivalent of Apollo and patron of healing springs, whose name is at the origin of several water towns such as La Bourboule (Puy-de-Dôme), Bourbon-Lancy ( Saône-et-Loire), Bourbon-l'Archambault (Allier) and Bourbonne-les-Bains (Haute-Marne).

Damona, in Gallic mythology, is generally the consort of the god Borvo. The notion of consort designates an association between two deities, the consort often being secondary and inferior to the other, although possessing the same attributes. This term can also designate the spouse of a god, or his feminine form.

Borvo is a water healer while Damona is a goddess of springs and rivers. It is locally associated with the thermal spring of Bourbonne-les-Bains.

If Damona is most often associated with Borvo, she is sometimes represented in the company of other gods such as Moritasgus, Bormo, Albius and later with Apollo, which would give her a polyandrous character (ie a woman with multiple male spouses).

We find Damona represented alone on several occasions such as in Bourbonne-les-Bains and Rivières-en-Charente. Its representation is quite rare in the form of a statue.

Like the Celtic goddess Sirona, also associated with the symbolism of water and healing, she is often represented with an ear of wheat or even a braided crown of wheat ears, and a snake wrapped around her forearm. left, presumed symbols attached to fertility and healing.

For Albert Grenier, historian and archaeologist specializing in Gallo-Roman civilization, "  these goddesses have little character of their own, they only seem to be the female personification of the divinity with which they are associated" .

Places dedicated to Damona are most often hot springs. The four Bourbon-Lancy inscriptions indicate that she has the ability to visit the pilgrim in a dream and heal him. But most often he is invited to bathe in the spring water.

His cult is attested in an area corresponding to present-day Burgundy as well as in Charente (lapidary inscription of Saintes), and even extends as far as Vienne (Isère). A statue of Damona was discovered in Bourbonne-les-Bains in 1977, during archaeological excavations carried out on the occasion of the destruction of the old thermal baths of the city. The current thermal baths of the Haut-Marne city have two gates, named Borvo and Damona. A chapel is present behind the baths with a virgin of the waters, an element which would suggest a continuity of the cult of Damona.

Acionna (Orléans and Essonne)

Acionna is a goddess whose Gallo-Roman cult is attested locally in the region of Orléans. The Essonne river, whose upper part, the Egg, has its source in the forest of Orléans, would take its name from this deity and we find derivatives like Axiona or Exona in medieval texts to designate it. We find elements of the name of the goddess in that of other rivers in this region such as the Esse, also from the forest of Orléans, and even the Egg. The name of the Egg would be derived from the name of Essonne, abbreviated EFF on old maps, taking into account that the letter  S was noted as an  F in the Middle Ages.

The name Acionna is Celtic but the meaning of the root aci is unknown.

Concerning the cult of the deity, surveys were carried out in 1822 by the civil engineer Jean-Baptiste Jollois on the site of an old spring, the Étuvée fountain. The site of the Étuvée fountain, 2.5 kilometers from Orléans, is on the territory of the Carnutes tribe, whose capital, located at the current site of Orléans, was the oppidum of Cenabum . Initially intended to find alternative sources of water supply for the city of Orléans, the surveys of Jollois revealed important ancient remains including wooden basins and a fragment of stone bearing an inscription in Latin:

The holy Aug(ustae) of Acionna, the hair of Illiomarus in the portico with his ornaments

(Consacred to Auguste Acionna, Hair, sob of Illiomarus)

This stele indicates the presence at this site of a portico dedicated to the divinity and erected by Capillus, son of Illiomarus, in gratitude for the granting of a wish. Jean-Baptiste Jollois estimated that the stele must date from the 1st  century AD.

Other excavations carried out between 1969 and 1992 confirmed the presence of Gallo-Roman basins and multiple canals that could be linked to a spring sanctuary as well as to an adduction network intended to supply water to the ancient city. of Orleans ( Cenabum) . The most recent excavations on the site, carried out by the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), prior to the development of the ZAC du Clos de la Fontaine, date from 2006-2008. They have brought to light a real cultural ensemble that evolved over several Roman eras, with a sanctuary dedicated to the worship of the deity.

The site was developed during the Roman conquest, in the 1st century, and the sanctuary was then probably built of wood. The water supply network seems to have been built during the 2nd and 3rd centuries , although the precise dating is not known, and could coincide with the reconstruction of the capital of the Carnutes by Emperor Aurelian in 273. It includes in particular three aqueducts, one of which had two masonry manholes 250 meters apart, certainly used for the maintenance of the structure. An aqueduct crossed the sanctuary from north to south to supply a paved and square basin which probably served as a swimming pool for the faithful.

The sanctuary includes a large courtyard with a portico surrounding a square temple, the fanum. This temple was built around a central part, called cella, representing the dwelling of the goddess Acionna, as well as a peripheral gallery, for the use of celebrants. The cult was also rendered in the courtyard, as evidenced by the discovery in this place of offerings such as coins and ex-votos in sheet bronze, representing stylized faces, offered to the divinity in thanks for healings. Finally, a small square building was discovered in the northern part of the courtyard, in which was buried a statuette of a mother goddess, a symbol of fertility and maternity, probably placed for the needs of the cult on a pedestal. These two elements, in addition to the stele, attest to the existence of the cult of Acionna, linked to the presence of water.

The sanctuary was destroyed in the 4th century and  graves were dug in its ruins. A first group of individuals is buried in what was the cella of the fanum , another tomb has been identified in the peripheral gallery and about fifteen graves are dug on the southern margin of the fanum . This arrangement would indicate that a privileged group of individuals reused the most sacred space of the temple to be buried and that, subsequently, other burials were established around this primitive nucleus.

Finally, other traces of the existence of this divinity were found in two fragments of stone reused in the ramparts and in a wall of the city, where inscriptions referring to Acionna were found.

Conclusion and connection with other mythologies

These two goddesses are examples of local Celtic deities linked to water, which translate in these regions the traditional symbolism associating the aquatic element with femininity. This symbolism is deeply dual, water representing as much a source of life, healing, fertility as a potential danger.

In Greek mythology, the creatures closest to Damona and Acionna are the naiads, nymphs of springs, streams and fountains. Mermaids, on the other hand, are sea creatures. In these two examples, water is a source of danger for men, the naiads thus holding back Hylas, and the sirens seducing the navigators with their songs in the Odyssey.

Arthurian legends present the lady of the lake (also called Viviane) as an important character, tutor of Lancelot du Lac and giving the sword Excalibur to Arthur.

The survival of the names of Damona and Acionna in French toponymy can be analyzed as evidence of the importance and vivacity of the cult that was given to them. More broadly, it is probably also a marker of the adaptation and heritage of Gallo-Roman cults, their deities having thus become, by syncretism, the Christian saints we know today.

Henri Réault – King Arthur Promotion

For further About Damona

• Troisgros (Henri), Bourbonne-les-Bains , capital of the divine Gallic couple Borvo and Damona , Association of Friends of Old Bourbonne, 2015 (BnF Tolbiac Rez-de-jardin, store no. 2016-118646).

• Excerpts from the Archaeological Review , January, February, March 1880 and May 1881, Anatole Chabouillet (BnF Tolbiac Ground floor, store no. 8-LJ20-303).

• Bourcelot (Henri), The Goddess Damona , Association of Friends of Old Bourbonne, 1972, (BnF Tolbiac Ground floor, store no. 8-LK7-58393).

About Acionna

• National Library of France – Gallica:

Bulletin of the Archaeological and Historical Society of Orleans (1874, 1877, 1959).

Memoirs of the Society of Agriculture, Sciences, Belles-Lettres and Arts of Orléans (1852).

Annals of the Royal Society of Sciences, Belles-Lettres and Arts of Orleans (1818, 1836).

• Dottin (Georges), The Religion of the Celts , 1904.

• Renel (Charles), The Religions of Gaul before Christianity , 1906.

• Goddesses in Celtic Religion Cult and Mythology: A Comparative Study of Ancient Ireland, Britain and Gaul , thesis defended by Noémie Beck, Université Lumière Lyon 2 (2009), in partnership with the Center for Analysis and Research on the English-speaking World.

• Christol (Michel), A provincial history – Narbonne Gaul from the end of the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century AD , Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2010. (Complete quote from the stele of 'Aciona).  

• Memoirs and Dissertations on National and Foreign Antiquities , published by the Royal Society of Antiquaries of France, volume 11, 1835.

• Description of the site and the archaeological excavations carried out on the site of the Étuvée fountain – National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research.

institut-iliade/les-deesses-gauloises-des-eaux-damona-et-acionna

[scotianostra]

Our second battle of the day takes us over to France fighting the Auld Enemy during the 100 year war.

31st July 1423 saw the Battle of Cravant.

Around 4,500 French and Scots soldiers, commanded by John Stewart, Earl of Buchan and Seigneur of Aubigny fell in defence of the town against the English commanded by Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury

Both sides had learned their lessons from previous battles and were drawn up opposed along the banks of the small river Yonne, no flashy cavalry charges, knights were to fight in close orders and dismounted, both sides had their archers and crossbowmen and artillery, both had reasonable defensive positions, the Dauphinists though had twice the numbers of the Anglo-Burgundians. However, a Burgundian artillery and English archery barrage brought the French centre into disorder

Salisbury ordered a quite unEnglish massive charge across the river and turned the enemy’s disorder into a rout, while a charge of Robert Willoughby’s men across a small bridge separated the French from the Scots.

The Scots tried to make a stand and refused to back down as as the French began to withdraw, when the rest of the Dauphinists fled they were overwhelmed and slaughtered, almost to a man. The Anglo-Burgundians had won the day against the odds.

Buchan was lucky to be taken alive, Henry V of England had re-asserted the English claim of suzerainty over Scotland, and therefore executed Scots prisoners of war on the grounds that they were traitors, fighting against their own King, James I who The had held as a prisoner for some time, and who King Henry now treated as a guest, taking him on trips to France during the war.

After the battle Buchan was exchanged, and after his release in 1424 he was appointed Constable of France making him the effective Commander-in-Chief of the French army. To recover from the losses sustained at Cravant, fresh troops under the Earl of Douglas were dispatched from Scotland to France.

Buchan was killed a year later at the Battle of Verneuil, along with most of the Scottish troops in France, when abandoned by their French allies and almost completely surrounded, the Scots made a ferocious last stand, but were overwhelmed.

[vivelafranceblog]

Noyers

Commune in France

Department: Yonne

Region: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Noyers is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. There are half-timbered houses, ashlars, pillars and pinnacles. There are many cobbled lanes and small squares made of chalky and granitic pavements. There are towers surrounded by the river Serein loops. 

Area: 35.66 km², Department: Yonne

Noyers-sur-Serein

This building is listed in the Mérimée database, a database on French architectural heritage of the Ministry of Culture, under the reference PA00113761

The Serein seen from the castle

Noyers is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is very often called Noyers-sur-Serein.

A preserved medieval village, the village is one of the "most beautiful villages in France". It was also ranked as the seventh favourite village of the French (out of 21 in competition) in 2014. It is best known for being the setting for the series Une famille formidable, broadcast on the national television channel TF1, between 2010 and 2013.

Its inhabitants are called the Nucerians (not to be confused with the Nucerines, the inhabitants of Nucerius in Italy).

Noyers (Yonne) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Noyers-sur-Serein, Yonne, France by Denis 

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.31 (before 1900)

30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide. 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: Sixth day of the seventh month of the first year of the Ten'o (天応) era). 1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII. 1201 – Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fat for the throne of Alexios III Angelos. 1423 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant: A Franco-Scottish army is defeated by the Anglo-Burgundians at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. 1451 – Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France. 1492 – All remaining Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect. 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad. 1618 – Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions. 1655 – Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years. 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Mughal emperor of India. 1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers. 1715 – Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks. 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia. 1763 – Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War. 1777 – The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States." 1790 – The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process. 1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city. 1865 – The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia. 1874 – Patrick Francis Healy became the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university, Georgetown University.