Bléneau

Bléneau is a commune with 1446 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Yonne, in Burgundy; it belongs to Arrondissement Auxerre and is capital of the canton Bléneau.

Geography

Bléneau is located on the southwestern edge of the Yonne département in the Puisaye, 24 kilometers northeast of Gien, surrounded by the neighboring communes of Saint - Privé, Champcevrais and Breteau. The Loing rivers and Trézée pass through the municipality.

History

In the hamlet Hautefeuille, between Bléneau and Saint- Privé stone tools have been found from the Paleolithic.

Since the time of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) Bléneau had to build a city wall, which was removed in 1791 from the bridge over the Loing.

During the Wars of Religion in 1570 marched parts of the Protestant troops of Henri I de Bourbon, prince de Condé ( 1552-1588 ) by Bléneau. 1587 reached Henry III. the fortified Bléneau. Gaspard de Courtenay refused to allow the king to access that made then plunder the surrounding villages. On 24 October 1587 the besiegers set fire to a city gate and the residents occurred after fruitless negotiations. The city was subsequently sacked three days. The army of Henri I de Lorraine, duc de Guise, expelled the Huguenots from Champcevrais. In Vimory it came to a battle, in which 900 died Huguenots. The defeated soldiers fled in the Puisaye. On the outskirts of Bléneau in the direction of Rogny -les- Sept- Écluses there is a field that is called champ of the Huguenots ( " Huguenots field"), an adjacent property named cimetière of the Huguenots ( " Huguenot Cemetery ").

Particularly well known Bléneau was during the Fronde by the battle Bataille de Bléneau. On the evening of April 6, 1652 Louis II de Bourbon, prince de Condé attacked the royal army, which had been distributed in the Puisaye. The vanguard of the royal infantry fled to Bléneau. When Henri de La Tour d' Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne noticed this he hurried his troops to help. Southwest of Bléneau he set a trap in the Condé Bois de Dreux. Condé lost in a short time 250 men, including his Maréchal de camp ( " Marshal of the ( battle) field " ) and moved on to Châtillon- Coligny. Then the way to Auxerre was free for the king, he went through Bléneau and stayed in Saint- Fargeau.

1793 Bléneau received in the wake of the French Revolution ( 1789-1799 ) under the name Bleneau the status of a municipality and became chief town of a canton. 1801 received the community through administrative reform under Napoleon Bonaparte ( 1769-1821) as Blenau the right to local self-government.

Culture and sights

Bléneau is nationally represented with a flower in the Conseil des villes et villages fleuris ( National Council of flowery towns and villages ). The " flowers " are awarded as part of a regional competition, a maximum of three flowers can be achieved.

The water garden Les Jardins d' eau was established in 1994. It is located southeast of the town center. It is home to numerous plant species, including maples, bald cypress, Chinese poplar, bamboo, dogwood, tulip trees and amber trees. In the gardens is a lake in which is a characteristic flowery island is located.

Personalities

• Gaston Fleischel (* 1885 in Reichshoffen, † 1965), industrialist, inventor of the automatic transmission, entertained after the First World War ( 1914-1918), a factory in Bléneau on the banks of the Loing

Economy and infrastructure

One important industry is tourism. Bléneau is a station verte ( green resort ). Station verte is a term that can get the vacation spots that have less than 10,000 inhabitants, offering a year-round leisure activities, have a tourist office, have at least 200 beds, have adequate shopping in the village and are close to nature.