Saint-Privé () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Yonne Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is l ...

department in

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in Eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

in north-central France. The commune is crossed by the river

Loing The Loing () is a long river in central France, a left tributary of the Seine. Its source is in Sainte-Colombe-sur-Loing, in the southwestern of the department of Yonne, and it flows into the Seine in Saint-Mammès, near Moret-sur-Loing. It ...

. The river Beaune, an affluent of the Loing, takes its source on the territory of the commune. The name of the village came from Privat of Mende, a French

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

and

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

from Guevaudan who died as a martyr in 260. His cult became really popular during the Middle Age and many villages and parishes took his name. The first known written trace on the village is from a 13th-century text, in a book on the

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

owned by Philippe Auguste. Humane presence on the territory is present since

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...

, and many

silex Silex is any of various forms of ground stone. In modern contexts the word refers to a finely ground, nearly pure form of silica or silicate. In the late 16th century, it meant powdered or ground up "flints" (i.e. stones, generally meaning the c ...

tools were found, notably by André Huchet on a site on the limit between Saint-Privé and Bléneau. More than 2000 silex tools were collected on a territory of less than 25 hectares. It seems the village had been named ''Laoderus'' before taking the name Saint-Privé. Laoderus was a 6th-century parish under the direction of the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

, but the exact location had never been officially established. The church of the commune was built in the 16th century and is dedicated to Saint-Privat. It was named Monument historique and national heritage site in 1903. The church has three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s with four bays each and a vaulted stone cellar. The fleur-de-lys keystone of the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

give indication of the builders of the church: Nicolas d'Anjou, lord of the area, François de Courtenay, lord of Bléneau, the abbey of Laurey and Philippe de Courtenay. The French painter

Henri Harpignies Henri-Joseph Harpignies (; June 28, 1819 – August 28, 1916) was a French landscape painter of the Barbizon school. Life He was born at Valenciennes. His parents intended for him to pursue a business career, but his determination to become a ...

, surnamed the "Michelangelo of trees", lived in Saint-Privé until his death in 1916. A barrack was built in the commune in 1938 to lodge the mobile guard in preparation of the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

to come. Many were expropriated in order to built the camp. On 15 June 1940,

, Sens and all of Yonne are taken by Germany. Thousands of refugees crossed the department trying to get to the south. On the night of 17 June, an arch of the Saint-Privé bridge exploded, causing severe damage to many house in the village.

See also