Noyers

The House of Noyers was a feudal dynasty of Burgundy, named after its stronghold on the Serein near Tonnerre. A lord Miles of Noyers witnessed a charter in 1077; the family grew into a great lordship, receiving homage for some eighty fiefs in 1224 while owing vassalage to no one.

Its most famous member was another Miles de Noyers, called the Great, born about 1271. He fought at Courtrai in 1302, became Marshal of France in 1303, and saved the royal oriflamme at Mons-en-Pevele in 1304. He served four kings, bought Joigny for his son in 1338 and died in 1350.

The lordship had accepted the Burgundian duke's suzerainty in 1295. After the last male heir died in 1369 and his sister Jeanne in 1394, the scattered rights were sold to Duchess Margaret of Bavaria in 1419 and 1421.