Semur-en-Brionnais

Semur-en-Brionnais grew around the hilltop castle of the lords of Semur in southern Burgundy. Saint Hugh, a member of the family, became abbot of Cluny. The church of Saint-Hilaire became collegiate in 1274, when a chapter of canons was founded there.

The lordship passed to the dukes of Burgundy and then to the French crown in the later fifteenth century. Semur served as the seat of a bailiwick and had a salt store from the fourteenth century. During the Wars of Religion, Huguenot troops burned the village and castle in 1575; the castle no longer retained its defensive role.