Bourges

Celts: Avaricon; Latin: Avaricum
Bohorges, Boorges, Borges, Bouxges, Burges

A city in central France, capital of the province of Berry.

Julius Caesar's forces destroyed the city, in the winter of 52 BC. Rome reconstructed Avaricum as a Roman city with aqueducts and an amphitheatre. Saint Ursin became the first bishop during the third century AD. During the eighth century the city lay on the northern fringes of Aquitaine, the duchy.

The thirteenth-century Lancelot du Lac tells us that it was the birthplace of Uther Pendragon, and that it was ruled by the evil Lord Claudas. When Claudas waged war on his overlord, King Aramont of Brittany, Aramont and Uther laid waste to Berry, but spared Bourges because Uther had been born there.