(vers 1400 -1456)

Jacques Coeur is one of the main characters of Berry. He played an important to King Charles VII for many years; he was then ruined in court, thrown into prison, escaped and died when he was serving the Pope, in 1456, on the island of Chio. He was the eldest son of a fur taylor who was attracted to the area by the Duc Jean de Berry. In Bourges, Jacques Coeur developed the necessary activities for the king Charles VII and his court (weapons, money making, international and merchant exchanges, particularly in the Mediterranean). He then became the great “Argentier” (treasurer) for the king, was very rich, at the height of his success. He was then sentenced by a court of special jurisdiction due to several complaints for embezzlement and enticement. He was close to Agnès Sorel and the heir apparent Louis XI who restored his reputation. He escaped from prison and organised a naval expedition against the Turkish for the Pope Calixte III.

Jacques Coeur represents the high middle-class which seized all the Kingdom’s responsibilities. He was a financier and a patron and ordered several pieces of art for the cathedral and more important he built his « grand'maison », a vast gothic palace in the heart of Bourges which advertises the Renaissance in several aspects. He left behind him a saying that is world famous “A vaillant coeur, rien d'impossible » (nothing stops a brave heart).