Strategic location

By the 2nd century BC, Gauls had taken advantage of the strategic location of present-day Uzerche—on high ground surrounded by a river—and established a settlement there.^[3] The site overlooks the nearby hill of Saint Eulalie, a place of pilgrimage dedicated to the 3rd-century Spanish martyr Saint Eulalie. Since before Roman times, Uzerche was situated at the intersection of two trade routes: one connecting Brittany with the Mediterranean Sea, the other allowing people to cross the river Vézère. The importance of this crossroads during antiquity is evidenced by the presence of a castra, or small fortification. Between the 5th and 8th century AD the town developed as an important administrative, religious, and political centre. Due to its defensible location, the town was able to resist many attacks through the centuries. After being looted and destroyed by Visigoths in the 6th century, it was rebuilt in the 7th century with a fortified perimeter wall that enhanced its defenses. In the 8th century, a Saracen force defeated by Karel Martel attacked and besieged Uzerche during their retreat. The siege lasted seven years, but the Saracens ultimately gave up after a last desperate action by the inhabitants. On the point of starvation, they had fattened up the last two of their cattle with the last of their food. They then chased the animals out of the town towards the besiegers. The Saracens, upon seeing the animals, concluded that the city was too well provisioned for them to waste any more time trying to starve them out. To the present day two bulls can be seen on the coat of arms of Uzerche as a reminder of the siege. After the siege against his half-brother Waifer, Pepin the Short, King of the Francs (751- 768), was convinced of the strategic importance of Uzerche and had no fewer than eighteen towers built in the town, the most impressive being Leocaine, which was established as a royal residence.

Frankish fortress to the Abbey of Saint Pierre

Church of Saint-Pierre

A castrum (fortress) was intended to be a centre for all decisions: military, political and religious. The administrative function of the fortress at Uzerche is verified in the 7th century by the gold coins of that date minted there. Coins continued to be minted there until the 9th century. Uzerche also had an important religious role, with its own curate, as part of the territorial administrative sub-division of the authority of the Count of Limoges. Politically it was the capital of the Gallic-Roman area surrounding it.

With permission of both pope and king, a monastery was founded in the 10th century with the building funded by numerous donations. The city of Uzerche began to take shape around the monastery. All the 100 resident monks were vassals of the abbot and he himself was a vassal of the king.

In 1095 Pope Urban II travelled to Clermont-Ferrand to prepare for his first crusade and also made a visit to Uzerche in the same year. A monk named Maurice Bourdin, who was born in the neighbourhood of Uzerche, set up as an anti-pope from 1118 to 1121, under the name of Gregory VIII.

The Benedictine Abbey was powerful and prosperous with its golden age from 12th to 13th century. Little remains of the original abbey except the church of Saint Pierre, an unmistakable monument to the Roman art of the Limousin of that time and the crypt which contains relics of the two Breton bishops, venerated as pilgrims of the Saint Jacques de Compostelle pilgrim route: Saint-Leonard and Saint Coronat.

10th to 14th centuries

la Porte Bécharie

In the year 909 the Normans looted the city. Later, in 992, Archimbald I, viscount of Segur, gifted the 'Chapelle Notre-Dame' to the monks of the Abbey. This chapel still exists in Uzerche at the 'Place des Vignerons'. Around 1159 Uzerche became under the domination of the Normans. In the 12th century another period of power and wealth started for Uzerche. Several important and powerful people came to visit the Abbey; among them were King Henry I of England (1156) and King Richard I of England (1189). The 12th and 13th centuries saw the height of the popularity of the troubadours Gaucelm Faidit and Uc de la Bachellerie who were very well received in Uzerche. The middle of the 13th century saw another wave of important and royal visitors in Uzerche. Louis IX of France in 1244 and 1256, Philippe III of France in 1285, Pope Clement V in 1306 and Charles IV of France in 1324. The bubonic plague had a catastrophic effect on Uzerche, bringing in its wake, death and disaster. Following the old tradition of giving thanks to St. John for protecting them, people in Uzerche, to this day, hang a walnut branch on their front door every 24 June. In 1374 Uzerche had three royal lilies added to their Coat of Arms by King Charles V, as a reward for the energetic defence of the city against attacks by the English. Also in the 14th century, three new fortresses were built and permission was given for the construction of nine gates, giving access to the city. The only surviving one of these gates is 'la Porte Becharie'.

Development of the judiciary and royal patronage of the city

Old town of Uzerche

From the 15th century Uzerche's development went from strength to strength. Louis XI visited the city in 1463 and decided to assign half the seats of the royal assize court from his Senechal to Uzerche. Manly newly created nobles (noblesse de robe) settled in Uzerche, building hostels, great houses and castles such as Chateau Pontier, Hotel des Joyet de Maubec, Maison Boyer-Chammard, Maison Eyssartier, Maison de Tayac and Hotel Becharie. This continued through to the 16th century. To this day the skyline or Uzerche, with its many towers, bears witness to this spate of building. In 1558 the city obtained its Royal Assize Court, rivalled only by that of Brive-la-Gaillarde. The power of the Abbey and the development of the Assize court were responsible for Uzerche becoming the capital of the Bas-Limousin. Despite all this, the Wars of Religion quickly put an end to the prosperity of Uzerche. In 1557 the Huguenots, under the leadership of the viscount of Turenne, destroyed the Abbey. From 1628 the royal officers were the last remaining people with power in the city. In 1753 the bridge Pont Turgot was completed, connecting the suburb St Eulalie with the old town of Uzerche.

From the French Revolution to the present day

Viaduct of the PO-Corrèze with the tannery next to the Vézère

On 14 July 1789 the storming of the Bastille took place, Louis XVI was deposed and the French Revolution started. On 30 July 1789 rumour spread in Uzerche that the Count of Artois, brother of Louis XVI, was on his way to the city with 16000 soldiers. His army came from Bordeaux and had burned down several towns on the way. Uzerche prepared to defend itself but the rumoured army did not arrive. It turned out to be a trick to get the Uzerchians armed in case it was necessary. The department of the Corrèze was formed in 1790. It was composed of four districts: Brive, Tulle, Ussel and Uzerche. Each of these districts was divided into 41 cantons, each composed of several communes. During the years of the war of the revolution (1792–1793) two Uzerchians distinguished themselves, General Materre and Colonel Vareliaud. Alexis Boyer, also a Uzerchian, became personal surgeon to the emperor Napoleon I and followed him in his campaigns in Poland and Prussia.

In 1826 the commune of St. Eulalie was added to Uzerche.

Planned in 1840 and completed in 1855 the road tunnel remained the only one on the 'route national' for a century. In 1892 a tunnel for the railway was added for Uzerche-Seilhac-Tulle and Argentat. The construction of the viaduct gave a new dimension to Uzerche. This viaduct of 142 meters long, with 12 arches, was completed in 1902 and made possible the connexion of station 'PO Corrèze', north of the city, to the station 'la petite gare' in the centre of the city. The railway functioned until 1969 when it was closed down and is now used as a footpath.

On 5 November 1870, Monsieur Tayac, mayor of Uzerche informed his council of the collapse of the empire and the forming of the Third Republic. On 13 November 1870 the council of Uzerche voted unanimously to recognise and support the Third Republic. After the French defeat in the Franco-German War in 1871 the Third French Republic was announced officially.

In 1939 France declared war on Germany thus entering the Second World War. In June 1944, a day after the first D-Day landing in Normandy, General Heinze Lammerding of the SS-Panzer-Division Das Reich gave the order to choose a place between Tulle and Limoges to break the Resistance. A number resistance fighters attacked a train at Allassac station, liberating the journalist and resistance fighter Gerhard Leo. Among this group was Lieutenant Michel who was later arrested and hanged in Uzerche under the order of General Lammerding.