The Augustinian friars are believed to have arrived in Bourges shortly before 1300, during the episcopate of Archbishop Gilles of Rome (1295–1316), who belonged to the order. It has traditionally been thought that they established their friary in a former property of the Templars, left vacant following the suppression of that military order. Another interpretation, considered more likely, identifies the site as the former house of the so-called Friars of the Sack, a community that probably disappeared in 1299.
The friary stood outside the city's fortified walls. In 1487 it was severely damaged by the great fire that devastated Bourges, making its reconstruction necessary. In 1594, Étienne Rabache (1550–1616) introduced the reform of the observance there, and Bourges gave its name to a congregation of Discalced Augustinians, also known as the Congregation of Saint-Guillaume. The 17th-century cloister is the principal surviving part of the complex.
Gilles of Rome and Philip IV of France
De Regimine principum (14th century)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
According to Armorial général de France (18th century)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Detail of Plan de la ville et des fauxbourgs de Bourges (1703)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
- BAUDRILLART, Alfred (1938). Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques. Vol. 10. París: Letouzey et Ané
- BEAUNIER, Dom (1912). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France. Vol. 5. Bourges. Abbaye de Ligugé
- HERRERA, Tomás de (1644). Alphabetum augustinianum, vol. 1. Madrid: G. Rodríguez
- RAYNAL, Louis (1844). Histoire du Berry. Tome 2. Bourges: De Vermeil
- THAUMAS DE LA THAUMASSIÈRE, Gaspard (1689). Histoire de Berry. Bourges: Toubeau
The cloister of the Augustinian Friary is located in the historic centre of the city, on Rue Mirebeau