Definition: Jurade de Saint-Émilion

When it was founded in 1199, the Jurade controlled local administration and the production of fine wines by affixing the "wine maker's brand" to the barrels. Re-established in 1948, the Jurade proclaims the "judgement of the new wine" on the third Sunday in June and the "ban on the grape harvest" on the third Sunday in September. The members of this brotherhood wear red robes with white trimmings.

The creation of the Jurade in 1199

The Jurade dates back to 8 July 1199, when the "Charter of Falaise" was signed by John Lackland, King of England and son of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Aquitaine was then English through her marriage to Henry Plantagenet, the future King Henry II. She confirmed to the people of Saint-Émilion the legal, administrative and economic powers that had been granted to them by her predecessor and brother, Richard the Lionheart. In 1289, during the reign of Edward^I, her powers were extended to the communes of the Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion (covering almost the entire area of the current Saint-Émilion and Saint-Émilion Grand Cru appellations).

The Jurats of Saint-Émilion were then in charge of the internal affairs of the Jurisdiction. They controlled and directed the internal administration, justice and everything related to policing within their territory. In terms of wine production, the Jurade played a key role. It supervised the production and development of "fine" wines, held the "marque à feu du vinetier" (wine maker's brand) stamped on each barrel, proclaimed the "Ban des Vendanges" (harvest ban), cracked down on abuse and fraud, and destroyed wine deemed unworthy.

All these measures, which remained in force until the Revolution, ensured the prosperity and dazzling reputation of Saint-Émilion wine, proclaimed "King of Wines" in England and "Nectar of the Gods" by Louis XIV.

Expanded in 2008 as part of the creation of the Saint-Émilion Wine Council in 2007, the winegrowers of Lussac Saint-Émilion and Puisseguin Saint-Émilion joined the Jurade de Saint-Émilion during the Spring Festival held on 15 June 2008. They are now Jurats of Lussac Saint-Émilion and Jurats of Puisseguin Saint-Émilion. Jacques Bertrand, President of the Fédération des Grands Vins de Bordeaux and former President of the Saint-Émilion Wine Syndicate, was elected First Jurat in February 2008.

60 YEARS, A COMMEMORATION... THAT CAN BE SEEN

The exhibition "60 Years of the Jurade, 1948-2008", retracing the Jurade's greatest moments since 1948, will be held in the Cloister of the Collegiate Church. Texts, photographs and staging by Eric LE COLLEN.

This exhibition will also be on display in Bordeaux on the gates of the Jardin Public.

A documentary film "60 Years of the Jurade, 1948-2008": Illustrated with period reproductions, accompanied by interviews, archive images from the INA and the Jurade's personal archives, contemporary images of the Jurade and Saint-Émilion, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This film, co-produced with France 3 Aquitaine, will be screened on a loop in the heart of the city, on the ramparts of the Logis de Malet.

60 YEARS, A COMMEMORATION TO BE SHARED...

Dominique LAPIERRE, journalist, writer and philanthropist, author of bestsellers such as "Is Paris Burning?", "Ô Jérusalem" (Oh Jerusalem), "La cité de la joie" (The City of Joy), "Il était minuit cinq à Bhopal" (It Was Five Minutes Past Midnight in Bhopal) and, more recently, "Un arc-en-ciel dans la nuit" (A Rainbow in the Night) (published by Editions Robert Laffont), took the Indian proverb "Everything that is not given is lost" to heart one day in 1981.

Since then, thanks to his royalties and donations from his readers, he has devoted more than €20 million to various rescue, education, health, rehabilitation and development projects in Calcutta, as well as in other regions that have been abandoned by all.

Today, Dominique Lapierre is launching an appeal: nearly €2 million is needed each year to fund the priority humanitarian projects that he supports with his wife Dominique and the generosity of their association's friends.

Due to a lack of sufficient resources, the association "Action for the Children of Lepers in Calcutta", founded in 1982, is at risk of not being able to meet its 2008/2009 budget for its humanitarian commitments. (See the website: www.citedelajoie.com)

Dominique LAPIERRE has just received India's highest civilian honour, the PADMA BHUSHAN (the lotus ornament), from Mrs. Pratibha PATIL, President of India, in recognition of her work on behalf of the most disadvantaged.

In order to provide urgent support to his association, an auction of fine wines from Saint-Émilion will be held on Saturday 20 September 2008 at the Salle des Dominicains in Saint-Émilion, with all proceeds going to "Action pour les enfants des lépreux de Calcutta" (Action for the Children of Leprosy Sufferers in Calcutta).

60 YEARS, A COMMEMORATION... TO BE CELEBRATED

HERITAGE NIGHT

This year, Heritage Night, organised on Saturday 20 September on the eve of the Ban des Vendanges, will mark the 60th anniversary of the Jurade's renaissance and set the town of Saint-Émilion alight, offering thousands of visitors a cultural itinerary through the narrow streets and historic sites. Jurade parade, musical, theatrical and craft activities for the general public.

THE BAN DES VENDANGES "as in 1948", on Sunday 21 September, during this chapter, the Jurade will proclaim the start of the grape harvest. See programme below.

SAINT-ÉMILION CLASSIFIED AS A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Since December 1999, the Saint-Émilion vineyard has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the category of "cultural landscape".

^60TH ANNIVERSARYPROGRAMME (For the record)

OF THE RENAISSANCE OF THE JURADE DE SAINT-ÉMILION

SATURDAY 20 AND SUNDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2008

SATURDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2008

· Lecture by Dominique LAPIERRE on his humanitarian work. He will be signing copies of his latest book, "Un Arc-en-Ciel dans la nuit" (A Rainbow in the Night), in the Salle des Dominicains.

· Auction in aid of Dominique LAPIERRE's charity, Action pour les Enfants des Lépreux de Calcutta (Action for the Children of Lepers in Calcutta). Salle des Dominicains.

· Opening of the exhibition "La Jurade de Saint-Émilion, 1948-2008 " in the cloister of the Collegiate Church.

· In the evening, in association with the Saint-Émilion Town Hall: Heritage Night in the town of Saint-Émilion.

o Musical, theatrical and craft activities throughout the narrow streets and historic sites.

o Screening of the film "60 Years of the Jurade de Saint-Émilion", on a loop in the heart of the town, on the ramparts of the Logis de Malet.

· Torchlight procession of the Jurade de Saint-Émilion through the town and monumental show with images of the Jurade projected onto the Tour du Roi.

· Embrasement de Saint-Émilion (fireworks display).

As part of Heritage Days, on France 3 Aquitaine, at 4:00 pm:

Live broadcast of the programme "Un événement" from Saint-Émilion.

This is the eleventh time that a wine-growing landscape has been designated a World Heritage Site out of 878 properties that have the honour of being included (as of 2008). The vineyards of this World Heritage Site represent only 1.25% of the total number of properties. UNESCO has thus recognised the exceptional universal value of the site:

- 5,000 hectares of vineyards located in the geographical area of the Saint-Émilion and Saint-Émilion Grand Cru appellations;

- eight communes forming the former Jurisdiction.

This site is an exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition and a living civilisation, that of the vineyard, the combined work of Nature and Man. It is in fact a whole series of elements that justify its inclusion on the World Heritage List today:

- a landscape that has preserved remarkable evidence of history (the medieval town, the Romanesque churches of neighbouring communes, caves, mills and dovecotes...

- and a living, evolving landscape, the vineyards of Saint-Émilion, shaped by generations of men who have worked for centuries to preserve and develop this heritage. It is the work of these generations of winegrowers, who have shaped the hillsides and valleys of Saint-Émilion through their labour over the centuries, that UNESCO has recognised.

SUNDAY 21 SEPTEMBER2008

HARVEST BAN

· Welcome of guests – Town Hall Gardens, Rue Guadet;

· Procession of the Jurade de Saint-Émilion and its guests to the Collegiate Church. Solemn mass at 10 a.m.;

· Induction ceremony in the heart of the town ofSaint-Émilion;

· Aperitif followed by a winegrower's lunch (in the spirit of 1948) in the Cloister of the Collegiate Church;

· Proclamation of the Judgement of the New Wine by the Jurade de Saint-Émilion from the top of the Château du Roi.

Musical procession.

Supplement 4400. – AA. 2. (Bundle.) – 12 parchment documents.

1296–1484. –Privileges. – Confirmation of the privileges ofSaint-Émilion, successively endorsed and ratified by Charles VII, Louis XI and Charles VIII (1296, n. s. – January 1484, n. s.). – Letter from Philip the Fair to his officers of justice, prohibiting them for a period of one year, "quantinus burgenses ville Sancti-Emiliani ad solvendum creditoribus suis judeis usuras et ad complendum eis dem usurarios contractus, de quibus usuris et contractibus usurariis ipsi burgenses sufficienter et absque morosadilacione docebunt, contra ordinacionem nostram super hoc factam minime compellatis" (Paris, 27 September 1299). – Letters by which the jurats, the hundred peers and the entire commune acknowledge themselves as debtors to the King of England "in quinquaginta doliis de vinis claris, puris et legalibus", delivered in London (24 October 1312). – Receipt by Gautie rWaldeschef, cupbearer to the King of England, for "quinquaginta dolia vinicontenta in qualibet littera quam dictus dominus Rex dictis juratis et communitati dicte ville de majoritate ejusdem ville x gratia sua speciali concessit" (London, 4 May 1313).– Letters from Gilbert Peuhr, knight, seneschal of Guienne, to the provostsof Saint-Émilion and Libourne, informing them that he is taking the town ofSaint-Émilionunder his protection, as it mistrusts "de gentibus vicecomit. Menaugiarum et Castellionis" (1 August 1317). – Letters from the King of England urging the town ofSaint-Émilion to remain loyal to him against the King of France (26 June 1337). – Letters from the King of England to the Seneschal of Gascony and the Constable of Bordeaux regarding the privilege exempting the people ofSaint-Émilion "ab omnibus pedagiis et custumis" in Aquitaine and England (20 January 1341). – Charter from the King of England promising the burghers ofSaint-Émilion that he would never cede their town, except to the heir to the crown (20 January 1341; countersigned on 9 January 1357, n. s., by the Prince of Wales). – Letters of safeguard granted by the King of England to the people ofSaint-Émilion for themselves, their families, property, goods and rights of any kind: "In signum hujusmondi salvegardie nostre vexillanostra seu penincellos in portallis dicte ville et in domibus et bonis burgensium ac mercatorum predictorum prefigentes" (14 November 1357). – Charter from the King of England confirming the promise that the provostship ofSaint-Émilion, currently held by Raimond de Pellegrue, will not be separated from the crown, that the mayors and jurats will be responsible for weights, except for coin weights, and measures "et de merca seu patrono nostroin dicta villa constituta consignentur et patronentur" (16 January 1358). – Privilege granted by King Edward to the people ofSaint-Émilion that they could not be arrested for debts, "de quoplegii vel principales debitores non fuerint..., nisi prius requisiti defuerint in justicia exhibenda" (14th century, Agen, 25 November of the 15th year (sic) of the reign).

E suppl.4401. – AA. 3. (Bundle.) – 5 parchment documents, 2 paper documents.

1426-1701. – Privileges. – Statutes governing the election of the deputy mayor, the 12 jurats, the two candidates for mayor, etc., setting the maximum number of head of cattle that each burgher may keep, etc. (22 February 1426, n. s.; confirmed by Odet Daydie, at his castle in Fronsac, on 22 June 1486, and by Louis XII, in Blois, in November 1498; notarised copy dated 28 July 1683). – Treaty for the surrender ofSaint-Émilion to the representatives of the King of France (5 June 1451). – Ratification by Charles VII of the treaty withSaint-Émilion (Taillebourg, 21 September 1451). – Charter of Charles VII confirming the privilege of the town ofSaint-Émilion not to be separated from the crown (Taillebourg, September 1451). – Terms of the town's surrender and ratification by the King of France (21 July 1453; 17 April 1454; copy dated 23 July 1701).

E suppl.4402. – AA 4. (Bundle.) – 6 parchment documents, 2 paper documents.