LE VILLAGE DE CHÉMÉRÉ

Chéméré is mentioned for the first time in a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander III on 6 April 1179, which explains that the church of Saint-Jean-de-Chéméré belonged to the monks of Saint-Serge Abbey in Angers. The name of the commune appears in the Latin form of Camarius. According to Léon Maître, the translation of the Latin word camara means "princely court", which gave its name to the château de Princé.

Prehistory
The Pierre Levée menhir in the Princé forest bears witness to the presence of humans during this period.

Antiquity / Middle Ages
A Merovingian cemetery at Le Brigandin was first mentioned in 1880 in a report by the Société archéologique et historique de Nantes et de Loire-Atlantique. In 1967, during sand extraction in the quarry, twenty-three tombs were unearthed. Two years later, during earthworks, a dozen tombs were also discovered near the first site. In 1988, excavations were organised by the Association pour les Fouilles Archéologiques Nationales (AFAN), then in 2008 by the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives (INRAP). Rings, buckle plates, pins and weapons have enabled the cemetery to be dated to the 6th and 7th centuries. The parish was founded around 1020 by Harscoët de Sainte-Croix, Lord of Machecoul and Retz. The first church was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. In 1041, a certain Glahiven donated his ecclesiastical rights to the Saint-Serge Abbey in Angers. In 1050, monks from this abbey established a priory at Chéméré. Around 1080, the Princé forest was planted or extended by the lords. In 1179, a bull from Pope Alexander III confirmed that the priory belonged to the Abbey of Saint-Serge in Angers. In the 14th century, written sources mention a fortified castle in the forest, the Princé castle.

The modern period
t the beginning of the 16th century, the castle lost its military vocation and became a hunting lodge for the lords. With the arrival of the Italian Gondi family, Italian Renaissance influences were exported. They created gardens in the form of islands separated by moats, known as enchanted islands. In 1651, Henri de Gondi bought the monks' hunting rights in the Princé forest. Contemporary period During the Vendée wars, the church at Chéméré was burnt down. A new building was erected in 1805, still under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist. In 1877, as the church was too small and "poorly built", it was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style. The bell tower was not built until 1894.

On 1 January 2016, the municipality of Chéméré joined with that of Arthon-en-Retz to form the new municipality of Chaumes-en-Retz.

Key dates in the history of the commune:
6th-7th centuries: Merovingian cemetery at Brigandin
1020: foundation of the parish by Harscoët de Sainte-Croix de Machecoul
Around 1050: establishment of a priory dependent on the Abbey of Saint-Serge in Angers
Around 1080: planting or extension of the Princé forest
1651: Henri de Gondi, Duke of Retz, buys the monks' hunting rights in the Princé forest
1794: the church burns down during the Vendée wars
1805: construction of a new building
1877: rebuilding of the church

Source : shpr.fr

Significance of the Chéméré coat of arms
Argent, a cross couped Gules, between four ox encounters Sable