Bourges (bōrzh) [key], city (1990 pop. 78,773), capital of Cher dept., central France. It is a transportation center with foundries, arsenals, breweries, printing plants, and aeronautical and food industries. Known as Avaricum, Bourges was the Roman capital of Aquitania N of the Garonne River (see Gaul). It early became an archiepiscopal see and the capital of Berry. Charles VII resided there while most of France was in English hands. In 1438 he promulgated the pragmatic sanction of bourges, which was revoked in 1461 by his son Louis XI, who was born in Bourges. Louis XI founded (1463) the Univ. of Bourges, where Jacques Cujas later taught; it was abolished in the French Revolution. The Cathedral of St. Etienne (13th cent.), one of the glories of French Gothic, is remarkable in that it has no transept. Jacques Cœur, whose splendid house still stands, and Louis Bourdaloue were born in Bourges.
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