Send Gift Baskets to Aubervilliers, France

Like many outer suburb communes, this one was a rural area for a long time. The village, once known as Notre-Dame-des-Vertus, was situated on a plain that produced the best vegetables in the surrounding area.

As albertivillare, meaning “estate of Adalbert,” Aubervilliers first appeared in the archives in 1059. As a result, Henry I gave it to the Priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs in the following year. Serfs were freed in Aubervilliers in 1111. It was in 1182 that the Paris butchers were granted the right to graze their cattle freely in the fields after the harvest was over by the priory of Saint-Martin-des-Champs. As a result of Guillaume Bateste’s succession, Vivier les Aubervilliers became the first lord of Vivier les Aubervilliers in 1221. At the beginning of the 13th century, a miraculous image of the Virgin quickly became famous in this church, dependent on one of Saint Denis’ parishes.

Father Jacques Du Breul, Prior of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, reported the Miracle of the rain in 1336: A young girl busy arranging flowers for the Virgin statue in the church saw her tears streaming down her face as the rain began to fall on the parched crops. The image of Aubervilliers was visited by Philip VI of France and his queen in 1338. People came from Paris and its surrounding areas in droves each year between 1340 and 1792. Michel de Laillier, Lord of Ermenonville, became Lord of Vivier les Aubervilliers in 1402. In 1436, Michel de Laillier retook the town from the English after they had occupied it in 1429. In November 1474, Louis XI visited Pierre L’Orfèvre, the new Lord of Vivier, from then until August 1478. On his hat, the king wore an image of the Virgin in the lead representing the one at Aubervilliers.