Sited in the historic province of Berry, which is now in the Cher department of the Centre-Val de Loire region, Aubigny-sur-Nère is approximately 50 minutes from the lake and is proud of its Franco-Scottish heritage as the "City of the Stuarts". In 1423, in the name of the Franco-Scottish "Auld Alliance", King Charles VII of France awarded Sir John Stuart of Darnley, a Constable of the Scottish army, the town and its surrounding lands.
Aubigny-sur-Nère then remained under Scottish control for two and a half centuries, and the Stuart dynasty left a lasting mark. John Stuart's grandson, Bernard the 4th Lord of Aubigny, was called Béraud by the French and nicknamed the "knight beyond reproach". Bernard's cousin, Robert Stuart, who fought in the Italian Wars (1494–1559), was awarded the baton of Marshall of France.
Today, many of the town's outstanding surviving facades date from this era of reconstruction — including several preserved by the layers of roughcast with which they were covered.
