Prehistoric traces of human presence in Thury, determined by finds of flint remains, go back to the
Neanderthals about 40,000 years BCE.
Neolithic objects (ca. 6000–3000 BCE in the region) discovered by Mr Creusard, including a polished stone
pestle that was used to crush grain, are held in the small museum inside the church's tower. Burgundian
palaeographer reported the finding in 1862 of bronze objects (a ring, a hatchet and a key) from the
Bronze Age (ca. 3000–1000 BCE) in Thury's hamlet of Gémigny.
Thury before the Hundred Years' War The
Roman road from
Auxerre to
Entrains-sur-Nohain forms part of the boundary between the respective territories of
Sougères-en-Puisaye and Thury. Local tradition holds that the parish was created in 432 CE by
Germanus of Auxerre. The land of Thury was part of the battlefield of the
Battle of Fontenoy (841). Echoes of the battle survive in toponyms around the village to this day. For example, the name of the nearby hill and wood of
Roichat refers to King
Charles the Bald (
le roi Charles), who had established his temporary base camp there. After 1000 CE, lordship over the land of Thury alternated between the
County of Auxerre, its
Bishop (long a territorial lord as well), the
Count of Champagne, the
Count of Nevers, and occasionally the
Duke of Burgundy. There is no trace of a specific lordship of Thury during that period though, and it is not clear how significant the village was if indeed it remained inhabited.
Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Era of Thury's village castle In any event, Thury and the surrounding region suffered greatly during the
Crisis of the Late Middle Ages, including the
Hundred Years' War. It was ravaged by roaming armies, especially in 1411 during an episode of the
Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War and in 1423 in the run-up to the
Battle of Cravant. Thury's repopulation in the late 15th century was largely by newcomers (known as
horsains, "foreigners") from other parts of the Kingdom of France. The village castle was built around that time. The church was also rebuilt then and completed in 1503, with the portal sculpted in 1521. In 1542,
Francis I granted Thury by
letters patent the right to hold a weekly market and three fairs a year (and also to erect fortifications around the village), which was reaffirmed by
Henry III in 1576 and
Louis XIV in 1669. The hamlets of Grangette and Colangette, despite being geographically very close to Thury, where under separate jurisdiction as lands of the
Abbey of Saint-Germain d'Auxerre and were only reunited with the rest of the village in 1710. It thus went to: • Marie de Champs (ca. 1528-?), daughter of Gaspard and Françoise de
Corquilleroy, and Guillaume de
Grossouvre (?–1584), married in 1537; • Marie de Grossouvre, daughter of Guillaume and Marie, and Jean de
Meung la Ferté, married in 1583; • Madeleine de Meung la Ferté, daughter of Jean and Marie, and Pierre de Loynes, married around 1602; • Anne de Loynes (1603–1687), daughter of Pierre and Madeleine, and Jean de Richoufftz (1599–1655), a scion of the , married in 1631. The lordship of Thury fragmented in the mid-17th century and was eventually acquired in 1667–1668 by Louis du Deffand (1624–?), a high-ranking military officer, Marquess of
Lalande and lord of
Sementron,
Fontenoy,
Saints,
Lain, and other locales. (Le Deffand is a hamlet of Saints.) His son Jean-Baptiste du Deffand (1648–1728) completed the territorial consolidation in 1710 with the acquisition of Grangette, Colangette and Banny. Of his five children, one (Jean-Baptiste Jacques) was the husband of
Madame du Deffand; another, Jeanne Antoinette Louise, in 1716 married Joseph François de
Castellane de
Lauris des Gérards de Vassadel who thus acquired the lordship of Thury. Their son Louis Joseph Marie André Gabriel de Castellane, born in 1738, was the last lord of Thury. There was unrest in Thury following the
1851 French coup d'état, as in neighboring places in
Nivernais and
Puisaye. The leaders of the uprising against the coup were pardoned in 1852.
Electrification was conducted in the 1920s, and
running water was installed in the late 1930s with the construction of four reservoirs around Thury. This
maquis then had to move east and was established near Thury on the
Montagne des Alouettes in late July 1944. About 250-strong, the group had weapons parachuted by Allied planes. The village was liberated in August 1944.
Sewage was completed between 1959 and 1962. ==Local government==