The Yonne

The Yonne is a river in France, a left-bank tributary of the Seine. It is 292 km (181 mi) long. The river gives its name to the Yonne département, but also flows through the Sens département: that of the French twin-town of Chester. The capital of the Yonne département is Auxerre. The Abbey of Saint-Germain d'Auxerre is a former Benedictine monastery dedicated to its founder Saint Germanus of Auxerre, the bishop of Auxerre, who died in 448. In Britain he is best remembered for his journey to combat Pelagianism in or around 429 AD, and the records of this visit provide valuable information on the state of post-Roman British society. Germanus led the native Britons to a victory against Pictish and Saxon raiders, at a mountainous site near a river, of which Mold in North Wales is the traditional location. For more on Germanus see Mold Cope.