Origin

The Briard also known as Chien de Berger de Brie.

When at the end of the last century the cynologie arised, there were some people who became interested  in a national french working dog.

These longhaired sheepdogs  where fully present on the lands with the farmers and herders , but also in Paris ,where they assited the enslaves in the abbatoir with garding and drive supplied cattle for slaughter.

We assume  that in the early middle ages , halflong haired sheepdogs were present in France.

We can find the oldest mention of the name “Chien the Brie” in a book that was written before the french revolution.

Some writers had looked for an explanation for the fact that the naming Chien de Brie Is used for dogs which can be found in the middle and north of France. .....while there is no evidence that the roots of this breed were in the parts of Brie (east of Paris).

"Ordeal", or the judgment of God, was a medieval way of proving the guilt of the accused in a direct confrontation with the accuser.

In such a duel God awarded the victory to the one of them who was right.

On June 16, 1371 an ordeal took place, in which for the first time in history a ... dog was the accuser.

It happened at the court of Charles V the Wise.

During one of the shooting tournaments a young knight named d'Aubrey de Montgaris defeated the best so far archer of the kingdom called Macaire.

Macaire, who was humiliated in front of all the courtiers, attempted to save his position challenging d'Aubrey again and again.

However, he would constantly lose and the desire of revenge grew in him.

He decided to treacherously kill his rival.

It was not so easy, since the knight was always accompanied by a large fawn shepherd dog called Brutus.

D'Aubrey had rescued the dog from drowning when he was still a blind pup and carefully brought him up to be the most faithful friend.

Nevertheless, one day during hunting in the Bondy Forest next to Clichy, Macaire used the occasion that the dog had run after a squirrel shot by d'Aubray. When Brutus returned, his owner was dead.

There was nobody in the neighbourhood, but the sensitive nose of the dog smelled and remembered the assassin.

The day after, when all the courtiers paid tribute to the killed knight, the dog assailed Macaire.

This unhesitating attack and the respect the king felt towards d'Aubray decided that the Bishop of Nemours agreed to a unique ordeal: Macaire was to stand up to the dog of d'Aubray.

In a ring built on the island of Notre Dame they stood facing each other: the man in a coat of mail armed with a club and a large fawn dog.

The fight did not last long, Brutus reached the throat of the assassin, who admitted his crimes before dying.

A less murderous version of the legend says that Brutus only pushed his enemy to the ground and forced him to admit his guilt, leaving the rest to the king's executioner.

One way or another, the dog indicated the murderer and defeated him in an open fight.

  "A dog of heart, with spirit and initiative, wise and fearless with no trace of timidity," the unique Briard is "intelligent, easily trained, faithful, gentle, and obedient dog,".