A natural fortress 312 meters in height, Sancerre is a former feudal possession of the counts of Champagne (1152) in the province of Berry.

The Customs of Lorris (1155), a charter granted by Stephen I to the merchants of Sancerre was considered one of the most progressive in the Capetian kingdom.

They were defeated by the Confrères de la Paix, the Confraternity of Peace, a group charged with keeping order in the kingdom.

In 1637 the county was sold by Rene de Bueil to the prince of Condé, Henry II of Bourbon, the governor of Berry.

The area suffered economically from the mass exodus of Protestant merchants, tradesmen and others during the 17th century, especially after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685).

During the French Revolution, Sancerre was the site of a royalist rebellion led by Louis-Edmond de Phelippeaux – small "Vendee Sancerroise".

Sancerre was designated the seat of government for the district during the First Republic, but in 1926 the sous-préfecture and other administrative services were transferred to Bourges.

"Operation Spencer” in 1944 was to prevent the Germans from crossing the river Loire between Gien and Nevers and reinforcing troops in Brittany.

On 25 June 1944 German troops based in Cosne-sur-Loire set fire to the village of Thauvenay in reprisal for an ambush of the French Resistance, burning 23 houses, executing six men, a 7-year-old boy and taking eleven people hostage.