BERNAY, town of France, capital of an arrondissement, department of Eure, on the left bank of the Charentonne, 3 i m. W.N.W. of Evreux, on the railway between that town and Lisieux. Pop. (1931) 6,033. Bernay grew up round the Benedictine abbey founded by Judith of Brittany in 1013, and early in the 13th century was the seat of a viscount. The town was besieged by du Guesclin in 1378; it was taken several times by the English during the first half of the 15th century, and by de Coligny in 1563. The fortress was razed in 5589. The Abbey church under went restoration in the 17th century and now serves for munici pal and legal purposes. The church of Ste Croix dates from the 14th and 15th centuries; that of Notre Dame de la Couture, which preserves some good stained glass, from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The region is well wooded and the town contains many wooden houses. The surrounding woods were sold to the British Government during the World War. Among the industrial estab lishments of the place are manufactories of cotton and woollen goods, bleacheries and dye-works. Large numbers of Norman horses are sold in Lent, at the fair known as the Foire fleurie.
Bernay has a sub-prefecture, tribunals of commerce and of first instance, and a board of trade arbitration.