The Crèvecœur is among the oldest French breeds of chicken; its origins are unknown. It takes its name from the commune of Crèvecœur-en-Auge, near Lisieux in the historic region of the Pays d'Auge, in the Calvados département of Normandy. Crèvecoeur chickens won prizes at the Exposition Universelle of 1855 in Paris. The breed was described in detail by Louis Bréchemin in 1894, but the breed standard was not accepted by the Société d’Aviculture de Basse-Normandie until 1909.