Château de Châteaubriant
Château de Châteaubriant | |
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General council of Loire-Atlantique | |
Open to the public | Limited |
Condition | Mostly intact |
Site history | |
Built | 11th-16th century |
Built by | Brient Ist of Châteaubriant |
Materials | Sandstone, shale |
The Château de Châteaubriant is a medieval castle strongly modified during the Renaissance, located in the commune of Châteaubriant in the Loire-Atlantique département of France.[1] The original castle was founded in the 11th century on the eastern border of Brittany and, such as the fortresses in Vitré, Fougères, Ancenis and Clisson, it was defending the duchy against Anjou and the Kingdom of France.
The castle was renovated several times during the Middle Ages and the town of Châteaubriant developed at its side. During the Mad War, the castle was seized by the French after a siege. The keep and the halls, partially destroyed, were renovated in the flamboyant style. Eventually, during the 16th century, the château obtained its definitive appearance when the new Renaissance palace was built against the medieval enceinte.
After the
Location
The château is located between the Châteaubriant-Rennes railway on the east and the old town centre on the west. To the north, it is bordered by the river Chère which forms a natural moat, and on the south by a wide square, the place Charles-de-Gaulle.
The Chère is retained by a medieval dam and forms a pond, the étang de la Torche. The dam serves as a bridge and it was originally an access to the walled town. A stream, the Rollard, also formed a moat on the western side of the castle. It was covered over during the 19th century and now flows under the town centre.
The subsoil in Châteaubriant is made of sedimentary rocks (
History
Middle Ages
The castle is first mentioned between 1030 and 1042 but it was founded earlier, at the beginning of the 11th century.[citation needed] It was first built by Brient, an envoy of the count of Rennes, to create an outpost in the Pays de la Mée. This region around Châteaubriant was then a buffer zone between the counties of Rennes, Nantes and Angers, but also a place for trading. The Béré fair was for example founded in 1049 in a suburb of the town. Brient is also responsible for the construction of the Béré church and priory, two major landmarks of medieval Châteaubriant.[3]
The first castle was a
The upper-ward gatehouse, the curtain wall and most of the towers were built during the 13th century. The gatehouse still includes its two towers which were originally 25 meters high. The halls and the keep were rebuilt in the 14th century, and the lower-bailey gatehouse was completed before 1400.[5]
The early House of Châteaubriant, whose founder was Brient, became extinct in 1383. The barony of Châteaubriant was then inherited by the House of
At the end of the war, Françoise de Dinan had the castle restored and improved. As the old walls did not fit the new military exigences, a bastion was built. The keep and the halls, which also lost their defensive capacity, were opened by large windows. Inside, the baroness ordered new fireplaces in the Flamboyant style.[5]
Renaissance
The improvements on the keep and the halls were not sufficient for Françoise de Dinan who wanted a fashionable residence. She ordered a new palace, built in the lower bailey. This palace has been called Bâtiment des Gardes ("guards' building") since the French Revolution, because it was then used by the National Guard. The new residence was completed at the beginning of the 16th century, after the death of Françoise. At that time, Châteaubriant belonged to Jean de Laval, her grandson and a member of the House of Laval.[7]
However, Jean de Laval was not satisfied with the new palace, a stark building typical of the First Renaissance. He ordered a new wing, built around 1530 in an Italian style, and characteristic of the Second Renaissance. Jean de Laval is also responsible for the long gallery which forms an angle with the palace.[7]
Jean de Laval died heirless in 1543 and gave his possessions and titles to the
Modern period
Châteaubriant belonged to the
The Condés slightly improved the château, for example in redesigning some rooms, such as the Chambre dorée in the Jean de Laval wing, decorated after 1632.[7] However, the princes did not live in Châteaubriant, but at the Château de Chantilly and in their hôtel particulier in Paris. The distance of the Dukes of Montmorency and later the Princes of Condé permitted the town council to gain some independence, but the lords still maintained local officers in the château.[8]
The roof of the keep collapsed after a storm around 1720. The building was not restored afterwards and slowly fell into ruin.[9]
Since the Revolution
The prince
During the
In 1839, the council considered pulling down the keep to use its stones to build a school and a bridge. This project met strong opposition and the château was included on the first list of monuments historiques in 1840.[9]
The town could not maintain the château in good repair and sold it to the
In 1887, the département asked for the removal of the château from the monument historique list because it could not afford the repairs required by the authorities. However, several restoration campaigns were mounted after 1909, especially on the keep. The château was eventually reintegrated into the list in 1921.[9] In 1944, the southern end of the Renaissance palace was destroyed during an American bombing raid.[14]
Major restoration campaigns were carried out in the 1960s and after 2000.
Architecture
The castle
The castle is divided between an upper ward and a lower bailey. The bailey, on the south, is opened by a 14th-century gatehouse, the Pavillon des Champs, which is the main entrance for the whole castle. The upper ward is accessible from the bailey through a second gatehouse. It is located on the highest point, dominating the Chère, and it is bordered by the seigniorial buildings: the two halls and the chapel.
The
Located close to the small hall, the chapel was built around 1142 and refurbished in the 13th century. Some hundred years later, it was divided in two and the western part was turned into the chaplain's house. The monument is romanesque but gothic windows were added in the 16th century.[3] The windows on the chaplain's house form a single bay culminating with a gothic dormer. Mural paintings and 15th-century floor tiles were discovered during archeological excavations.[5]
The gatehouse is partly ruined but it still has its two towers. It is built in sandstone with alternating lines of schist. Parts of the enceinte and the chemin de ronde are preserved.[3]
The Pavillon des Champs ("fields pavilion"), which opens the lower bailey, originally had a drawbridge. Its rear half was built in the 14th century and the front dates from the 16th century.[3]
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The keep. The great hall is located on the left, behind the trees.
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The small hall.
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The chapel seen from outside the castle.
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The door of the chaplain's house.
The Renaissance palace
The Renaissance residence is located in the lower ward. It consist of an alignment of buildings built on the enceinte, with a gallery forming an angle.
Bâtiment des Gardes
The Bâtiment des Gardes is the oldest Renaissance building and also the less decorated. It was built around 1500. Its slate roof is steep and as tall as the facade itself, which gives a massive look to the whole. The facade is opened by large regularly positioned windows on the first floor and small irregular doors and windows on the ground floor. The facade on the moat is framed by two medieval towers which were opened by new large windows.
The walls are very thick and inside, the rooms are usually big. On the ground floor, the Salle verte ("green room"), which is the main hall, is 30 meters long and 10 meters large. It is also 10 meters high and its monumental fireplace is two meters wide. The local blue schist was largely used as an ornamental material; it is particularly visible on ceilings, fireplaces and around the windows.[16]
Jean de Laval wing
The Jean de Laval wing was designed by Jean Delespine, a local architect, and built after 1532. At that time, French architecture had changed a lot: medieval features still in use at the beginning of the 16th century were totally rejected for Italian designs. Thus the Jean de Laval wing is fully different from the Bâtiment des Gardes. It is opened on the bailey by large windows bordered by tuff pilasters and small niches and it has Italian sculpted dormers. On the external facade, the architect reemployed the medieval walls and towers and opened them with large windows and dormers. Although very Italian in design, the building retained some French typical features, such as a steep slate roof and high chimneys. The design is also messy on several details, for example, the windows are not perfectly regular and some of them are too close to each other. Tuff, extremely common on the châteaux in the Loire Valley, because it is easily found there, had to be imported to Châteaubriant and was only used for ornamental purpose. Instead, the walls were built with local sandstone and the facade on the bailey was covered by a white coating. Local blue schist was also used for the niches and the chimneys alternate tuff and bricks.
A monumental staircase was built at the junction between the Jean de Laval wing and the Bâtiment des Gardes. It served as the main entrance and its first floor is opened by a loggia. The staircase was built with tuff and its vaults are decorated with little schist coffers.[16]
The Chambre dorée ("golden room"), the only room opened to visitors, is located on the first floor. It was decorated in the 1630s with red tapestry and
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The Jean de Laval wing. The staircase is on the left.
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The vault of the staircase.
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A door in the staircase.
The great gallery
The great gallery was originally closing the garden in front of the Jean de Laval wing and it was connecting it to the keep. Only one wing has been preserved, but several remains such as columns are still visible in the garden. The remaining part comprises two levels and the walls are made of red bricks whereas the decorative details are made of blue schist. The combination of these two materials is rare and creates a quaint look. The ground floor is a loggia opened by 21 arches with doric columns. The first floor is opened by large windows with small pediments. This floor is accessible through a stair located in an adjoining pavilion.[16]
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The gallery.
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View from the pavilion.
Legends
Two legends are linked with the château. The first one involves Sybille, the wife of Geoffroy IV of Châteaubriant, who went on
The second legend involves Jean de Laval and his wife,
She died on 16 October 1537, during the night, and assassination rumors quickly spread. According to them, Françoise would have been killed by her husband, jealous of her relationship with the King. According to some rumors, Jean de Laval would also have locked up his wife in a room, and later poisoned her or bled her to death. Since then, every 16 October at midnight, a ghost procession would walk in the château. The Chambre dorée has often been presented as the place where Françoise died, but its present layout dates from only the 17th century.[18]
See also
References
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ L'histoire géologique de la Bretagne Archived 2012-04-05 at the Wayback Machine, Emmanuèle Savelli
- ^ a b c d e f Châteaubriant.org (ed.). "Le château médiéval".
- ^ Base Mérimée: Fortification d'agglomération, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ a b c Pays de Châteaubriant (ed.). "Le château médiéval". Archived from the original on 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
- ^ Jean-Luc Flohic; Éric Brochard; Véronique Daboust (1999). Le Patrimoine des communes de la Loire-Atlantique. Vol. 1. Flohic. p. 257.
- ^ a b c Pays de Châteaubriant (ed.). "Le château de la Renaissance". Archived from the original on 2013-01-01. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
- ^ Châteaubriant.org (ed.). "Une ville close à l'abri du château".
- ^ a b c d e Ouest-France, ed. (15 December 2012). "Pourquoi on bichonne le château de Châteaubriant - Châteaubriant".
- ^ a b c d Charles Goudé (1870). "Châteaubriant, baronnie, ville et paroisse, Chapitre VI (suite)". Amaury de la Pinsonnais.
- ^ a b Conseil général de la Loire-Atlantique (ed.). "La sous-préfecture".
- ^ Conseil général de la Loire-Atlantique (ed.). "La gendarmerie".
- ^ Conseil général de la Loire-Atlantique (ed.). "La prison".
- ^ Châteaubriant.org (ed.). "Livre - Les bombardements de Châteaubriant" (PDF).
- ^ Dendrotech (ed.). "Une charpente à l'impériale : le Petit Logis à Chateaubriant (Loire-Atlantique)".
- ^ a b c d Châteaubriant histoire; journal La Mée (eds.). "Le château Renaissance".
- ^ Loire-Atlantique (ed.). "Sybille".
- ^ a b Pays de Châteaubriant (ed.). "Chambre dorée de Françoise de Foix". Archived from the original on 2013-04-12. Retrieved 2013-02-22.
External links
- Base Mérimée: Château de Châteaubriant, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- The château on the Loire-Atlantique website Archived 2013-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
- The château on the Pays de Châteaubriant website