The Château d'Arques (

Languedocien Languedocien (French name, ), Languedocian or Lengadocian (), is an Occitan dialect spoken in rural parts of southern France such as Languedoc, Rouergue, Quercy, Agenais and Southern Périgord. It is sometimes also called Languedocien-Guyennai ...

: ''Castèl d’Arcas'') is a ruined 14th-century

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

in the ''

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' of Arques in the

Aude Aude (; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it "Ca ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of France. It is one of the so-called

Cathar castles Cathar castles (in French ''Châteaux cathares'') are a group of medieval castles located in the Languedoc region. Some had a Cathar connection in that they offered refuge to dispossessed Cathars in the thirteenth century. Many of these sites were ...

History

In the 12th century, there was a conflict between the viscount of

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...

and several ''

seigneur ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (or ...

s'', including Arques and

Lagrasse Lagrasse (; oc, La Grassa) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. In 2016, it had a population of 560. Lagrasse is part of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ("The most beautiful villages of France" ...

. The estates at Arques became the property of the ''seigneurs'' of Termes. In 1217, Béranger d'Arques was one of the associates of Guillaume de Peyrepertuse. In 1210, after the defeat of the

Château de Termes The Château de Termes (Languedocien: ''Castèl de Tèrme'') is a ruined castle near the village of Termes in the Aude ''département'' of France. It is one of the so-called Cathar castles. History Built on a promontory, defended on three ...

during the

Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or the Cathar Crusade (; 1209–1229) was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted primarily by the French crown ...

Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester {{Infobox noble , name = Simon de Montfort , title = 5th Earl of Leicester , image = File:Simon4demontfort.gif , caption = Seal of Simon de Montfort, depicting him riding a horse and blowing a h ...

, attacked Arques. After having burned the village (''Villa de Arquis''), situated on the banks of the Rialsès, he gave this part of

Razès Razès (; oc, Rasés; ca, Rasès) is a historical area in southwestern France, in today's Aude ''département''. Several communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of ...

to one of his lieutenants, Pierre de Voisins. In 1284, Gilles de Voisins began work on building a castle, with the intention of defending the Rialsès valley and controlling the

transhumance Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower vall ...

routes leading to the

Corbières Massif The Corbières Massif (Catalan: ''Corberes''; french: Massif des Corbières, ) is a mountain range in the Pre-Pyrenees. It is the only true foothill of the Pyrenees on their northern side. Geography The Corbières are a mountain region in the ...

. In 1316, Gilles II de Voisins, known as "Gilet", altered and completed the castle. In 1518, Françoise de Voisins, the last of the Voisins, married Jean de Joyeuse who took the barony of Arques. The castle was abandoned in favour of

Couiza Couiza (; oc, Coisan) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France.Commune de Coui ...

. In 1575, the castle was besieged by Protestants and only the

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

managed to resist the assault. By the start of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

the castle had fallen into ruin. It was sold as a national asset and subsequently suffered severe damage.

Architecture

The castle consists of an ''

enceinte Enceinte (from Latin incinctus: girdled, surrounded) is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the position. For ...

'' and a high square

with four turrets. It was built after

of the 13th century on lands given to Pierre de Voisins, one of Simon de Montfort's lieutenants. The almost square ''enceinte'' (51m by 55m) encircles the castle with a gateway furnished with

machicolation A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at t ...

and surmounted with a keystone bearing the arms of the Voisin family ("''De gueules à trois fusées d'or en fasce, accompagnées en chef d'un lambel à quatre pendant de même''"). Numerous buildings must have existed the length of the ''enceinte''. Two well-preserved residential towers remain. The square keep, 25 m high, is a work of military architecture inspired by castles in the Ile de France. It has four levels served by a spiral staircase. The various rooms were constructed with extreme care. The top floor was given over to defence of the castle. Forty soldiers could defend it thanks to numerous

murder hole A murder hole or meurtrière is a hole in the ceiling of a gateway or passageway in a fortification through which the defenders could shoot, throw or pour harmful substances or objects such as rocks, arrows, scalding water, hot sand, quicklime, ...

s and rectangular bays set symmetrically into the walls. It is a good example of the progress in military construction in a strategically important region.

Today

The castle is owned partly by the commune and partly privately. It has been listed since 1887 as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, ...

. It has been renovated and, in part, reconstructed. It is open to visitors.

References

Bibliography

* Henri-Paul Eydoux, "'Châteaux des pays de l'Aude", ''Congrès archéologique de France. 131^e session. Pays de l'Aude. 1973'', Société Française d'Archéologie, Paris, 1973, pp. 208–212 * Lucien Bayrou, ''Le château d'Arques : guide du visiteur'', Centre d'archéologie médiévale du Languedoc, Carcassonne, 1989 * Lucien Bély, ''Connaître les Cathares'', Éditions Sud-Ouest, Luçon, 2006, p. 73

External links