The Château de Montbrun is a

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'' of Dournazac in the

Haute-Vienne Haute-Vienne (; oc, Nauta Vinhana, ; English: Upper Vienne) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve departments that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitai ...

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. The castle was built in the 12th and 15th centuries, and was restored in the late 19th century. The castle stands within a deep valley. Built in the 12th century, its function was to defend the borders of the

Duchy of Aquitaine The Duchy of Aquitaine ( oc, Ducat d'Aquitània, ; french: Duché d'Aquitaine, ) was a historical fiefdom in western, central, and southern areas of present-day France to the south of the river Loire, although its extent, as well as its name, fluc ...

. Though rebuilt in the 15th century, it still has the

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

, high walls and a square

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 ...

topped 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 ...

s. Montbrun is a fine example of a 15th-century castle. In plan rectangular, it is flanked in the corners with round towers and protected by water. Its narrow romanesque

, square, close up against one of the towers, gives it a strange appearance.

History

The castle (then called Trados) was built in 1179 by Aymeric Bruni (also called Brun) on his return from the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1145–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusa ...

. The Brun family, (Montbrun after 1366), remained owners until 1516. At the start of the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

, the castle was occupied by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. It was retaken by the French in 1353. At the end of the century it was taken again by the English and partially destroyed. Between 1433 and 1438, square towers were replaced with round towers and the castle took on its present form. In 1562, Montbrun was attacked by

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

during the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

and although it was not captured a fire raged through the castle. During 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 ...

, at the instigation of people's representatives Borie and Jacques Brival, the castle was pillaged and destroyed and the archives were burned. The property was divided up and sold as national property. Restored in 1871, it suffered a serious fire in 1916. A second restoration was carried out between 1964 and 1966. It has been a protected ''

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 ...

'' listed by the French Ministry of Culture. It was purchased by Maarten Lamers, a Dutch businessman.Panna Munyal
"Hot Property: Chateau de Montbrun, Haute-Vienne, France"
''The National'', 12 December 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2019.

References

External links

*
Video of the castle (2'46)
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Montbrun, chateau de Castles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Buildings and structures in Haute-Vienne Monuments historiques of Nouvelle-Aquitaine

History

See also

References

External links