The Château de Montrésor is a medieval

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 ...

with a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

mansion built in the grounds, located in the French village of

Montrésor Montrésor () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography The village lies on the right bank of the Indrois, which flows northwest through the middle of the commune. Population See also *Communes of ...

in the ''

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

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...

. The Château de Montrésor has been listed since 1996 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, ...

and is a popular visitor attraction.

History

Medieval fortress

Around 1005, Fulk Nerra, count of Anjou, chose a rocky overhang dominating the valley of the

Indrois The Indrois () is a long river in the Indre and Indre-et-Loire departments in central France. Its source is at Villegouin. It flows generally northwest. It is a right tributary of the Indre, into which it flows at Azay-sur-Indre. Departments an ...

as the site to have a powerful fortress built by his captain Roger le Petit Diable ("Little Devil"). Montrésor had one of the first

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 ...

s built out of stone, similar to that at

Loches Loches () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, central France. It is situated southeast of Tours by road, on the left bank of the river Indre. History Loches (the Roman ''Leucae'') grew up around a monastery founded about 500 by St. ...

, and two circular walls, of which today only the west wall remains. In the 12th century, Montrésor fell into the hands of

Henry II of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

and the imposing towers at the entrance were built, as well as a part of the northern curtain wall. In 1188, King

Philip Augustus of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...

retook Montrésor from the English. André de Chauvigny, returning from the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

with

Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

, became the new lord of Montrésor, before having to cede the castle for almost two centuries to the Palluau family. Demolished in 1203, the castle was rebuilt in 1393 for

Jean IV de Bueil Jean IV de Bueil (ca. 1361? – 25 October 1415) was lord of Bueil-en-Touraine, son of Jean III de Bueil. Biography Jean IV lived in the shadow of his father (an important royal official and military officer) until he succeeded him in November 14 ...

by Jean Binet, who put up the enclosure wall, the gatehouse and the existing outbuildings.

Renaissance mansion

From the start of the 15th century, with the royal court spending more and more time in

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vie ...

, Montrésor became a centre for courtiers and royal servants. In 1493, Imbert de Batarnay bought Montrésor to build an elegant residence in the feudal enclosure, of which only the main wing remains. Imbert was an influential councillor and chamberlain to four kings of France:

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

, Charles VIII,

and

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

. His long tenure in this office was rare at the time, but he was skilful and cunning, and was present at all of the negotiations in his time - he was particularly responsible for arranging the marriage of

Anne of Brittany Anne of Brittany (; 25/26 January 1477 – 9 January 1514) was reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She is the only woman to have been queen consort of France ...

to the king, sealing the joining of the

Duchy of Brittany The Duchy of Brittany ( br, Dugelezh Breizh, ; french: Duché de Bretagne) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

to the French kingdom. He was entrusted with preparations for war with Italy and the education of the children of Louis XII and François I.

A Polish landlord and benefactor

During the 17th and 18th centuries, other leading families - such as the Bourdeilles and the Beauvilliers - lived in the castle. 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 ...

marked the beginning of its decline. Around 1845, Count Louis-Jouffroy de Gonsans demolished the west wing of the Renaissance ''logis'' as well as the castle chapel. In 1849, the mother of a Polish exiled

magnate The magnate term, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders, or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

Count Xavier Branicki Count Xavier Branicki (in Polish: , in French: ), born 26 October 1816 in Warsaw, Poland, died 20 November 1879 in Assiut, Khedivate of Egypt, was a Polish nobleman, political exile and landowner who took French nationality. He became a politica ...

, bought the dilapidated estate as a project for her son. He was a friend of emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and, when he arrived, he gave new life to the village of

; he built new schools for girls and boys, restored the water supply, repaired the hospital and built a chapel in the grave-yard. Branicki had the castle completely restored. Over twenty years, he put on new roofs and equipped the interior with rich furnishings and art. He made his home into an archive and repository of ''polonica'', Polish historical artefacts, which has now become a notable collection and museum.Website of the Standing Conference of Polish Museums, Archives and Libraries in the West
The

Polish Library in Paris The Polish Library in Paris (french: Bibliothèque Polonaise de Paris, pl, Biblioteka Polska w Paryżu) is a Polish cultural centre of national importance and is closely associated both with the historic Great Emigration of the Polish élite to Pa ...

in conjunction with the Historical and Literary Society is a member organisation of the Standing Conference, which held its first meeting in 1981 at the Château de Montrésor. The house and its estate were the setting for hunting in the surrounding forests and sumptuous feasts with prince Napoléon, a cousin of the Emperor. Branicki had no legitimate heirs and the property passed to his younger brother, Konstanty. That line also came to an end. The castle is now owned by distant relatives by marriage and descendants of Mikolaj Rej.

References

External links

*
Home page of Château de Montrésor

Val d'Indrois tourist office

Sources

:''This article was initially translated from a section of this Wikipedia article « fr:Montrésor », specifically fro
this version
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Montresor, Chateau de Castles in Centre-Val de Loire Châteaux in Indre-et-Loire Monuments historiques of Indre-et-Loire Historic house museums in Centre-Val de Loire Museums in Indre-et-Loire Museums of Polish culture abroad Plus Beaux Villages de France