The Château de Poncin is a former

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 ...

, now a stately residence, in the '' commune'' of

Poncin Poncin () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. It lies on the banks of the river Ain. History Of strategic importance during medieval times, Poncin is surrounded by city walls that are still in perfect shape despite their age. ...

in the

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

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 present

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

on the site was constructed from the mid-18th century; parts of the original castle remain.

History

Humbert II de Thoire built the castle at Poncin in 1180. It was one of the favourite residences of the lords of Thoire-Villars, who kept their

court of accounts A Court of Audit or Court of Accounts is a Supreme audit institution, i.e. a government institution performing financial and/or legal audit (i.e. Statutory audit or External audit) on the executive branch of power. See also *Most of those ins ...

there. In 1290, it was rebuilt by Humbert IV de Thoire. On 19 October 1308, Humbert V, lord of Thoire and Villars, had it entirely remodelled and sold it, for 7,500 ''livres viennoises'', in

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

to the lord de la Tour du Pin, Jean II de Viennois, ''dauphin'' of Viennois who returned it to him in ''

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

lige''. The rights passed in turn to the Counts of Savoy, recognised by acts of 16 October 1375 and 7 February 1385. On 29 October 1402, Humbert VII, last of the lords of Thoire-Villars, "heavy with years and troubles", sold the

seigneurie In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; french: seigneur, lit=lord; la, senior, lit=elder), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple. ''Nulle terre ...

of Poncin to Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy, along with all of his lands in

Bresse Bresse () is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), whic ...

and Bugey, keeping the use of them until his death, which came on 7 May 1423. The castle stayed with the House of Savoy for a century and a half. Poncin was forsaken by the Dukes of Savoy, who seldom went there. It was, among others, included in the dowery of

Anne of Cyprus Anne of Cyprus (or Anne de Lusignan) (24 September 1418 – 11 November 1462) was a Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Louis, Duke of Savoy. She was the daughter of King Janus of Cyprus and Charlotte of Bourbon; and a member of the ...

, widow of Louis, Duke of Savoy, and in that of Claudine de Bretagne, Viscountess de Bridiers ( La Souterraine), widow of the Philip II, Duke of Savoy, dowager of

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

, Châteauneuf in Valromey (

Songieu Songieu () is a former commune in the Ain department in eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Haut Valromey.

), Poncin and Cerdon, who made a residence of it for a time. In April 1513, Charles III, Duke of Savoy included it, with Cerdon and some other territories in Bugey, in the dowry of Philiberte de Savoie, his sister, Marquise of Gex and Fossan (

Fossano Fossano ( pms, Fossan) is a town and ''comune'' of Piedmont, northern Italy. It is the fourth largest town of the Province of Cuneo, after Cuneo, Alba and Bra. It lies on the main railway line from Turin to Cuneo and to Savona, and has a branch li ...

), wife of

Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici KG (12 March 1479 – 17 March 1516) was an Italian nobleman, the third son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and a ruler of Florence. Biography Born in Florence, he was raised with his brothers Piero and Giovanni d ...

, Marquis of Suriane ( Soragna) and Chazene. She died in 1524 without children. Having made her brother her heir, Poncin reverted to Savoy. On 7 November 1531, the lordship of Poncin and its castle, with that of Cerdon, was given to Charles de la Chambre, Baron of

Meximieux Meximieux () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. Geography Located 35 km north east of Lyon and 10 km from Ambérieu-en-Bugey, the town is where the Dombes plateau meets the plain of the river Ain. Historically, Me ...

and Sermoyer, in exchange for lands in

Loyettes Loyette () is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France. Geography Climate Loyettes has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Loyettes is . The average annual rainfall is with ...

. On 18 September 1565, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, took de la Chambre's lands at Poncin and Cerdon in exchange for the lordships of Pérouges and Montréal, granting them in '' appanage'' to Philip, Duke of Nemours. The Dukes of Nemour, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, made important modifications to the castle. Their descendants retained ownership until the 18th century. In 1601, the castle was entirely dismantled by Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron, on the orders of King Henri IV. In 1717, the land was given to Artus-Joseph de la Poype-Saint-Jullin who partially reconstructed. Around 1750, it passed to the Quinson family. Gaspard Roch de Quinson, wanting to install gardens, restored the terrasses for this purpose in 1760. The Quinsons still owned it at the time 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 ...

. At the Revolution, the château was sacked and severely damaged. It remained abandoned for forty years, until a new mayor of Poncin, monsieur Jantet, bought it in 1831 to create a very beautiful English garden. The château then became the property of Joseph Savarin de Marestan who had been named ''conseiller de la préfecture'' of l'

Allier Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named afte ...

. he came from an old Bugey family, ennobled at the end of the 17th century, which had provided a succession of bodyguards and musketeers to the king and had, in 1815 been given the title Baron de Marestan. The modern

is privately owned and not open to the public. It has been partially listed (façades and roof, remains of the ancient fortification, terrasses, supporting wall and gardens) since 1973 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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poncin, Chateau de 1180s establishments in France Buildings and structures completed in 1180 12th-century fortifications Castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Monuments historiques of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Ain Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy