Sedan Castle (french: Château de Sedan) 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 ...

situated in Sedan, France, near the river

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

. Covering an area of in its seven floors.

History

Around 1424,

Eberhard II von der Mark Eberhard II von der Mark (1365–1454) ( Fr.: ''Évrard de La Marck'') was Lord of Arenberg and began styling himself Lord of Sedan in 1424. Biography Eberhard II von der Mark was born in Aremberg in 1365, the son of Eberhard I von der Mark and ...

built a manor with two towers around a church over a period of six years. When Eberhard died in 1440, his son Jean de la Marck began reinforcing the fortress, but it was

Robert II de la Marck Robert II de la Marck (1468 – November 1536), Duke of Bouillon, Belgium, and Seigneur of Sedan, France. Son of Robert I de la Marck and Jeanne de Saulcy. Biography Robert would fight against the supporters of John de Horne, Bishop of Liege, alon ...

, the grandson of Jean, who finished the most important work. In 1530, the fortifications of the manor were modernised by the construction of a circular boulevard and terraces with cannons, thickening the curtain wall by an additional . The bastions were added during the course of the next century, but some of them were eventually

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

d at the end of the 19th century. In 1699, the principality having been absorbed into France in 1642 (see the Battle of Marfée, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

), and the castle having been transformed into a garrison, Vauban built the door ''of the Princes'' (french: « des Princes ») that was adapted to the progress of artillery. In 1822, the Church of Saint-Martin was demolished and replaced with a store for cannonballs.

Turenne Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne (11 September 161127 July 1675), commonly known as Turenne , was a French general and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the ...

was born in the Château de Sedan in 1611.

Franco-Prussian War

On September 1, 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War, the Army of Chalons was defeated at the

Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, ...

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 ...

surrendered the following day in the small neighboring city of Donchery.

World Wars I and II

The castle was used as a military hospital by the German army in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Sedan was also the site of a French loss to the Germans in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the

Battle of Sedan (1940) The Battle of Sedan or Second Battle of Sedan (12–15 May 1940)Frieser 2005, p. 196. took place in the Second World War during the Battle of France in 1940. It was part of the German ''Wehrmacht''s operational plan codenamed ''Fall Gelb'' (Ca ...

Current use

The castle was given by the French Army to the city of Sedan in 1962. Today the castle contains a hotel and a museum showing the lives of inhabitants throughout its history and the Franco-Prussian War.

References

External links