Castillon-sur-Agen was 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 ...

in the commune of Bon-Encontre, near

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department of ...

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janua ...

, France. Built on the top of a small hill with sheer rock cliffs (the ''plateau de Castillou''), it was "fortified by both nature and artifice". According to the 12th-century chronicler

Robert of Torigny Robert of Torigni (also known as Roburtus de Monte) (c. 1110–1186) was a Norman monk, prior, abbot and twelfth century chronicler. Religious life Robert was born at Torigni-sur-Vire, Normandy c. 1110 most probably to an aristocratic family but ...

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 ...

besieged Castillion-sur-Agen in 1161. After just one week the garrison capitulated.

Roger of Howden Roger of Howden or Hoveden (died 1202) was a 12th-century English chronicler, diplomat and head of the minster of Howden in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Roger and Howden minster Roger was born to a clerical family linked to the ancient minste ...

recorded that nearly 15 years later, in 1175, the site was besieged by Prince

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

(later King Richard I of England), Henry II's son. On this occasion the siege lasted two months; it was part of a campaign of repressing rebellious barons after the

Revolt of 1173–1174 The Revolt of 1173–1174 was a rebellion against King Henry II of England by three of his sons, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their rebel supporters. The revolt ended in failure after eighteen months; Henry's rebellious family members had ...

. It was Richard's first successful siege.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * Châteaux in Lot-et-Garonne {{France-castle-stub

See also

References