The Château de Taillebourg is a ruined

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 ...

from the medieval era. It is built on a rocky outcrop, overlooking the village of Taillebourg and the valley of the river

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

, in the

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kil ...

department of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It commanded a very strategic position and was therefore the focus of much conflict throughout the medieval era. It featured in several episodes 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, ...

and the

Saintonge War The Saintonge War was a feudal dynastic conflict that occurred between 1242 and 1243. It opposed Capetian forces supportive of King Louis IX's brother Alphonse, Count of Poitiers and those of Hugh X of Lusignan, Raymond VII of Toulouse and Henry ...

before that. The previous castle on the site was shelter for

Louis VII of France Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger, or the Young (french: link=no, le Jeune), was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI (hence the epithet "the Young") and married Duchess ...

and

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...

on the day after their wedding, in July 1137.

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 ...

seized this castle in 1179.

Geoffrey de Rancon Geoffrey III of Rancon was a French army commander who lived in the 12th century. He was Lord of Taillebourg, and served as Eleanor of Aquitaine's army commander during the Second Crusade. On the day the crusaders were set to cross Mount Cadmus, K ...

, master of the house, may have died in this action, but he is also listed as having participated in the Third Crusade in the ''

Itinerarium Regis Ricardi The ''Itinerarium Regis Ricardi'' (in full, ''Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi'') is a Latin prose narrative of the Third Crusade, 1189-1192. The first part of the book concentrates on Saladin's conquests and the early stages of the ...

'' and appears as a witness to Richard I's peace treaty with

Tancred of Sicily Tancred ( it, Tancredi; 113820 February 1194) was King of Sicily from 1189 to 1194. He was born in Lecce an illegitimate son of Roger III, Duke of Apulia (the eldest son of King Roger II) by his mistress Emma, a daughter of Achard II, Count o ...

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

on 6 Oct 1190.Landon, L., ''The Itinerary of King Richard I: With Studies on Certain Matters of Interest Connected with His Reign'' (London, 1937), p. 43. In 1173, Richard had fought against his father in alliance with his brothers and the King of France, Louis. This uprising had failed, and as punishment, Richard was sent to bring the rebellious lords to heel. This conflict lasted five years, ending in the victory of Richard and his destruction of the supposedly impregnable fortress of Taillebourg. This castle was inaccessible on three sides, protected by mountains, and the fourth side was heavily fortified. Richard knew that the overthrow of Taillebourg would lead to the immediate surrender of the barons, and captured the stronghold in his first great military victory. The castle was later the base for

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...

(Saint Louis), as a guest of Geoffrey IV of Rancon, before the

Battle of Taillebourg The Battle of Taillebourg, a major medieval battle fought in July 1242, was the decisive engagement of the Saintonge War. It pitted a French Capetian army under the command of King Louis IX, also known as Saint Louis, and his younger brother Alp ...

in 1242. The Château de Taillebourg ruins have today been converted to a public garden, where one can view the

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, the 18th-century battlements and the underground rooms of the old castle. The site's geographical position affords a viewpoint of the valley of the Charente.

References

External links

Taillebourg.net
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Taillebourg Buildings and structures in Charente Ruined castles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine

See also

References

External links