The Château de la Verrerie is a château in Oizon, in the ancient

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Berry (now Cher) in France. It is an historic ancestral seat of a junior branch of the Scottish

House of Stewart The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...

, known by the territorial title Seigneur d'Aubigny. It is situated about 14 miles south-east of

Aubigny-sur-Nère Aubigny-sur-Nère () is a town and commune in the Cher department in the administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography An area of forestry and farming surrounding a small light industrial town, situated in the valley of the r ...

, and the

Château d'Aubigny The Château d'Aubigny in the parish and Manorialism, manor of Aubigny-sur-Nère in the ancient Provinces of France, province of Berry, France, Berry in France, is an historic ancestral seat of a junior branch of the Scottish House of Stewart, know ...

, the original seat of its owners.

Descent

Stewart

The estate was a dependency of the Seigneurie d'Aubigny-sur-Nère, which was granted in 1423Ministère de la Culture, Plateforme Ouverte du Patrimoine by King Charles VII of France to Sir

John Stewart of Darnley Sir John Stewart of Darnley, 1st Comte d'Évreux, 1st Seigneur de Concressault, 1st Seigneur d'Aubigny (1429) was a Scottish nobleman and famous military commander who served as Constable of the Scottish Army in France, supporting the French ag ...

, 1st Comte d'Évreux, 1st Seigneur de Concressault, 1st Seigneur d'Aubigny ( 1380 – 1429) a Scottish nobleman and famous military commander who served as Constable of the Scottish Army in France, supporting the French against the English during the Hundred Years War. He was a fourth cousin of King

James I of Scotland James I (late July 139421 February 1437) was King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III and Annabella Drummond. His older brother David, Duke of ...

(reigned 1406 to 1437), the third monarch of the

. La Verrerie was a ''demeure d'agrément'', or secondary residence used for leisure activities, of the Seigneurs d'Aubigny. The surviving structure, including the central ''corps de logis'' and chapel, was probably built between 1495-1500 by Bernard Stuart, 4th Seigneur d'Aubigny (d.1508) (Bérault, grandson of Sir John Stewart of Darnley), Captain of the Archers of the Scots Guards (an elite bodyguard of the French Kings) and Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom of Naples. The Gallery Wing with the two pavilions and the main entrance were added in about 1520-25 by his first-cousin once removed and son-in-law and successor Robert Stuart (d.1543), 4th Seigneur d'Aubigny, who married his daughter and heiress Anne Stewart. In 1672, following the death of the last in the male line of the Stewarts of Aubigny, namely Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox, 12th Seigneur d'Aubigny (1639-1672) (a fourth cousin of King Charles II), of

Cobham Hall Cobham Hall is an English country house in the county of Kent, England. The grade I listed building is one of the largest and most important houses in Kent, re-built as an Elizabethan prodigy house by William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham (1527� ...

in Kent and of

Richmond House Richmond House is a government building in Whitehall, City of Westminster, London. Its name comes from an historic townhouse of the Duke of Richmond that once stood on the site. History Stewart Dukes of Richmond Richmond House was first built ...

in Whitehall, London, the estate

escheat Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

ed to the French crown, as ordained in the original deed of donation from King Charles VII.

Lennox

In 1673, at the request of King Charles II of England, the Château de la Verrerie was granted by King

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

to Louise de Kérouaille (1649-1734), the English king's last mistress. Also at Charles's request, in 1684 Louis XIV created her Duchesse d'Aubigny, a title in the

Peerage of France The Peerage of France (french: Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (french: Pair de France, links=no) was ...

. Although the English titles (Duchess of Portsmouth, Baroness Petersfield and Countess of Fareham) granted to Louise in 1673 by Charles were merely for her life, her French title was to be inherited by her male descendants sired by Charles, who were given the surname "Lennox". After Charles's death in 1685 Louise left England, with two shiploads Goodwood House website: ''The French Connection'', summer exhibition 201

/ref> of magnificent paintings and furniture from her apartment in the Palace of Whitehall given to her by the king, and lived the rest of her life at la Verrerie. On her death in 1734 her estate and French title were inherited by her grandson Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 2nd Duc d'Aubigny (1701-1750), of Goodwood House near

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

in Sussex, the son and heir of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox (1672-1723) (the youngest of the seven illegitimate sons of King Charles II), who had predeceased his mother. The French estate was retained by his descendants until 1842 when it was sold by Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond, 5th Duke of Lennox, 5th Duc d'Aubigny (1791-1860). Much of the collection of paintings and furniture now at Goodwood House, seat of Charles Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond, 11th Duke of Lennox, 6th Duke of Gordon, 11th Duc d'Aubigny (born 1955), originated in the collection of his ancestress Louise de Kérouaille.

de Vogüé

It was purchased in 1842 from the 5th Duke of Richmond by the politician Léonce de Vogüé. In 1892 it was extended by his grandson Louis de Vogüé, to the designs of the architect Ernest Sanson.

Architectural significance

It has been listed as an official historical monument by the French Ministry of Culture since 1987.

References