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The Fort de Joux or Château de Joux is a
The Château de Joux has undergone several transformations. The original structure was built in the 11th century and was made of wood. Over the next century, the lords of Joux rebuilt the keep and the external fortifications out of stone. In 1454,
"L’INDEPENDENCE DE LA PREMIERE REPUBLIQUE NOIRE – 1er JANVIER 1804"
''
the original
7 June 2004. Website contains translation and apparently the original.
Francerama (travel website)
Le Château de Joux' website
The Louverture Project: Fort de Joux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joux, Fort de Castles in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Forts in France Defunct prisons in France Monuments historiques of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Museums in Doubs Military and war museums in France Vauban fortifications in France
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 ...
, later transformed into a fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, located in La Cluse-et-Mijoux in the Doubs
Doubs (, ; ; frp, Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019.department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in the Jura mountains of France. It commands the mountain pass ''Cluse de Pontarlier''.
History
The Château de Joux has undergone several transformations. The original structure was built in the 11th century and was made of wood. Over the next century, the lords of Joux rebuilt the keep and the external fortifications out of stone. In 1454, Philip the Good
Philip III (french: Philippe le Bon; nl, Filips de Goede; 31 July 1396 – 15 June 1467) was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 until his death. He was a member of a cadet line of the Valois dynasty, to which all 15th-century kings of France belonged ...
, Duke of Burgundy, bought the château and transformed it into a border fort, adding a moat and barracks. The château then passed to Charles the Bold
Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477.
...
, Mary of Burgundy, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (Habsburgs
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
), Margaret of Austria, and Charles Quint
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) fro ...
, with each successive owner making further improvements. Its most famous remodeler was Vauban, who modernised it between 1678 and 1693. It was finally annexed by France in 1678 under Louis XIV.
The Austrians captured the château in 1814. Later, the construction of the forts at Larmont in the 19th century provided reinforcement. In 1879, Captain (later Marshal) Joseph Joffre
Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre (12 January 1852 – 3 January 1931) was a French general who served as Commander-in-Chief of French forces on the Western Front from the start of World War I until the end of 1916. He is best known for regroup ...
, then a military engineering
Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...
officer, modernised the château and transformed it into a fort included in the Maginot Line to prevent German invasion from Swiss territory.
It served as a prison for successive French governments between the 17th and the 19th centuries. In that capacity, the château is best known for imprisoning several famous figures, including Mirabeau, Heinrich von Kleist
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays ''Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'', ''The Broken Jug'', ''Amphit ...
, and the leader of the Haitian Revolution
The Haitian Revolution (french: révolution haïtienne ; ht, revolisyon ayisyen) was a successful insurrection by self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolt began on 2 ...
, Toussaint Louverture
François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (; also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda; 20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803) was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louverture ...
, who died there on 7 April 1803.
In addition to being used as a prison, the château played a part in the defence of the region until the First World War.
The fortress currently houses a museum of arms that exhibits more than 600 rare weapons dating from the early 18th to the 20th centuries, including a rare 1717 rifle. The castle also has a well which, at , was once the deepest in France. Cut with a horizontal gallery and partially filled, it is now the third deepest at about .
Since 1949, the French Ministry of Culture
The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, ...
has listed the château as a '' monument historique''.
See also
*List of castles in France
This is a list of castles in France, arranged by Region and Department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are properly called palaces, mansions or viney ...
References
Sources
* Caroit, Jean-Michel"L’INDEPENDENCE DE LA PREMIERE REPUBLIQUE NOIRE – 1er JANVIER 1804"
''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', 2 January 1904. (Archived frothe original
7 June 2004. Website contains translation and apparently the original.
Francerama (travel website)
External links
Le Château de Joux' website
The Louverture Project: Fort de Joux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joux, Fort de Castles in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Forts in France Defunct prisons in France Monuments historiques of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Museums in Doubs Military and war museums in France Vauban fortifications in France