Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil is a 14th-century

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

built on the grounds of an earlier 12th-century castle in Ainay-le-Vieil,

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. After having bought the castle from Jacques Cœur, Charles de Bigny built a pre-Renaissance

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

-style chateaux from 1500 to 1505. The castle has been listed as a ''

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' since 1968 by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

. The castle, now part of Jacques Cœur's tourist route, has been nicknamed "the little Carcassonne" () because of its circular shape. Today the castle is one of the best-preserved fortresses of the 14th century.

Location

The castle is built on a site located on the frontier of the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

kingdom and that of

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

(and later the lands of the French and English kingdoms) that has been fortified since the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

and was once occupied by the Gallo-Romans. This location was thus strategically important, especially during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

, and this can be attested to by its sizeable

walls Walls may refer to: *The plural of wall, a structure * Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places * Walls, Louisiana, United States * Walls, Mississippi, United States *Walls, Ontario Perry is a township (Canada), ...

. Because of its importance to the French Kings, it was entrusted to houses close to the King, such as the

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. A branch descended from ...

, Barres, Sully, and Culants. The castle property is mentioned in a

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll ('' rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

at the end of the 11th century, naming a member of the House of Bourbon (rulers of

Bourbonnais The Bourbonnais (; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Borbonés'') was a Provinces of France, historic province in the centre of France that corresponds to the modern ''département in France, département'' of Allier, along with part of the ''dépar ...

) and a brother of

Charles Martel Charles Martel (; – 22 October 741), ''Martel'' being a sobriquet in Old French for "The Hammer", was a Franks, Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of ...

. It then passed into the ownership of Pierre Barres and his brother, Guillaume, who won fame for their family by saving the French king at the

Battle of Bouvines The Battle of Bouvines took place on 27 July 1214 near the town of Bouvines in the County of Flanders. It was the concluding battle of the Anglo-French War (1213–14), Anglo-French War of 1213–1214. Although estimates on the number of troo ...

in 1214. Next, the Sully family, of the

Loire Valley The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...

, came into possession of the castle for over a century in a period wherein the castle became an important base from which to harass the English during the

. After the French defeat at

Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...

in 1356, it became the only castle in the region to remain in French hands. Similarly, it lost all military importance with the French victory at the end of the Hundred Years' War.

History

Since 1467, the castle has been owned by the family of

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...

, minister to the King, and it passed through the women of the family three generations in.

Architecture

Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil comprises two distinct parts: one medieval, and one pre-Renaissance in the

style. File:Corps de logis renaissance du château d'Ainay-le-Vieil.JPG , Renaissance-era house File:Entrée du château d'Ainay-le-Vieil.JPG , Gatehouse File:Porte du Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil.JPG , Portcullis File:Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil 01.jpg , Moat File:Ainay 01 2009.jpg File:Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil 02.jpg File:Chateau d'Ainay-le-Vieil 9491.jpg File:Ainay-le-Vieil (18) Le château.jpg

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

References

* * *

Journals

External links

*
Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ainay le Vieil, Chateau d' Castles in Centre-Val de Loire Water castles in France