The Château d'Airvault is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

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 ...

situated in the French '' commune'' of Airvault in the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...

and the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

'' région''. Airvault stands in the Thouet valley and includes the listed monuments of the Saint-Pierre Abbey and church. The town is dominated by the castle built on a hill. In the Middle Ages, this strategic position made it an important part of the powerful defensive system of the town.

History

The castle was constructed on an earlier ''

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

''. It was besieged and conquered in 1207 by

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks (Latin: ''rex Francorum''), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the firs ...

. On 22 September 1565, Jean Ysoré,

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

d’Airvault had the honour of welcoming Charles IX and the young Prince of

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, the future King Henri IV. On 3 October 1569, after the Battle of Moncontour which saw the victory of the Duke of Anjou (the future Henri III), Gaspard de Coligny who commanded the defeated

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

s the burning of the castle in revenge for René Ysoré (son of Jean Ysoré) who contributed to his defeat. Burned, the castle was abandoned by its owners. At the start of the 20th century, the owner constructed a house in the lower court and planned to destroy the castle to sell the materials. The remains of the former castle were inscribed 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, ...

'' on 3 October 1929 and classified on 4 September 2007 for the '' enceinte'' and its towers, the remains of the

barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

and the grounds.

The castle

The Château d'Airvault is considered by the

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Henri Bodin as "one of the rare remaining specimens of military architecture of the 11th century".Quote: ''Un des rares spécimens qui reste de l’architecture militaire du XI''^e siècle From this time, there remains the ''enceinte'' with its two uncrowned towers and its

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

whose well-preserved silhouette marks the urban landscape. The 14th- and 15th-century buildings inside the ''enceinte'' replaced in the original buildings. According to Bodin, the castle was built on the site of the former Gallic

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...

and the builders of the castle were inspired by the square towers of this old oppidum and the way to put them on the ramparts. It is this peculiarity of construction which makes it possible to date the castle of Airvault at least to the 11th century. (Some think that it would be earlier than the beginning of the construction of the church). The castle has an ''enceinte'' whose crenellation was leveled in the 1940s. Two quadrangular towers added obliquely to the corners of the ''enceinte'' on the ramparts are dated to the 13th or 14th century. The rectangular ', defended by a ''

bretèche In medieval fortification, a bretèche or brattice is a small balcony with machicolations, usually built over a gate and sometimes in the corners of the fortress' wall, with the purpose of enabling defenders to shoot or throw objects at the atta ...

'' and

hoarding Hoarding is the act of engaging in excessive acquisition of items that are not needed or for which no space is available. Civil unrest or the threat of natural disasters may lead people to hoard foodstuffs, water, gasoline, and other essentials ...

s, is pierced by a door with a

portcullis A portcullis () is a heavy, vertically closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications. It consists of a latticed Grille (architecture), grille made of wood and/or metal, which slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway. ...

and

murder hole A murder hole or meurtrière is a hole in the ceiling of a gateway or passageway in a fortification through which the defenders could shoot, throw or pour harmful substances or objects such as rocks, arrows, scalding water, hot sand, quicklime, ...

giving access to the court. The main dwelling of the 15th century is located along the west curtain wall. Among the outbuildings are the prison with its two vaulted cells lit by an

arrowslit An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a narrow vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows or a crossbowman can launch Crossbow bolt, bolts ...

and a stable.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Airvault, chateau de Castles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Buildings and structures in Deux-Sèvres Monuments historiques of Deux-Sèvres

History

The castle

See also

References

External links