The
Château d'Oiron is located in
Oiron, in the
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 ...
''
département'' of western
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 ...
. It has its origins in the 15th century war with the English for control of France when a victorious
Charles VII of France
Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious () or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years' War and a ''de facto'' end of the English claims to ...
gave the domain and great forest of Oiron to Guillaume Gouffier who became governor of
Touraine. This château is the background for
Charles Perrault's fairy tale, ''
Puss in Boots''.
King Louis XIV's mistress,
Madame de Montespan was one of the residents in the place.
History
Today, Oiron is only a short drive from the royal châteaux in the
Val de Loire, but in the 15th century it was considered far removed from the seat of power at the royal domains. Nonetheless, Guillaume Gouffier built a magnificent château and his offspring updated and improved it. In 1538, his daughter-in-law,
Helene de Hengest, was responsible for the construction of a collegiate church adjacent to the château. In 1551,
Henry II and his entire court were guests of
Claude Gouffier who had been granted the title Marquis de Caravaz.
Claude Gouffier served as the model for Charles Perrault's "Marquis de Carabas" in his story, ''Puss in Boots''.
Two generations later, another Gouffier was exiled from the king's court by
Cardinal Richelieu in 1620. In the mid 17th century, Charlotte Gouffier became enamored with the renowned intellect,
Blaise Pascal (1623–62), who spent considerable time at the Château d'Oiron. After Pascal died, Charlotte Gouffier married
Francois d'Aubusson, the duc de La Feuillade, who enhanced the castle with his wealth and connections to
Louis XIV. With the renovations, the castle ended up with a main building and two long projecting wings, one of which is a
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
structure built over a cloister. One of the galleries contains one of the most prestigious works of art from the French Renaissance period.
The Duc de La Feuillade's son sold the château to
Louis XIV's mistress,
Madame de Montespan who lived there for the rest of her life. Her son had little interest in the property as he preferred to be much closer to the royal court so in 1736 he sold the château to the
Duc de Villeroi. After that, the château went into severe decline and in 1793 was ransacked by
Revolutionaries. For many years the château lay abandoned until the government of France took possession just before
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
eventually converting it to a museum.
Recognized worldwide, the museum is dedicated to contemporary art. In 1993, ''The Year of Solar Burns'' by
conceptual artist
Charles Ross was commissioned by the
French Ministry of Culture for permanent installation in the Château d'Oiron.
[Kostelanetz, Richard. ''Soho: The Rise and Fall of an Artists' Colony'', United Kingdom: Routledge, 2003, p. 173. Retrieved June 10, 2022.] The château has been listed as a ''
monument historique'' by the Ministry of Culture since 1923.
See also
*
List of castles in France
*
Charles Perrault's ''
Puss in Boots''
References
External links
Official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oiron, Chateau De
15th-century establishments in France
Houses completed in the 15th century
Châteaux in Deux-Sèvres
Museums in Deux-Sèvres
Art museums and galleries in France
Monuments historiques of Deux-Sèvres
Monuments of the Centre des monuments nationaux
Blaise Pascal