The Château de Brandon is a

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 ...

in the '' commune'' of Saint-Pierre-de-Varennes in the

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is B ...

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 France.

History

The castle was built on the site of

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

camp.Château de Brandon website
BRANDON Castle
Although it undoubtedly existed before, there is no documentary evidence before the 13th century when a charter shows it as a purely defensive site under the

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...

,Château de Brandon website
BRANDON's History
which it remained until the 15th century. It is an excellent example of military architecture with upper and lower walled courtyards, 12th century round walk and a 13th-century

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

tower. The main building was modified during the reign of

King Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

where the fortress was turned into a 17th-century residence.

Description

The castle stands on top of a hill. The buildings are distributed around an irregular shaped ''

enceinte Enceinte (from Latin ''incinctus'' "girdled, surrounded") is a French term that refers to the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle, this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the positio ...

'' divided into two by a wall separating the farmyard of the lower courtyard from the residential court. The latter, of lengthened rectangular form, is flanked in the north-western and north-eastern corners by square towers. A wing at right angles occupies the east side; it is connected by a section of wall to a third square tower. The courtyard is completed by the agricultural buildings and a stable. A gate tower located at the south-western corner gives access to this area.

History

Sources:Eugène Fyot
"Le château et les seigneurs de Brandon"
in ''Mémoires de la Société éduenne'' vol 28 (1899), pp 1-104. *

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

: military post at junction of routes. * 13th century :probable existence of a strengthened tower owned successively by the lords of Brandon then by captains who hold it in the name of the dukes of Burgundy. * 1365 : the tower is entrusted to Robert d' Essertenne who becomes its hereditary lord. * 14th century : the duke Philippe II of Burgundy raises the stronghold to a barony to the advantage of Philippe de la Roche, grandson of the preceding. * 1453 : castle sold. * 1528 : after complex successions within the Lugny family, the castle is acquired by Hugues-Bernard de Montessus * 1633 : property seized by Charles de Montessus, great-grandson of the preceding. * 1638 : sold to Alphonse de Chaumelis. * 1653 : death of Alphonse de Chaumelis who leaves two daughters – Jeanne et Huguette – under the supervision of their uncle, Jean-Baptiste de Chaumelis. * 1670 : Huguette de Chaumelis, daughter of Alphonse, marries Claude de la Coste, inherits Brandon at the conclusion of a fight against her uncle who had tried to despoil it. * 1729 : attack on the castle by the local population organised by Eugene, son of Huguette, who seeks to dispossess his mother. * 1729 : Jean-Baptiste, Huguette's other son, inherits the property at the death of his mother. * 18th century : childless, Jean-Baptiste bequeaths the castle to Jeanne-Huguette de la Coste, his niece, wife of the marquis Jacques de Beaurepaire ; the main building, probably built by Chaumelis, is abandoned to the farmers. * End of the 18th century : a Beaurepaire daughter marries Louis Furrier de Cléry who, because of a spendthrift life, has to sell Brandon. * 1826 : the property passes to Nicolas Tripier, a lawyer, deputy, and

peer of France The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 during the Middle Ages. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the Fr ...

. * 19th century : through the daughter of the preceding, Antoine Mala becomes owner of the castle. * Around 1900 : important restoration works carried out by the granddaughter of Nicolas Tripier, widow of Ferdinand de Jouvencel. * 1922 : on the death of Mme de Jouvencel, the vicomte de Masin, her grandson, inherits the estate. The castle still belongs to this family.

Today

The castle is privately owned. It has been listed since 1975 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 the supplementary inventory of 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 ...

. It is a family home and open to the public in July and August.

References

Bibliography

* Françoise Vignier (ed), 1985: ''Le Guide des Châteaux de France: 71 Saône-et-Loire''. Paris: Editions Hermé * Eugène Fyot
"Le château et les seigneurs de Brandon"
in ''Mémoires de la Société éduenne'' vol 28 (1899), pp 1–104. * Eugène Fyot : ''Le château et les seigneurs de Brandon'', Autun, Imprimerie et Librairie Dejussieu, 1900.

External links

*
Official site, in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandon, Chateau De Castles in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Historic house museums in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Museums in Saône-et-Loire Monuments historiques of Saône-et-Loire Châteaux in Saône-et-Loire

History

Description

History

Today

See also

References

Bibliography

External links