The Château de Bussy-Rabutin, also known as Château de Bussy-le-Grand, is a ''

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

'' which developed from a 12th-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 ...

, located in the commune of Bussy-le-Grand, in the

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or () is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.

department, Bourgogne, eastern

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 ...

History

The castle was founded in the 12th century by Renaudin de Bussy. It was rebuilt in the 14th century, and the

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 ...

galleries were added in the 1520s. It was altered during the reigns of Henri II (1547–1559) and

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. ...

(1610–1643). Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy (1618–1693), fell into disgrace for allegedly having taken part in an

orgy An orgy is a sex party where guests freely engage in open and unrestrained sexual activity or group sex. Swingers' parties do not always conform to this designation, because at many swinger parties the sexual partners may all know each other o ...

at the Château de Roissy, near Paris, during

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

. Bussy was ordered by

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

to retire to his estates, where he passed the time by composing his ''Histoire amoureuse des Gaules''. This account of various courtly love affairs caused further scandal, and he was eventually sent to the

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a ...

on 17 April 1665, where he remained for more than a year. Bussy only obtained his release on condition that he retired once more to Bussy-Rabutin, where he lived in exile from court for seventeen years. Although he briefly returned to court in the 1680s, he soon returned to Bussy-Rabutin, dying there in 1693. During his exile he amassed a collection of portraits, which remains in the château. Restoration works were begun in the 19th century by the comte de Sarcus, and the property was 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, ...

'' in 1862. It was purchased by the French state in 1929, and is currently managed by the ''

Centre des monuments nationaux Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

''. Further restoration has been carried out since the 1970s.

As a film location

The château has been used as a scene for historical movies, including '' The Gallant Lords of Bois-Doré'', '' La reine et le cardinal'' and '' La marquise des ombres''.

References

External links

* * High-resolution 360° Panoramas o
Château de Bussy-Rabutin , Art Atlas
Castles in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Châteaux in Côte-d'Or Gardens in Côte-d'Or Historic house museums in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Museums in Côte-d'Or Monuments historiques of Côte-d'Or Monuments of the Centre des monuments nationaux Maisons des Illustres {{france-castle-stub