The Château de Ham (also called fort or forteresse de Ham) 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

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

in the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

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 ...

'' in

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...

, France.

History

The early castle, whose construction date is unknown, is mentioned in a 1052 charter. During the 13th century, it was restored by Odon IV of Ham who gave the fortress its definitive shape, a polygonal enceinte broken up by large cylindrical towers. Enguerrand de Coucy bought the

seigneury A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal system, feudal title in Ancien Régime, France before the French Revolution, Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owne ...

in 1380 and his daughter sold it in 1400 to Louis d' Orléans, who integrated it into his network of fortresses which included La Ferté-Milon, Pierrefonds and

Fère-en-Tardenois Fère-en-Tardenois (, literally ''Fère in Tardenois'') is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It is named for the Tardenois region. Population Personalities It was the birthplace of Camille Claudel ...

. Louis began the reconstruction, perfected after 1418 by John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny, who acquired the seigneury following Louis' assassination. John's nephew,

Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano (1418 – 19 December 1475) belonged to the Ligny branch of the House of Luxemburg and was Constable of France. Life Saint-Pol was the eldest son of Peter of Luxembo ...

and constable to

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...

in 1465, constructed a monumental

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 ...

in 1441. This massive tower (the ''tour du connétable'' - constable's tower) was 33 m (~108 ft) in diameter and 33 m (~108 ft) high and had walls 11 m (~36 ft) thick. The Château de Ham was besieged several times, notably by

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

in 1557. United with the French crown under the reign of Henri IV, it was transformed at the end of the 17th century by Vauban. The castle was later turned into a state prison. It 'welcomed' many famous prisoners, the last of whom was Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (the future

Napoléon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

) who, after six years, escaped by adopting the identity of a painter, Badinguet. Later, his opponents would often refer to him disparagingly as Badinguet In 1870, during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, the Second Army of the North encircled the town of Ham and forced the occupying

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

ns to sign a surrender. Like the Château de Coucy, the fort was dynamited on 19 March 1917, by the Germans. All that remains today is the square plan entrance tower and parts of its network of enceintes. These picturesque ruins dominate the peaceful course of the

Canal de la Somme The Canal de la Somme () is a canal in northern France. Its total length is 156.4 km with 25 locks, from the English Channel at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme to the Canal de Saint-Quentin at Saint-Simon, Aisne, Saint-Simon. ...

. The castle has been listed since 1965 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, ...

'' 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 ...

Notable prisoners held at Ham

Jacques Cassard Jacques Cassard (30 September 1679 – 1740) was a French naval officer and privateer. Biography Born on 30 September 1679 to a family of merchants of Nantes, Cassard began a career as a sailor at age 14 on the merchantmen owned by his f ...

, French pirate * Mirabeau * Marshal Moncey * Martial de Guernon-Ranville and Jean de Chantelauze, ministers of

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

(1831–1836) * Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, future Napoléon III * Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé

References

* Charles Gomart: ''Ham, son château et ses prisonniers'', 1864, republished: La Vague Verte, 2000

External links

*
Château de Ham
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ham, Chateau de Castles in Hauts-de-France Chateau Ham Ruins in Hauts-de-France