The origins of the Château de l'Hers, in

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Châteauneuf-du-Pape (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The village lies about to the east of the Rhône and north of the town of Avignon. A ruined medieval castle s ...

on the banks of the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

, go back to the beginning of the 10th century. Until the French Revolution it was an

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

in the

Comtat Venaissin The (; ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States from 1274 to 1791, in what is now the region of Southern France. The region was an enclave within the Kingdom of France, comprising the area aroun ...

. Protected as a historic monument since 1973, it has given its name to a

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

History

Early history

Various elements of the château de l'Hers attest to the occupation of this strategically important location as a control point for river traffic, since late Antiquity at the latest. Several tombs with saddleback roofs form a small 6th-7th

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

not far from the first known chapel of the château, dedicated to

Saints Cosmas and Damian Cosmas and Damian ( – or AD) were two Arabs, Arab physicians and early Christian martyrs. They practised their profession in the seaport of Yumurtalık, Aegeae, then in the Roman province of Cilicia (Roman province), Cilicia. Cosmas and ...

. An excavation of this ruined church found lithic industries, and

sherd This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...

s from antiquity and the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

, fragments of Tegula tiles and a cipolin cladding probably dating to Antiquity were re-used in the

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

. A large number of weapons, coins and medals were found in the area. The tollgate on the Rhône was put in place in 79 AD under

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

, according to V. Millet (1864). There must have been a Roman ''

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 ...

'', probably destroyed in the great invasions.Histoire de Châteauneuf-du-Pape sur le site avignon-et-provence.com
/ref> This appeared under the name of ''castellum de Leri'' in a 913

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

. It was signed by Louis the Blind and ceded it to Foulques, Bishop of Avignon.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape

In 1077, his successor Rostaing granted the fief to Pierre d'Albaron, who built a keep there. The first mention of a ''Castro Novo'' (new fortified village), which led to the name Châteauneuf-du-Pape, does not appear until 1094 It became the château de l'Hers after it was expanded in the 12th century and then was renovated for the first time during the 13th century.Le château de l'Hers sur le site patrimoine-de-france.com
/ref> Certain historians have said that the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

used it at the end of the 12th century.Jules Courtet, ''op. cit.'', p. 147. This legend was disproven by the historians in the 20th century. L'Hers (or Lair, or Lers), become an enclave of

on the right bank of the

, the château and its village were in ruins during the 12th century. Historical texts say that the parish had two places of worship, the parish church named Sainte-Marie and the château's chapel dedicated to

Robert Bailly, ''op. cit.'', p. 155. Jacques d'Euze, formerly bishop of Avignon, was elected pope in 1316 and took the name

John XXII Pope John XXII (, , ; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death, in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by the Conclave of ...

. Châteauneuf fell directly under his authority. Barely pope for three months, he had construction undertaken at l'Hers. The accounts of the

Apostolic Camera The Apostolic Camera (), formerly known as the was an office in the Roman Curia. It was the central board of finance in the papal administrative system and at one time was of great importance in the government of the States of the Church and ...

say that he allocated 3,000

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

s to the restoration of the old 12-century château.

Rhône tollgate and watch tower

During the

Middle Ages 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 global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the old château was a watch post and toll station on the

which passed to different families allied to the Albaron family. The Albaron kept their

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

until 1360, when it was transferred to the family as a

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

. Around 1400, it came back to the Albaron de Laudin des Baux family, who kept it until the 1420s. The last heiress of this family brought it as a

to an Allemand. That family then took the name Allemand de Laudun Albaron. During the 16th century its toll rights fell in turn to the Arpajon Cardaillac, Monteynard and Montmorency families, then to the Duke of Lévis Ventadour.

Hercule de Rohan Hercule de Rohan (27 August 1568 – 16 October 1654) was a member of the princely House of Rohan. The second Duke of Montbazon, he is an ancestor of the present Princes of Guéméné. His daughter was the famous Frondeur the '' duchesse de ...

, prince of Soubise, inherited it and his family still owned it when the French Revolution broke out. The tolls were abolished with the of aristocratic privileges during the French Revolution, and the enclave of l'Hers was attached to the new department of

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.

Winery

Today the château is private property. At the winery that takes its name, Marcel Georges elaborates a red Châteauneuf-du-pape with a base of Syrah, Mourvèdre, Muscardin, Counoise, Cinsault, Grenache, Vaccarese and Terret, and a white Châteauneuf-du-pape which blends Picardan, Roussanne, Clairette, Picpoul and white Grenache. With an area of 14 ''hectares'', it's one of the rare wineries allowed to use the name, which is an appellation d'origine controllée, to offer the full array of the thirteen Châteauneuf-du-Pape varieties. Although the winery kept the name of the château it does not include the name in its business since the château lies outside the

Appellation d'origine contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...

. Only the lower chamber of the medieval keep and the 14th-century round tower remain of the château, along with a few vestiges of the ramparts.Robert Bailly, ''op. cit.'', p. 154. The site was registered 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 1973.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Château de l'Hers Châteaux in Vaucluse Avignon Papacy Society of France