The Château de la Barre is a residence in the ''
commune'' of
Brégnier-Cordon
Brégnier-Cordon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Ain Departments of France, department in eastern France.
Geography
Brégnier-Cordon lies 20 km south of Belley. It is located in a bend of the Rhône on the edge of Savoie (on the ...
in the
Ain
Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...
''
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. It stands on the western slope of the Mont de Cordon.
The main building dates from the 20th century, but the fortifications date back to a 14th-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 ...
. The château was originally a court of justice and a toll collection centre, hence its name "La Barre".
Château de la Barre website
History
The Château de la Barre belonged to the House of Cordon, who moved here following the destruction of the nearby Château de Cordon
The Château de Cordon is a ruined feudal castle in the '' commune'' of Brégnier-Cordon in the Ain ''département'' of France.
History
The House of Cordon is one of the oldest in the historical region of Bugey. They were invested by the Holy ...
. Its position above 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 ...
allowed it to command traffic on the river.
''Le Rouge et le Noir''
The castle was the scene of a scandal involving a young seminarian from the village of Brangues, Antoine Berthe, engaged by the Duke in 1826 as tutor to his children. Berthet had seduced the young Henriette de Cordon, leading to his dismissal. Convinced that his former mistress, the wife of the mayor of Brangues, was behind his dismissal, he shot her in the church at Brangues. Arrested and condemned to death, he was executed in Grenoble
Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
in 1828.
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle (; 23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal (, , ), was a French writer. Best known for the novels ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' ('' The Red and the Black'', 1830) and ''La Chartreuse de Parme'' ('' T ...
, who was familiar with courts and judicial affairs, was inspired by the story to write his novel, ''Le Rouge et le Noir'' (''The Red and the Black
''Le Rouge et le Noir'' (; meaning ''The Red and the Black'') is a psychological novel in two volumes by Stendhal, published in 1830. It chronicles the attempts of a provincial young man to rise socially beyond his modest upbringing through a c ...
'').
See also
*List of castles in France
This is a list of castles in France, arranged by Regions of France, region and Departments of France, department.
;Notes:
# The French word ''château'' has a wider meaning than the English ''castle'': it includes architectural entities that are p ...
References
Châteaux in Ain
Castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
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