The Château de Mauléon, known as ''vieux château'' ("old castle"), 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

Mauléon-Licharre Mauléon-Licharre (; , Occitan: Maulion e Lisharra), or simply Mauléon, is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. It is the capital of the Soule (''Zuberoa'') historical Basque province. It is home to the ...

, in the

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon language, Gascon Occitan language, Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; ) is a Departments of France, department located in the Regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in the southwest corner of metropolitan ...

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 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, ...

'' on 4 May 1925.

History

The old castle of Mauléon originated in the 11th century, when the

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

y of

Soule Soule (; Basque language, Basque: Zuberoa; Zuberoan/ Soule Basque: Xiberoa or Xiberua; ) is a former viscounty and France, French Provinces of France, province and part of the present-day Pyrénées-Atlantiques ''département in France, départ ...

was formed, as a

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy ...

erected on a hill, composed of a wooden tower, flanked by a farmyard, all protected by a

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

surrounded by a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

. In 1261, the English king, who held the title of Viscount, decided to assert his authority, especially militarily, through a ''

châtelain Châtelain was originally the French title for the keeper of a castle.Abraham Rees Ebers, "CASTELLAIN", in: The Cyclopædia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature' (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1819), vol. 6. H ...

'', paid by him. Between 1272 and 1287,

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

, concerned with his strongholds' quality, imposed repairs and strengthening of the castle fortifications. This work was continued in 1319 and 1374 by later ''châtelains''. After vain attempts to capture the castle from England, and sometimes temporarily successful attempts (as between 1295 and 1307),

Gaston IV, Count of Foix Gaston IV (27 November 1422 – 25 or 28 July 1472) was the sovereign Viscount of Béarn and the Count of Foix and Bigorre in France from 1436 to 1472. He also held the viscounties of Marsan, Castelbon, Nébouzan, Villemeur and Lautrec and ...

, favouring the King of France, initiated in 1449 the reconquest of

Guyenne Guyenne or Guienne ( , ; ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the Catholic archdiocese of Bordeaux. Name The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transform ...

by taking Mauléon. When he died on the battlefield in 1472, the castle and the whole of Soule became permanently attached to France. It suffered new, but short-lived, attacks in 1523 by the

Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by the stadtholders of, and then the heirs apparent of ...

and the Lord of Luxe. In the second half of the 16th century, the castle suffered during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

, and it was burned on this occasion. In 1642, by order of

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. ...

, the castle was demolished. In 1648, a partial reconstruction was organized, but the castle was finally abandoned. Under the French Revolution, it was used as a prison, a function it kept for years. In 1831, the Minister of War refused its restoration, although it housed a garrison until 1870 when the town becomes the owner. The old castle of Mauléon is a registered historic monument by decree of 4 May 1925.

Description

Source
The castle is built on top of a hill dominating the town in front of the Matalon hill (439 m). It has the shape of a pentagon oriented north-east south-west. In front of the castle, two flat spaces are located at each end and probably had homes in 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 southwestern one is now overgrown. The castle is accessed on the north-east side by an outcrop, a stone bridge with three arches, and formerly a small

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 ...

. Most of the buildings are on this north-east side. They consist of small rooms that housed a small garrison. The walls are enhanced by the construction of the castle on a hill. They are not

crenellated A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

. They are reinforced by three

corner tower The corner towers were defensive towers built at the corners of castles or fortresses. Purpose Two ideas have been advanced about the purpose or value of corner towers in medieval fortresses: * The corners of a medieval fortress were weak poi ...

s. They are pierced with

loophole A loophole is an ambiguity or inadequacy in a system, such as a law or security, which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the purpose, implied or explicitly stated, of the system. Originally, the word meant an arrowslit, a narrow vertic ...

s for the artillery, especially on the town side. In the castle courtyard are: * The very narrow entrance to the

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

s at the foot of the buildings * A deep

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

to reach the water table * To the southwest, the almost-levelled ruins of the medieval

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 ...

, destroyed in the 18th century. The drawbridge has been removed (including the lifting chains) and replaced by planks.

Cinema

'' Le Monde vivant'', directed by

Eugène Green Eugène Green (born 28 June 1947) is an American-born French filmmaker and dramatist. He is notable as an educator, training a generation of young actors in the revival of French baroque theatre technique and declamation. Films * 2001 : ''Tou ...

, was shot at the Château de Mauléon.

References

External links

* * Joël Larroque
Le château fort de Mauléon au Moyen Age
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mauleon, chateau de Ruined castles in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Monuments historiques of Pyrénées-Atlantiques

History

Description

Cinema

See also

References

External links