The Château de Montribloud is a former

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

Saint-André-de-Corcy Saint-André-de-Corcy () is a commune in the Ain ''département'' in eastern France. Population Sites and monuments The commune has several châteaux and ''poypes'' (fortified mounds, or mottes). The motte castrale Poype de la Roussière h ...

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 was later transformed into a

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 ...

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 ...

. The castle is constructed of brick, typical of the

Dombes The Dombes (; ) is an area in eastern France, once an independent municipality, formerly part of the provinces of France, province of Burgundy (region), Burgundy, and now a district comprised in the department of France, department of Ain, and b ...

area.

Origins

The origin of Montribloud is uncertain. Some have derived the name of Montribloud from ''Mons terribilis'' (terrible mount) as the site of a battle in 197 BC between

Clodius Albinus Decimus Clodius Albinus ( 150 – 19 February 197) was a Roman imperial pretender between 193 and 197. He was proclaimed emperor by the legions in Britain and Hispania after the murder of Pertinax in 193 (known as the "Year of the Five Emperors") ...

and

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

to become Roman Emperor. Others suggest a Germanic origin, citing ancient transcriptions referring to "Montribloz, Montriblou, Montriblout".

Middle Ages

The first proven historical mention of Montribloud dates back to 1299. In 1313, Hugues Brun, canon of

Lyon Cathedral Lyon Cathedral () is a Roman Catholic Church architecture, church located on Place Saint-Jean in central Lyon, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Lyon. Begun in 1180 on the ruins of ...

, directed his heirs to build a monastery there. In fact, Humbert V, lord of Thoire-Villars, built a castle on a mound during the 1320s. On 21 February 1334, Humbert V paid homage to the Dauphin du Viennois for the "''donjon''" (

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 ...

) of Montribloud. Later, his son Humbert VI, did the same

Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy Amadeus VI (4 January 1334 – 1 March 1383), nicknamed the Green Count () was Count of Savoy from 1343 to 1383. He was the eldest son of Aymon, Count of Savoy, and Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat. Though he began his rule under a regency, ...

in 1355, following the joining of

Dauphiné The Dauphiné ( , , ; or ; or ), formerly known in English as Dauphiny, is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was ...

to France. On 31 October 1384, Humbert VII of Thoire-Villars exchanged the territory of Beauvoir en Bugey with Eudes de Villars, seigneur of Montellier, his cousin, for the seigneurie of Montribloud including the parishes of

Civrieux Civrieux () is a commune in Ain, a department in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Ain department The following is a list of the 391 communes of the Ain department of France. The communes cooperate in the follow ...

, Bussiges and Saint-Marcel-en-Dombes. At the beginning of the 15th century, after the death without heirs of Eudes de Villars, Montribloud passed in 1418 to his grand-nephews, the sons of Jeanne de la Tour and of Jean de La Baume, Count of de Montrevel and

Marshal of France Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to General officer, generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) ...

. It remained in this powerful Baume-Montrevel family until Antoine, who sold it in 1590, to Martin and Jean de Covet, seigneurs of la Mure, rich merchant drapers originally from

Bresse Bresse () is a former French province. It is located in the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté of eastern France. The geographical term ''Bresse'' has two meanings: ''Bresse bourguignonne'' (or ''louhannaise''), whic ...

The Renaissance château

The Covets transformed the castle, surrounded with ditches, into a

residence with mullioned windows. On 8 August 1660, Antoine de Covet, marquis de Villars, had the barony of Montibould established in the county. Deeply in debt, his grandson Jean-Baptiste de Covet, was forced to sell the seigneurie of Montribloud to his creditor, Pierre Nicolau, alderman and treasurer of the town of Lyon. on 24 January 1754.

The château of the Nicolaus

Inheriting the château from his father, Christophe Nicolau engaged the celebrated Lyonnais urban architect

Jean-Antoine Morand Jean-Antoine Morand (1727–1794) was an 18th-century French architect and urban planner whose ''plan circulaire'' (circular plan) "reimagined" the city of Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at ...

to rebuild the castle to his tastes. The mound was enlarged, the castle was given a neoclassical plan and a

French formal garden The French formal garden, also called the , is a style of "Landscape architecture, landscape" garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed ...

was created. But, accused of having mixed his personal funds with those of the town of Lyon, he fled to Paris. His son, Antoine Nicolau, gave it to the Lyonnais banker Melchior Bodin in 1826. His son, Alexandre Bodin (1804-1893), who became ''député'' for l'Ain and a member of the Corps Législatif under the Second Empire), transformed the appearance of the castle by introducing slate roofs, according to the fashion of the time, and remodelled the gardens in the English landscape style. The present château has changed very little since then and still belongs to the Bodin family.

The château in the 21st century

The château is normally closed to the public. During

European Heritage Days European Heritage Days (EHD) is a joint action of the Council of Europe and the European Commission involving all 50 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention under the motto, ''Europe: a common heritage''. The annual programme offers ...

, the Bodin family open the château to visitors.

Sources

Guigue, Marie-Claude, ''Topographie historique du département de l'Ain'', 1873.

References

External links

Official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montribloud, Chateau de Castles in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Ain Ruined castles in France