The Château de Suscinio or de Susinio is a Breton
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 ...
, built in the late
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 ...
, to be the residence of the
Dukes of Brittany. It is located in the commune of
Sarzeau in the
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
Morbihan
The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...
, near the coast of the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. The spectacular site comprises the moated castle, a ruined chapel, a dovecote, and a few ruined outbuildings.
History
Designed to be a place of leisure, between the seaside and a forest full of game for hunting, the castle's first ''logis seigneurial'' (seigniorial house) dates from the beginning of the 13th century.
The castle was fortified and enlarged, at the end of the 14th century, when the heirs of the duchy had to fight to keep their assets (
Brittany
Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
was not yet fully united to
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and did not become so until 1514), after the castle was taken by
Bertrand du Guesclin, the infamous
Constable of France
The Constable of France (, from Latin for 'count of the stables') was lieutenant to the King of France, the first of the original five Great Officers of the Crown (along with seneschal, chamberlain, butler, and chancellor) and the commander-in ...
.
John V John V may refer to:
* Patriarch John V of Alexandria or John the Merciful (died by 620), Patriarch of Alexandria from 606 to 616
* John V of Constantinople, Patriarch from 669 to 675
* Pope John V (685–686), Pope from 685 to his death in 686
...
and
John VI constructed a new seigniorial residence block with a large, new corner tower known as the ''Tour Neuve''. A casemate was added at the end of the 15th century to protect artillery pieces.
Suscinio and the Wars of the Roses
From 1471 to 1484, the castle housed
Jasper Tudor,
Henry Tudor (later King Henry VII of England), and the core of their group of exiled Lancastrians, numbering about 500 by 1483. Since the castle could only house some 100 persons, the rest must have been billeted close about, in Kermoizin and other villages nearby.
Francis II, Duke of Brittany supported this group of exiled Englishmen, against all the
Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet ( /plænˈtædʒənət/ ''plan-TAJ-ə-nət'') was a royal house which originated from the French county of Anjou. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses: the Angev ...
demands that he should surrender them. For 11 years, Suscinio was an armed camp, alert against any attempt to kidnap Jasper and Henry and return them to England where they were under
attainder
In English criminal law, attainder was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary titles, but ...
and would have been promptly executed as threats to the
Yorkist
The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, th ...
rule.
Duke Francis II supported the failed Lancastrian rebellion and invasion of England in 1483 with 40,000 gold crowns, 15,000 soldiers, and a fleet of transport ships. When the Duke suffered from one of his periods of incapacitating illness, his treasurer,
Pierre Landais, agreed to surrender Henry Tudor to the representatives of the Yorkist King
Richard III of England
Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosw ...
, in return for a pledge of 3,000 English archers to defend Brittany against a threatened French attack.
News of this plot by Landais reached the exiled Lancastrians just in time for both the Tudors to separately escape, hours ahead of Landais' soldiers, across the nearby border into France, where they were received at the court of King
Charles VIII of France
Charles VIII, called the Affable (; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13. His elder sister Anne acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Du ...
.
Shortly thereafter, when Duke Francis II regained his faculties, he offered the 400 remaining Lancastrians, still at and around Suscinio, safe-conduct into France and even paid for their expenses. This may have been the last official use of the castle by the Breton Dukes. Duke Francis II died in 1488, and was succeeded by his 11-year-old daughter,
Anne of Brittany
Anne of Brittany (; 25/26 January 1477 – 9 January 1514) was reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She was the only woman to have been queen consort of Fran ...
, last ruling Duchess of Brittany, and twice Queen of France. She died in 1514 and Brittany lost its
autonomy
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...
, becoming part of France.
The castle was then slowly abandoned by the aristocracy. In the early sixteenth century, the former great hall of the 14th century, along the northern curtain-wall, was destroyed. The castle was then confiscated by the French crown under King
Francis I of France
Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...
who offered it to one of his mistresses. In 1795, Suscinio was temporarily occupied by the royalists coming from
Quiberon and heading to the north of Morbihan. Written off in the 17th and 18th centuries, the castle was used off-and-on as a stone quarry until the
French Revolution.
During the Revolution, it was sold to a merchant who continued to sell the stones, and it soon after fell into even greater ruin.
The restoration
The Department of Morbihan bought it in 1965 from the family of Jules de Francheville, who had attempted to preserve and restore the castle, and began the restoration in earnest. The remains of a ducal chapel was found in the vicinity outside of the moats; its remarkable tiled floor has been carefully removed and restored and is now exhibited in a hall of the castle.
Nowadays, Suscinio Castle has again regained its allure of an intact medieval fortress, but major restoration work continues.
The castle may be unique in Western Europe because of its restoration to its presumed late-15th-century condition; because many other medieval fortresses made obsolete by the use of cannon in warfare were either dismantled or modernised to become "comfortable country houses". Today, few other medieval fortresses remain, structurally, as they were at the height of their late-medieval strength and power; and in this lies the particular interest of the Château de Suscinio.
Exhibitions and summer events attract many people. Since 1840, the castle has been listed 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 ...
.
France Bretagne 56 Suscinio 01.jpg
France Bretagne 56 Suscinio 02.jpg
France Bretagne 56 Suscinio 03.jpg
France Bretagne 56 Suscinio 04.jpg
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
External links
*
Visiting information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suscinio, Chateau de
Castles in Brittany
Châteaux in Morbihan
Monuments historiques of Morbihan
Water castles in France