The Château du Bec-Crespin is a historic castle in Saint-Martin-du-Bec,

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inf� ...

Upper Normandy Upper Normandy (, ; ) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Upper and Lower Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. History It was created in 1956 from two departments: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Norm ...

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 ...

, 20 km north of

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

. It is now a

luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suite (hotel), suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a d ...

History

An earlier castle stood here in the tenth century. The castle was inherited by

Pierre de Brézé Pierre II de Brézé or de Brezé ( – 16 July 1465), Count of Maulevrier and Évreux (), was a French soldier and courtier in the service of kings Charles VII and Louis XI. He is sometimes distinguished from others of his house as Pierre II. ...

from his brother-in-law, Antoine Crespin, in 1454. It was later inherited by

Louis de Brézé Louis de Brézé, Seigneur d'Anet and Comte de Maulevrier ( – 23 July 1531) was a French nobleman, the grandson of King Charles VII of France by his natural daughter with his mistress Agnès Sorel. Early life Louis was the son of Jacques de B ...

. In 1579, it was acquired by Nicolas Romé de Fresquiennes. During the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

, the castle was used as a prison for Roman Catholic priests. The castle was restored in 1844–48. The castle was rented to

Henri Carton de Wiart Henry Victor Marie Ghislain, Count Carton de Wiart (1869–1951) was a Belgian writer and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Belgium from 20 November 1920 to 16 December 1921. Early life On 31 January 1869, Henry Carton de Wiart was ...

from 1916 onwards, when he was the Belgian Minister of Justice. Guests included

Maurice Barrès Auguste-Maurice Barrès (; 19 August 1862 – 4 December 1923) was a French novelist, journalist, philosopher, and politician. Spending some time in Italy, he became a figure in French literature with the release of his work ''The Cult of the S ...

Louis Barthou Jean Louis Barthou (; 25 August 1862 – 9 October 1934) was a French politician of the French Third Republic, Third Republic who served as Prime Minister of France for eight months in 1913. In social policy, his time as prime minister saw the ...

and René Bazin. The castle is now a luxury hotel.

Architectural significance

It has been listed as an official historical monument since December 22, 1952.

References

External links

Official website
Châteaux in Seine-Maritime Monuments historiques of Seine-Maritime Hotels in France {{France-castle-stub