Château d'Angoulême
Encyclopedia
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
in the town of Angoulême
Angoulême
-Main sights:In place of its ancient fortifications, Angoulême is encircled by boulevards above the old city walls, known as the Remparts, from which fine views may be obtained in all directions. Within the town the streets are often narrow. Apart from the cathedral and the hôtel de ville, the...
, in the Charente
Charente
Charente is a department in southwestern France, in the Poitou-Charentes region, named after the Charente River, the most important river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited.-History:Charente is one of the original...
département of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The only remaining parts are the keep of Lusignan
Lusignan
The Lusignan family originated in Poitou near Lusignan in western France in the early 10th century. By the end of the 11th century, they had risen to become the most prominent petty lords in the region from their castle at Lusignan...
and the tower of Valois, which are part of the Town Hall of Angoulême, together with a construction of the 19th century.
History
The rocky outcrop which dominates the Charente RiverCharente River
The Charente is a 381 km long river in southwestern France.Its source is in the Haute-Vienne département at Chéronnac, a small village near Rochechouart. It flows through the departments of Haute-Vienne, Charente, Vienne and Charente-Maritime...
and the Anguienne had been a strategical position for a long time. The first fortress on this site was built at the end of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. A rampart protecting a 27 ha area has been maintained until the 13th century. The medieval castle was founded in around 886 by Count Alduin.
From the 10th to the 13th century, the Counts of Angoulême
Counts and dukes of Angoulême
Angoulême in western France was part of the Carolingian Empire as the kingdom of Aquitaine. Under Charlemagne's successors, the local Count of Angoulême was independent and was not united with the French crown until 1307. By the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny the Angoumois, then ruled by the...
, the Taillifer then the Lusignan, strengthened the fortifications of the town, and enlarged them to include the Saint-Martial quarter.
Important additions to the castle were undertaken by Hugh de Lusignan in 1226. In 1308, after the death of Guy de Lusignan, the county of Angoulême returned to the French Crown. It was then given to Louis d'Orléans in 1394, and then fell by inheritance to his son Jean de Valois
John, Count of Angoulême
John of Orléans, Count of Angoulême and of Périgord , 26 June 1399 – 30 April 1467, younger son of Louis I, Duke of Orléans, and Valentina Visconti, and a grandson of Charles V of France. He was the younger brother of the noted poet, Charles, Duke of Orléans, and grandfather of Francis I of...
, grandfather of Marguerite d'Angoulême
Marguerite de Navarre
Marguerite de Navarre , also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was the queen consort of Henry II of Navarre...
and Francis I
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
.
The duke of Épernon, governor of Angoumois
Angoumois
Angoumois was a county and province of France, nearly corresponding today to the Charente département. Its capital was Angoulême....
, received Marie de' Medici
Marie de' Medici
Marie de Médicis , Italian Maria de' Medici, was queen consort of France, as the second wife of King Henry IV of France, of the House of Bourbon. She herself was a member of the wealthy and powerful House of Medici...
when she escaped in 1619. After, the castle became the residence of the governors.
In 1840, the town bought the castle to house the Town Hall. The mayor Paul Abadie destroyed the main medieval buildings. The keep and a tower were preserved thanks to the pressure of the Archaeological and Historical Society of Charente.
Description of the Château
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 residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
, called Tour de Lusignan, the châtelet, and the round Valois Tower date from the 12th to 15th centuries. The polygonal keep was built 1282–1302, and the Valois Tower was built in the late 15th century. During the 15th century, a square pavillon was added to the Tour Marguerite. This pavillon included a polygonal turret containing the staircase.
At the end of the 15th century were constructed star shaped fortifications
Star fort
A star fort, or trace italienne, is a fortification in the style that evolved during the age of gunpowder, when cannon came to dominate the battlefield, and was first seen in the mid-15th century in Italy....
; two turrets remained in rue Bélat and rue du Sauvage.
The medieval parts of the castle have been listed as monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
by the French Ministry of Culture since 1929.
External links
- Picture of the Castle of prior to its demolition
- http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/merimee_fr?ACTION=RETROUVER&FIELD_1=cmer1&VALUE_1=Angoul%eame&FIELD_2=cmer4&VALUE_2=&FIELD_3=cmer5&VALUE_3=&FIELD_4=AUTR&VALUE_4=&FIELD_5=cmer2&VALUE_5=&FIELD_6=titre&VALUE_6=&FIELD_7=PROT&VALUE_7=&FIELD_8=DOSURLP&VALUE_8=%20&NUMBER=19&GRP=0&REQ=%28%28Angoul%eame%29%20%3aLOCA%2cPLOC%2cINSEE%20%29&USRNAME=nobody&USRPWD=4%2524%252534P&SPEC=9&SYN=1&IMLY=&MAX1=1&MAX2=100&MAX3=100&DOM=TousFrench Ministry of Culture database entry]
