The Château

Château

A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...

 d'Ussé is located in the commune of Rigny-Ussé

Rigny-Ussé

Rigny-Ussé is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.-See also:*Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department...

 in the Indre-et-Loire

Indre-et-Loire

Indre-et-Loire is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.-History:Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...

 département, in 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 stronghold at the edge of the Chinon

Chinon

Chinon is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France well known for Château de Chinon.In the Middle Ages, Chinon developed especially during the reign of Henry II . The castle was rebuilt and extended, becoming one of his favorite residences...

 forest overlooking the Indre

Indre River

The Indre is a river in central France, left tributary to the river Loire.Its source is in the département Cher, near Préveranges. It flows through the départements Cher, Indre and Indre-et-Loire...

 Valley was first fortified in the eleventh century by the Norman seigneur

Lord

Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...

of Ussé, Gueldin de Saumur, who surrounded the fort with a palisade on a high terrace. The site passed to the Comte de Blois, who rebuilt in stone.

In the fifteenth century, the ruined castle of Ussé was purchased by Jean V de Bueil

Jean V de Bueil

Jean V de Bueil , called le Fléau des Anglais "plague of the English", count of Sancerre, vicount of Carentan, lord of Montrésor, Château-la-Vallière, Saint-Calais, Vaujours, Ussé and Vailly, son of Jean IV de Bueil and Margarete Dauphine of Auvergne. He is the author of Le Jouvencel Jean V de...

, a captain-general of Charles VII

Charles VII of France

Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...

 who became seigneur of Ussé in 1456 and began rebuilding it in the 1460s; his son Antoine de Bueil married in 1462 Jeanne de Valois, the natural daughter of Charles VII

Charles VII of France

Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...

 and Agnès Sorel

Agnès Sorel

Agnès Sorel , known by the sobriquet Dame de beauté, was a favourite mistress of King Charles VII of France, for whom she bore three daughters....

, who brought as dowry 40000 golden écus.