Château de Beynes - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Château de Beynes is a is a ruined castle

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...

located in the town of Beynes

Beynes, Yvelines

Beynes is a commune in the Yvelines department in north-central France.-External links:** at Google Maps...

, along the Mauldre River in the French département of Yvelines

Yvelines

Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...

(Île-de-France

Île-de-France (région)

Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....

History

The first castle, a motte-and-bailey

Motte-and-bailey

A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...

, was built during the 11th century, in the bottom of the valley of the Mauldre River, even when castles were built on heights.
It had a defensive role at that time, with the river as a western defence line of the Royal domain

Crown lands of France

The crown lands, crown estate, royal domain or domaine royal of France refers to the lands, fiefs and rights directly possessed by the kings of France...

, defending against Normandy

Duchy of Normandy

The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...

and other possible combatants. It was owned by the English during the Hundred Years' War

Hundred Years' War

The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...

.

Later, the castle lost its defensive role after the extension of the Royal territories; circa 1450, Robert d'Estouteville transformed the castle into a more comfortable residence by dismantling the keep

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...

and adapting the fortifications to the incipient artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

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Other transformations were performed during the 15th century, particularly under Philibert de l'Orme

Philibert de l'Orme

Philibert DeLorme was a French architect, one of the great masters of the French Renaissance.He was born at Lyon, the son of Jean Delorme, a master mason. At an early age Philibert was sent to Italy to study and was employed there by Pope Paul III...

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In 1536, the castle was given to Diane de Poitiers

Diane de Poitiers

Diane de Poitiers was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France. She became notorious as the latter's favourite mistress...

by Henri II

Henry II of France

Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...

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The castle was totally abandoned during the 18th century and fell in ruins and was used as a stone quarry for the village constructions.

Architecture

The castle has an oval shape surrounded by a moat

Moat

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...

; nine towers stand along the curtain walls.

Since the transformations of the 15th century, a paved central courtyard crosses the castle. Two châtelet

Castle

s (east and west) defend the two entries to the castle, and a barbican

Barbican

A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from medieval Latin barbecana, signifying the "outer fortification of a city or castle," with cognates in the Romance languages A barbican, from...

also protects the west access.

Modern days

The whole remains of the castle were listed as a 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...

in November 1959. The castle was bought by the municipality in 1967, and from 1995 to 1999 excavations and consolidation works have stopped its deterioration. Presently, an active association is restoring the castle.

External links

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