Château de Brandon
Encyclopedia
The Château de Brandon is a castle
in the commune
of Saint-Pierre-de-Varennes
in the Saône-et-Loire
département of France.
divided into two by a wall separating the farmyard of the lower courtyard from the residential court. The latter, of lengthened rectangular form, is flanked in the north-western and north-eastern corners by square towers. A wing at right angles occupies the east side; it is connected by a section of wall to a third square tower. The courtyard is completed by the agricultural buildings and a stable. A gate tower located at the south-western corner gives access to this area.
The castle is privately owned and open to the public. It has been listed since 1975 as a monument historique
on the supplementary inventory of the French Ministry of Culture.
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 commune
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
of Saint-Pierre-de-Varennes
Saint-Pierre-de-Varennes
Saint-Pierre-de-Varennes is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.-References:*...
in the Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.-History:When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern...
département of France.
Description
The castle stands on top of a hill. The buildings are distributed around an irregular shaped enceinteEnceinte
Enceinte , is a French term used technically in fortification for the inner ring of fortifications surrounding a town or a concentric castle....
divided into two by a wall separating the farmyard of the lower courtyard from the residential court. The latter, of lengthened rectangular form, is flanked in the north-western and north-eastern corners by square towers. A wing at right angles occupies the east side; it is connected by a section of wall to a third square tower. The courtyard is completed by the agricultural buildings and a stable. A gate tower located at the south-western corner gives access to this area.
The castle is privately owned and open to the public. It has been listed since 1975 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...
on the supplementary inventory of the French Ministry of Culture.
History
- Ancient RomeAncient RomeAncient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
: military post at junction of routes. - 13th century :probable existence of a strengthened tower owned successively by the lords of Brandon then by captains who hold it in the name of the dukes of Burgundy.
- 1365 : the tower is entrusted to Robert d' Essertenne who becomes its hereditary lord.
- 14th century : the duke Philippe II of BurgundyPhilip the BoldPhilip the Bold , also Philip II, Duke of Burgundy , was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and his wife, Bonne of Luxembourg. By his marriage to Margaret III, Countess of Flanders, he also became Count Philip II of Flanders, Count Philip IV of Artois and Count-Palatine Philip IV...
raises the stronghold to a barony to the advantage of Philippe de la Roche, grandson of the preceding. - 1453 : castle sold.
- 1528 : after complex successions within the Lugny family, the castle is acquired by Hugues-Bernard de Montessus
- 1633 : property seized by Charles de Montessus, great-grandson of the preceding.
- 1638 : sold to Alphonse de Chaumelis.
- 1653 : death of Alphonse de Chaumelis who leaves two daughters – Jeanne et Huguette – under the supervision of their uncle, Jean-Baptiste de Chaumelis.
- 1670 : Huguette de Chaumelis, daughter of Alphonse, marries Claude de la Coste, inherits Brandon at the conclusion of a fight against her uncle who had tried to despoil it.
- 1729 : attack on the castle by the local population organised by Eugene, son of Huguette, who seeks to dispossess his mother.
- 1729 : Jean-Baptiste, Huguette's other son, inherits the property at the death of his mother.
- 18th century : childless, Jean-Baptiste bequeaths the castle to Jeanne-Huguette de la Coste, his niece, wife of the marquis Jacques de Beaurepaire ; the main building, probably built by Chaumelis, is abandoned to the farmers.
- End of 18th century : a Beaurepaire daughter marries Louis Furrier de Cléry who, because of a spendthrift life, has to sell Brandon.
- 1826 : the property passes to Nicolas Tripier, a lawyer, deputy, and peer of France.
- 19th century : through the daughter of the preceding, Antoine Mala becomes owner of the castle.
- Around 1900 : important restoration works carried out by the granddaughter of Nicolas Tripier, widow of Ferdinand de Jouvencel.
- 1922 : on the death of Mme de Jouvencel, the vicomte de Masin, her grandson, inherits the estate. The castle still belongs to this family.