Château de Montbéliard
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...
located on an outcropping rock that surveys the town of Montbéliard
Montbéliard
Montbéliard is a city in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It is one of the two subprefectures of the department.-History:...
in the Doubs
Doubs
Doubs is a department the Franche-Comté region of eastern France named after the Doubs River.-History:As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the northern two-thirds of Doubs spoke the Franc-Comtois language, a dialect of Langue d'Oïl. Residents of the southern third of Doubs spoke a dialect...
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...
. It is 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...
listed by the French Ministry of Culture.
History
It is believed that there has been a fortress on the site since the Gallo-Roman times, though then it was only a wooden watchtower acting as an observation post for the defence of the town of MandeureMandeure
Mandeure is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-History:Mandeure was a Roman town called Epomanduodurum. It reached its apogee in the 2nd century. The Roman theater was one of the largest in Gaul, measuring 142 m with four levels of seats that could seat...
(Epomanduodurum).
Until 1397, the castle belonged to the Montfaucon
Montfaucon
-Places:*In Switzerland**Montfaucon, Switzerland, in the canton of Jura*In France** Montfaucon, Aisne, in the Aisne département** Montfaucon, Doubs, in the du Doubs département** Montfaucon, Gard, in the Gard département...
family. The marriage of Henriette d'Orbe to Eberhard IV
Eberhard IV, Count of Württemberg
Eberhard IV of Württemberg , Count of Württemberg.-Life:He was elder son of Count Eberhard III and Antonia Visconti. On 13 November 1397 he became engaged to Henriette of Mömpelgard...
, son of the count Eberhard III
Eberhard III, Count of Württemberg
Eberhard III of Württemberg der Milde , ruled from 1392-1417 as the Count of Württemberg, then a part of the Holy Roman Empire.-Life:...
of Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
, transferred the ownership of the castle to the Württemberg family. It was the home of Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt, mother of Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia.
In 1793, the castle became part of Revolutionary France. It served as a garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
until 1933, when it was transformed into a history museum.
Architecture
The castle was once divided into two parts around the ancient Church of Saint-Maimbœuf that dominated the esplanade of the castle with its high belltower.The Châtel-Derrière (back of the castle), in the east, had two imposing towers dating from time immemorial. It contained the reception and the private apartments of the counts and dukes who followed one another, first in the county and then in the principality. This part of the castle was separated by a wide and deep ditch (which does not exist today), spanned by a drawbridge
Drawbridge
A drawbridge is a type of movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a castle surrounded by a moat. The term is often used to describe all different types of movable bridges, like bascule bridges and lift bridges.-Castle drawbridges:...
.
The Châtel-Devant (front of the castle), in the west, dominates the town of Allan
Allan, Drôme
Allan is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.-Population:...
and the river Lizaine (before it channels underground), and contains along its northern face the single entry of the fortress, together with its drawbridge and portcullis. The drawbridge spanned a ditch that was added for the protection of the entrance; this ditch was filled in during the great transformations of the 18th century that modified aspects of the castle. Châtel-Devant contained in its enclosure the buildings of the garrison (which sometimes also housed official travelers), the stables, the falconry, and the arsenal which stored the guns, ammunition and weapons necessary for the defence of the castle and the city. The imposing mass of the Hôtel du Baili (the bailiff
Bailiff
A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
's lodging) always dominated this part of the castle. One can still make out the building of the chancellery that was located immediately past the entrance of the castle.
It is said that the castle was in a state of advanced decay at the end of the 18th century. Several buildings were demolished and rebuilt during the 18th and 19th centuries. Two prominent 19th-century transformations were: the demolition of the Église Saint-Maimbœuf in 1810; and the destruction of the house called "entre les tours" (between the towers), which was a building flanked by the Henriette and Frederique towers characterising Châtel-Derrière that gives the castle its imposing aspect. This house was replaced by a facade decorated with spires in the Germanic style of the 17th century.