Château de Nemours
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 and 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 Nemours
Nemours
Nemours is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-Geography:Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, c...
in the Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.- History:Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789...
département of France. Located in the extreme south of the Paris conurbation, it stands on the banks of the Loing
Loing
The Loing is a 142 km long river in central France, a left tributary of the Seine. Its source is in Sainte-Colombe-sur-Loing, in the south of the Yonne département.The Loing flows into the Seine in Saint-Mammès, near Moret-sur-Loing...
river. Transformed into a museum between 1903 and 1999, it houses collections of pottery.
It has been listed since 1926 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...
by the French Ministry of Culture.
History
The first stones of the building were laid around 1120 by Orson on left bank of the Loing. A village had been established on a nearby hill since the Merovingian era (according to the excavation in 1898 of Merovingian sarcophagi) in Saint les Nemours, on the left bank of the Loing. The first lords had probably installed a high castle mound on the right bank of the Loing in a place still called "le chatelet". The establishment of such a work next to the Loing was justified by the presence of a ford permitting crossing of the river before the construction of a later bridge. In 1170, the second lord of Nemours (of which there is a record), Gauthier I de Villebéon, chamberlain to king Louis VIILouis VII of France
Louis VII was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles , and saw the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England...
, obtained a charter for his commune. At the time of 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...
, the town was burnt in 1359 by the troops of Jean de Grailly and the Captal
Captal
Captal , was a medieval feudal title in Gascony. According to Du Cange the designation captal was applied loosely to the more illustrious nobles of Aquitaine, counts, viscounts, etc., probably as capitales domini, principal lords, though he quotes more fanciful explanations.As an actual title the...
of Bush. In 1404, the town became a duchy-peerage but it fell 16 years later at the hands of English. It was released from their influence in 1437 by Jacques of Anjou. The castle had only a few modifications during the following centuries. It was altered inh the 15th century by Jacques d' Armagnac who added mullion
Mullion
A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...
ed windows to make 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...
a more pleasant place to live. At the time of the Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
between Catholics and Protestants, it was the site of the signature of the Treaty of Nemours
Treaty of Nemours
Articles of the Treaty of Nemours were agreed upon in writing and signed in Nemours on July 7, 1585 between the Queen Mother, Catherine de' Medici, acting for the King, and representatives of the House of Guise, including the Duke of Lorraine...
in 1585 between Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen consort of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II of France....
and the Duke of Guise, which ratified the progress of the Catholic League and urged Protestants to leave the kingdom, before “good” King Henri IV
Henry IV of France
Henry IV , Henri-Quatre, was King of France from 1589 to 1610 and King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610. He was the first monarch of the Bourbon branch of the Capetian dynasty in France....
finally put an end to the quarrels nearly a century later with the Edict of Nantes
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the Calvinist Protestants of France substantial rights in a nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity...
. In the middle of the 17th century, the castle was became a law court under Anne Hédelin, lieutenant general of the Duke of Orleans. The latter also changed the castle entrance to open it onto the main courtyard and its monumental staircase (perron).