Château de Ranton - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Château de Ranton is a small fortified 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...

in the village of Ranton

Ranton, Vienne

Ranton is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.-Demographics:...

, in the Department of the Vienne

Vienne

Vienne is the northernmost département of the Poitou-Charentes region of France, named after the river Vienne.- Viennese history :Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou,...

just west of Loudun

Loudun

Loudun is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.It is located south of the town of Chinon and 25 km to the east of the town Thouars...

, and south of the Loire

Loire

Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...

. It was one of the front-line of fortresses which were built to defend the royal city of Loundun at the beginning of the Hundred Years War in 1340-1345. It played this military role until 1372. It then became a feudal manor and one of the estates of aristocratic

Aristocracy (class)

The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...

families associated with the Courts of the French Kings and the Dukes of Anjou.

The buildings inside the main rampart wall were rebuilt in the 16th century in the Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

style, as the home of a series of protestant families in the French 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...

. It escaped destruction both by Cardinal Richelieu in the early 17th century and again in the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, but was little more than a ruin by the 1940s.

It has been restored in three phases since 1950, and now is one of the most complete fortresses of the 14th century.

Its architecture

The Château overlooks and dominates the valley of the Dive, and was one of a string of fortresses along the limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

ridge. The Château is an octagonal fortress, surrounded by a dry moat. It was probably built on a previous fortress, and follows a typical Templar design.

The main rampart walls are build of squared blocks of "Tuffeau", the local soft limestone, excavated from the dry moat. The walls are built directly on the limestone outcrop and rise to a height of about 8–10 metres above the moat. The moat itself is excavated about 3–4 metres into the underlying limestone, and was originally protected by an outer wall. This has now disappeared, the stones having been reused to build the village houses.

The walls are protected on the eight corners by semi-circular towers. The towers originally all had machiolations, the overhanging part around the top of the towers, which was a recent innovation in military architecture of the time, and made it even more difficult to scale the walls. The change from square to round towers also gave better resistance to cannon balls. The machiolations now only remain on the tower to the right of the main entrance.

The main gate was protected by two larger towers, and access was by a fixed stone bridge across the moat, but with 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:...

on the last 3 metres. It was replaced by an extension of the fixed bridge in the 17th century. The main entrance is vaulted in the Plantagenet style

Plantagenet style

Plantagenet style is an architectural building design of churches and cathedrals during the 12th century, characterized by cross-ribbed vaults and extremely curved dome vaults which resulted in the use of thick walls and piers. It is also the start of the transition from the Romanesque style to the...

, with stables and guard rooms to right and left, and the entarance to the vaulted spiral staircase in the main tower.

The buildings in the courtyard

Courtyard

A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....

date from the 14th and 17th centuries: The vaulted store rooms and granary on the south-west side are part of the original 14th century construction. Those on the north-west side are from the 17th century, built against the original inner fortification

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

wall. The buildings on the north-east and south-east were already ruined in the 17th century, and their foundations are now part of the embankment to the ramparts.

Excavation of the moat into the limestone gave access to a limestone wall into which homes and farm buildings were excavated – both under the Château and under the outer wall. The latter were extended into a substantial underground village in the 14th century as a safe haven from the pillaging bands that roamed the countryside in the period from 1356-1372. Many of the rooms around the moat were inhabited well into the 19th century, and some were still inhabited in the 1920s, within living memory of people in the village.

In 1900, the population of Ranton still numbered about 600, mainly engaged in viticulture and stone extraction

Resource extraction

The related terms natural resource extraction both refer to the practice of locating, acquiring and selling natural resources....

. The miners, known as "pions", still used traditional methods, using wetted wooden stakes to break off blocks, and their unfinished work is still visible in some of the excavations around the moat.

The Hundred years war

The area around Loudun was the focus of attention in the Hundred Years war. In January 1340, Edward III of England formally claimed the title of ‘King of France’. In June, the English fleet decimated the French fleet at the mouth of the Zwyn in what is now Holland. The war had begun. It was initially fought in the north of France and the Netherlands, but it was Aquitaine

Aquitaine

Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...

that was at stake. After four generations of peace in the area, the castles and town walls were in a poor state of repair.

In 1340 the Châteaux at Ranton and Curçay-sur-Dive

Curçay-sur-Dive

Curçay-sur-Dive is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.-History:Curçay grew up where the Dive could be forded; the ford was replaced at an early time by the Gallo-Roman bridge that in medieval times came to be ascribed to the intervention of Queen...

were re-built; that of Ranton by Guillaume de Bois Gourmont and that at Curcay by Huet Odart, both under instructions from Jean II; they were part of an elaborate network of fortresses that ensured that the area remained under French control. The Chateau at Ranton was only one of those rebuilt by Guillaume de Bois Gourmont: the largest was that at Bois Gourmont, near Veniers, just north of Loudun, of which only the ruined Keep now remains.

In 1345, Jeanne Gourmont, daughter of Guillaume de Bois Gourmont married Jean de la Jaille. The Château and estates of Ranton were part of Jeanne's dowry, and Jean de la Jaille became the Lord of Ranton. He was already an experienced and valued knight: He had been born in 1324 brought up in a privileged environment in which the values of medieval chivalry dominated. He first appeared in the rolls of the King's army at the age of 16 when he is recorded as leading a troop of three young squires to join the army in Flanders. He first saw action at the head of a troop of twenty soldiers at the Battle of Saint-Omer

Battle of Saint-Omer

The battle of Saint-Omer was a large action fought in 1340 as part of King Edward III's summer campaign against France launched from Flanders in the early stages of the Hundred Year's War. The campaign was launched in the aftermath of the battle of Sluys but proved far less successful for the...

on 24 June 1340 between an Anglo-Flemish army commanded by Robert III of Artois

Robert III of Artois

Robert III of Artois was the son of Philip of Artois and Blanche of Brittany.In 1318 he married Joan of Valois , daughter of Charles of Valois, and had issue:* Louis...

and the French under Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy

Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...

.

In 1354, Louis I of Anjou was appointed as the Governor of Tourraine and Jean de la Jaille joined his service. In 1355, Jean was in the entourage of Jean de Clermont

Jean de Clermont

Jean de Clermont , Lord of Chantilly and of Beaumont, was a Marshal of France who was killed in the battle of Poitiers. Jean was a grandson of Guy I of Clermont....

, Marechal of France and Lieutenant General to the King in Touraine

Touraine

The Touraine is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher and Indre.-Geography:...

and Poitou

Poitou

Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....

, one of the most powerful and brilliant Barons in the Court of Jean le Bon. He was fortunate to escape with his life at the battle of Battle of Poitiers

Battle of Poitiers (1356)

The Battle of Poitiers was fought between the Kingdoms of England and France on 19 September 1356 near Poitiers, resulting in the second of the three great English victories of the Hundred Years' War: Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt....

in 1356. Jean de la Jaille remained in the service of Louis I of Anjou, and was nominated Captain and Defender of Loudun in 1360, a function he fulfilled with honour and success for over 30 years.

Poitiers

Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...

itself was taken by the English in 1360, and was only recaptured by the French under Bertrand du Guesclin

Bertrand du Guesclin

Bertrand du Guesclin , known as the Eagle of Brittany or the Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death...

in 1370. During this period, Loudun and its network of fortresses was the frontier between the English and French controlled areas. There were periodic skirmishes between English and French forces, not to mention problems with lawless bands, discharged soldiers and booty seekers. Jean de la Jaille twice saved Loudun from occupation and pillage.

In the late 1360s, the English captured the castle at Moncontour

Moncontour, Vienne

Moncontour is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.It was the site of the Battle of Moncontour in 1569.-Demographics:-External links: http://www.moncontour-active-park.fr...

and controlled the valley of the Dive. Only the network of fortresses around Loudun held out. In 1369, John Chandos

John Chandos

Sir John Chandos, Viscount of Saint-Sauveur in the Cotentin, Constable of Aquitaine, Seneschal of Poitou, KG was a medieval English knight who hailed from Radbourne Hall, Derbyshire. Chandos was a close friend of Edward, the Black Prince and a founding member and 19th Knight of the Order of the...

and Lord Pembroke combined forces and again besieged Loudun. They occupied the town, but Jean de la Jaille held out in the citadelle in the face of a torrent of fire. The countryside suffered terribly. The area north of Loudun, around Roiffe, was particularly badly affected. It was some decades before the villages were re-established, and the land brought back under cultivation. Many of the excavated rooms off the dry moat around the Chateau de Ranton date from this time. They served as a refuge for the villagers.

Jeanne Gourmont died in 1373 and is buried in the Church of Saint-Croix in Loudun. The titles she brought to Jean de la Jaille on their marriage notably that of Lord of Ranton, passed to her eldest son, Tristan III de la Jaille. Both her two sons, now seasoned knights, fought the English in Poitou and in Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

. Tristan III led a company in which his brother, Guichard was his lieutenant, and he was lieutenant to his father, the governor of Loudun. In 1371, he had married Eleanor de Maille, daughter of the Lord de Breze. He was part of the Court of Louis I of Anjou, and was killed with him at Bari in 1384, and the title of Lord of Ranton passed to his eldest son, Tristan IV

In 1388, at the age of 14, Tristan IV left La Rochelle with other adventurous young squires to fight the Duke of Lancaster in Castille. In 1392 he joined the King at Le Mans and was one of the leading captains in the Angevin army. In 1409, he set out with Louis II of Anjou to unsuccessfully claim the Kingdom of Naples.

His uncle, Guichard did not have lands to tie him to France, and as soon as war with the English calmed during the 1380s, he left to fight in Hungary. In 1395, Guichard went on a crusade against the Ottoman Turks who had captured Constantinople. He was with the army defeated at the siege of Nicopolis in 1396. It took two years, and a great deal of ransom money to bring the survivors home. In 1400, he left with a second expedition led by Marshal Boucicault de Genes to aid the Eastern Emperor, Manuel II. They sailed into the Golden Horn in 1400 with 1,400 men-at-arms just in time to save Galata from the Turks. They were besieged in Constantinople for two years. In a naval battle, Guichard de la Jaille was again noted in dispatches for his bravery and courage. He returned to France in 1405 and died the following year.

Jean de la Jaille had also died in 1405, at the age of 81. By then, he was "deaf, senile and infirm" and was ruined financially. His estates had been too often mortgaged to pay for his and his son's military adventures.

Tristan IV was made Grand Master of the Household of the King of Sicily. In 1425 he became Guard and Captain of the Château de Loudun. However, Tristan left again for Naples with King Louis in 1429. He participated in the victory of Aquila and was rewarded with the government of the region of Reggio. Louis never become effective King of Naples and died of malaria at Cosenza in 1434. The following year, his brother René of Anjou was named King of Naples. Tristan died in Reggio soon afterwards.

Tristan IV had three sons: Robert, the eldest was killed at Agincourt

Battle of Agincourt

The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...

in 1415. The two younger ones, Bertrand and Chretien, followed their father to Sicily in 1409; Chretien stayed there to become the Grand Senechal to the Court of Louis II

Louis II of Naples

Louis II of Anjou was the rival of Ladislaus as King of Naples. He was a member of the House of Valois-Anjou.-Biography:...

, the King of Sicily. Bertrand took part in three years of campaigning, culminating in the victory of Roccasecca in 1411, then returned to look after the estates in France. He was Lord of la Grande Jaille, east of Loudun, of Ranton, of Avrille in Anjou; of Beuxes; of La Roche-Talbot in Souvigne-sur-Sarthe ; of la Balayere in the Bierne; of La Varenne-Bouzeau near to Moranne and others. He grew up at Ranton and it remained his mother's home until her death.

His childhood and youth at Ranton brought him into regular contact with his neighbours in the Chateau of Curcay. This was owned by the Odart family: a distinguished family, as famous as that of de la Jaille for their exploits in the crusades and against the English. In 1418, Bertrand married Guillemette, the daughter of Guillaume Odart.

In addition to his inherited estates, Louis XII of France made Bertrand de la Jaille the squire of his household, Counsellor and then Chamberlain to the Crown. In 1429, Bertrand de la Jaille succeeded his father as the Captain-Governor of the city of Loudun. The same year, a Commission of Doctors of Theology recognised Joan of Arc's mission to crown Charles VII of France was divinely inspired. In April, after Joan's recognition of Charles in Chinon, and to relieve the siege of Orléans, the King sent "Monseigneur de la Jaille" ahead of his forces. His second son, Pierre de la Jaille, born in 1419, was brought up as Page to the Arthur, Count of Richemont and was his Squire at the age of ten in 1429 when Arthur de Richemont came to the rescue of Joan of Arc. They were probably therefore involved in the most significant military action prior to Joan's arrival in late April outside Rouvray where a thousand French and Scottish soldiers attempted unsuccessfully to intercept and divert an English supply convoy in the Battle of the Herrings

Battle of the Herrings

The Battle of the Herrings was a military action near the town of Rouvray in France, just north of Orléans, which took place on 12 February 1429 during the siege of Orléans. The immediate cause of the battle was an attempt by French forces, led by Charles of Bourbon, Count of Clermont, to intercept...

, so named because the convoy was carrying a large supply of fish for Lent. They also fought alongside Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc

Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...

at the battle of Patay

Battle of Patay

The Battle of Patay was the culminating engagement of the Loire Campaign of the Hundred Years' War between the French and English in north-central France. It was a decisive victory for the French and turned the tide of the war. This victory was to the French what Agincourt was to the English...

in 1429.

When, in 1440, the English returned to the offensive and re-occupied the southern part of Maine, it was Bertrand de la Jaille that joined forces with those of the occupied areas and forced an English retreat. In 1441, at the siege of Saint-Denis-d'Anjou, he was amongst the knights that "charged so vigorously that the first wave killed more than 200 and forced the remaining English forces to retreat."

After 1452, Bertrand passed most of his time at the Château de Roche-Talbot, his favourite residence in Souvigné-sur-Sarte, but frequently visited Ranton and his other estates in the area. His wife had use of the Château de Ranton through the marriage settlement and lived there until her death. She is buried in the family vault in the Church of the Ropemakers in Loudun. Bertrand died in 1456 at la Roche-Talbot and is buried in the Chapelle de Saint Roche at Souvigné-sur-Sarte. He had five children. The eldest, Philibert took over from his grandfather, Tristan IV, the title of Grand Master of the Household to the King of Sicily, but died before his father in 1456.

Pierre de la Jaille gained a reputation as a diplomat and courtier, rather than as a man of arms. He was caught up in the violence and intrigues that grew out of the jealousy between Richemont and Georges, the Count de Tremoille. However, he helped arrange the Treaty of Arras in 1435, which cemented the peace between France and Burgundy leading to the eventual defeat of the English.

The Renaissance

The fourth son of Bertrand de la Jaille, Bertrand II, became Lord of Ranton and Avrille on the death of his father in 1456 and the remainder of the family estates on the death of Pierre in 1483 and Hardouin in 1493. Bertrand divided his time between the estates of Ranton, Beuxes and Avrille. He Married Catherine le Roy, daughter of Guillaume, Lord of Chavigny and Françoise of Fontenay. Louis XI appointed him as his "echanson aux gages" at a salary of 330 pounds a year in 1468, from when he was part of the Royal court at Montils-les-Tours, Amboise and other royal residences. In 1480, René of Anjou, nominal King of Naples and Sicily and titular King of Jerusalem, died. His death precipitated a new series of battles for succession in Italy. Bertrand II de la Jaille participated in the campaigns in Italy. He returned to France in 1496 and died the same year.

Bertrand II had eight children: René, Gilles, Madelon, Pierre, Jeanne, Marguerite, Isabelle and Françoise. As was usual in those days, the eldest son, Rene, inherited the titles to all the major estates. At this time these were La Roche-Morier, La Grande Jaille, de Beuxes, Ranton, La Jaille-en-Chahaigne, La Varenne, La Roche-Talbot and Souvigne. Rene married Jeanne Herisson in 1494. Rene de la Jaille was several times in court, accused of various misdemeanors, and died in 1515. He died a month after the battle of Marignan, and it is likely that he died of wounds.

Rene and Jeanne de la Jaille had two children; Rene II and Claude, but Rene I's death in 1515 left the estates in the care of his widow. Jeanne looked after them until her death in 1541. She remarried in 1518 with Gabriel de la Chatre, but her eldest son, Rene II, inherited the titles to the family estates. This was normal practice: the eldest son inherited all feudal titles from his father, the widow only being the regent for their management.

Rene II de la Jaille married Magdelaine de Montgomery, the sister of Gabriel, Comte de Montgomery in 1530. They had a single daughter - Françoise de la Jaille. She married Gabriel d'Apchon - linking two of the great feudal families. He took part in the Italian campaign in 1539 and was made a Knight of the King's Order, a rare and distinguished honour. By the 1550s, Rene II was a Knight of the Order of St Michael, Senechal of Anjou, and a Gentleman of the court of Catherine de Medici. In 1555, he was Captain General of the rear-guard of the French forces. This had originally been an elite troupe, but was now little more than an undisciplined rabble of conscripts. In the campaign in Picardy against the Spanish, Rene was captured and ransomed for 20,000 ECU. This was a considerable sum and virtually ruined the family. He sold the estates in Anjou and most of those in the Loudun area: Ranton was one of the few estates he kept. He died two years later, still fighting - this time at the battle of St Quentin in 1557.

The title to Ranton, Bois Gourmond and Preaux passed to his son-in-law, Gabriel d'Apchon, Lord of Roche-Talbot and numerous other properties in the Loire and Auvergne. He had 5 children: 2 sons - Charles and Jacques; and 3 daughters - Dianne, Gabrielle and Marguerite.

Ranton in the Wars of Religion

Charles d'Apchon inherited the Château and estates at Ranton in about 1580. He had married Françoise de Vendomois in 1576, but she died four years later. He married a second time in September 1581 with Louise de Châtillon d'Argenton. They had a daughter - Renee d'Apchon, and a son, Andre, born early in 1589. Charles was Captain of a troop of about 50 men-at-arms, and was frequently in battles. In July 1589, he was killed in the assault of St Saturnin in the Auvergne. On his death, Louise, her daughter Renee and son Andre had their main residence at Roche-Talbot. She had considerable debts and great difficulties with managing her estates. In 1595, Louise married again - with Gilbert du Puy du Fou, also known as "de Commeronde", the second son of Rene du Puy du Fou. Andre took his mother's name of de Chastillon, and Louise retained the feudal rights to the estates of Ranton in her second marriage contract. Louise and Gilbert had a single daughter, Isalbelle. Gilbert died in 1609. Louise's first daughter, Renee died there in 1612, and Louise transferred the feudal rights for Roche-Talbot to her son-in-law, Jacques II de Beauvan du Rivau. She retained only Ranton, Bois Gourmont and Preaux,for which she re-swore allegiance to the King on 4 July 1613.

Her second daughter, Isabelle du Puy du Fou, inherited Ranton from her mother, and exercised the rights of "high, middle and low justice" in the manor until 1628. She was married (to Charles de la Touche), but he died in 1624, she retired to a nunnery in 1628, and died in 1631. On the death of his step father, in 1625, Andre de Châtillon became Marquis d'Argenton, Lord of Moncontour

Moncontour, Vienne

, Bouville

Bouville

Bouville is the name of three communes in France:* Bouville, Eure-et-Loir* Bouville, Seine-Maritime* Bouville, Essonne...

, La Jaille, Beuxes, Bois-Rouge and other estates. He became Lord of Ranton in 1628: His sister, Renee retired to her nunnery, and he married Marie Margerite Gouffier.

In 1631, the Château de Ranton was bought by Paul Aubin, a friend of Richelieu and nephew of the duc de Sully. He also acquired various estates in the area: Bourneuf, La Jaille and others. Throughout this turbulent time, the estates at Ranton were enjoying a new prosperity, and the main buildings around the Cour d’Honneur were re-modeled in the Louis XIII style

Louis XIII style

The Louis XIII style or Louis Treize was a fashion in French art and architecture, especially effecting the visual and decorative arts. Its distinctness as a period in the history of French art has much to do with the regency under which Louis XIII began his reign...

. Paul Aubin died in 1644. His son, Henri, became Lord of Ranton and, like most of his predecessors, he followed a career in the army. By 1650, he was a Major of a Regiment of Dragoons. His wife was no doubt left to look after his daughter and the estates, while he took part in the campaigns against the Huguenots.

His Daughter, Marie Aubin, married Christofe Le Sesne de Menille, Lord of Menille and Veniers in 1665. Their eldest son, Louis-Charles, was born the following year. A daughter, Marie Scholastique, and a second son, Jean-Baptiste, came along soon afterwards. These were times of great misery in the area around Loudun. In 1675 to 1677, hail destroyed most of the harvest - both of wine and wheat, the two staple crops of the area. The famine and poverty was so great that many died or left. Of the 3000 households in and around Loudun in 1670, only 1000 remained by 1677.

Louis-Charles Le Sesne, Lord of Bourdin in his own right, married Eustache-Henriette de Buade in 1685. She was probably the Daughter of Louis de Buade de Frontenac

Louis de Buade de Frontenac

Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698...

, who was a Protestant Courtier and Governor General of New France (in Canada)from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698, so was in France at the time of the wedding. A first son was born in March the following year. He was baptised Charles-Henri Le Sesne de Menille de Themars on the 15 March in the church of St Pierre in Loudun. Within weeks, his grandfather died and Louis-Charles swore allegiance for Ranton on 27 May 1686. Befitting his status, he took the title of Baron of Ranton.

Charles-Henri had to wait 33 years until 1719 before he inherited the title, but he died four years later. He had no children, and the title passed to his younger brother, Jean Baptiste. Like many second sons at the time, the church offered the best chance of security, and Jean-Baptiste was already an established Janseniste priest. He combined this with his duties as Lord of Ranton, Pas de Jeu, Riveau, la Jaille and other estates until his death at Utrecht in 1775, but left no heir.

The Château de Ranton and the estates that went with it were sold on 26 August 1776 to the Marquis Michel-Ange de Castellane, Brigadier in the King's army and his Ambassador Extraordinary. He had also bought the Château de Villandry in 1754. In 1783 the estate passed to his son Esprit-François-Henri de Castellane, Marshall to the King's Camp and Chevalier d'Honneur to Sophie, Princess of France, the youngest daughter of Louis XVI of France and his Queen consort, Marie Antoinette.

Ranton in the Revolution and 19th Century

In the French Revolution, the Château de Ranton was abandoned only for a few years during the Terror and the estate passed to the Marshall's daughter on his death, in 1797. She died in 1824, and the Château de Ranton passed to her daughter, Madame d'Orme.

In 1844, Madame d'Orme sold the Château de Ranton to the priest of Ranton: Abbé Aubineau. He did much to preserve the Château and to rekindle interest in the shrine of "La bonne Dame de Ranton". This chapel, which dated from the 14th century, contained a small statue of the Virgin which had apparently been found by a wood-cutter at this spot. The legend was that he took it home, but it returned to its original place, three times. In the revolution, the chapel was sold as public property. It was bought by a magistrate, M. Havard, who donated it to the Diocese. It was re-built as a larger church in 1871 through the efforts of the Reverend Pere Briant, an architect and organiser of one of the first pilgrimages to Lourdes. The larger church gave a new impetus to pilgrimages to Ranton, which had been a regular feature of life in the Middle Ages.

The chapel of the Château de Ranton, dedicated to St Leonard, was given to the village by Abbé Aubineau to serve as the Parish church in 1862. The deed of gift was written into the Commune records on the 25th January.

In his will, he left the Château of Ranton to his great nephews. They sold it at auction in December 1889. The only bidder was the schoolmaster of the neighbouring village of Curçay, Mr. Manson. By this time the Château was still habitable, but much of it was little more than a ruin. Like many similar properties throughout France, it fell to the local schoolmaster to preserve as well as he could the vestiges of the past. Mr. Manson is still remembered in the village as a severe and eccentric recluse. One of the main towers of the entrance collapsed in 1942 and on his death, in April that year, M. Manson left the estate to his housekeeper and his nephew.

Restorations

The Château was bought in 1964 by Mr and Mrs Piechaud. He was a sculptor and undertook most of the substantial restoration and reconstruction of the walls and towers. He had great respect for the forms and styles of the various parts of the Château, and the quality of the restoration work is remarkable. The Piechauds took on other restorations at the end of the 1960s and the Château at Ranton was sold in 1969 to Mr and Mrs Fonteneau, wealthy publishers in Poitiers.

In 1972 the Château was sold to an American couple from Arizona, Mr and Mrs Baker. They were relatively infrequent visitors, coming to Ranton only a few weeks each year. Little was changed in the Château during the 1970s and 1980s and parts of the land around the Château were abandoned, although the main structure was well maintained. Mr Baker died in 1986 and his wife never returned. She died in 1987.

The Château and surrounding land was acquired from the estate of the Baker family in October 1989 by the present owners, Peter and Paola Johnston, who have since renovated and restored it.

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