Lavardin Castle
| Lavardin Castle | ||
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 Lavardin Castle |
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| Creation time : | 10th century | |
| Castle type : | Höhenburg, spur location | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Lavardin | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 44 '26.9 " N , 0 ° 52' 59.3" E | |
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The ruins of the castle Lavardin (French: Château de Lavardin ) stands on a rocky plateau on the left bank of the Loir on the French town of Lavardin southeast of Montoire-sur-le-Loir in Loir-et-Cher , Region Center-Val de Loire .
Although besieged and conquered several times during the French Wars of Religion , the castle was not damaged. The fact that it is still in ruins today is due to an order from the French King Henry IV , who had it razed in the 16th century to make it militarily unusable.
The complex has been classified as a monument historique since November 21, 1945 and is therefore a listed building .
description
The Spornburg used to have three curtain walls , which clearly illustrated the various phases of expansion of the complex. Nowadays only the inner and outer enclosing walls are preserved. The shape and course of the outer ring wall are based on the floor plan of the rocky castle square and thus on the natural conditions on site. A so-called Châtelet - a heavily fortified gateway - protects your castle gate, to which a drawbridge used to lead. Behind the castle gate is a large inner courtyard, which used to be divided into two parts by the central curtain wall. The middle wall has disappeared, but the remains of a wall tower and a building ruin from the 15th century still exist. Part of the stone staircase from the interior of the building has been preserved. The coat of arms of the House of Vendôme can be found on it and testify that Lavardin Castle belonged to the possession of this French noble house in the Middle Ages .
The 26 meter high donjon ruin is surrounded by a mantle wall, which today forms the inner curtain wall. Its severe damage stems from mine explosions during the 16th century. The wall remains that have been preserved show numerous machicolations . Preserved remains of chimneys and pointed arch vaults inside are evidence of its homeliness at the time.
history
The castle was founded in the 10th century and was probably made of wood and clay before it was replaced by a stone structure in 1070. The construction work for the establishment, including that for the construction of today's, lower part of the donjon , lasted five decades. In the following four centuries, the facility was repeatedly adapted to the military state of affairs by its respective owners.
Towards the end of the 12th century, the Counts of Vendôme added round towers at the corners of the donjon. They also reinforced the protective walls and built a first curtain wall. Due to its location between the territories of the French Empire of the Capetians and the possessions of the Counts of Anjou, the castle played an important role as the main base of the Lords of Vendôme . During this time the castle had a reputation for impregnability due to its defensive elements, but this did not prevent Heinrich II Plantagenet and his son Richard the Lionheart from besieging it in 1188 after the capture of Troo and Montoire, but in vain.
Enlarged for the first time in the 13th century, the donjon was renewed and increased at the end of the 14th century and its interior was modernized. In addition, the mantle wall of that time - today's inner curtain wall - received a fortified gate. At that time, a residential wing and various outbuildings stood below the donjon on two natural platforms protected by a curtain wall. Further reinforcements were made in the 15th century when a building was added to the inner ring wall and the mantle wall of the donjon was widened again.
During the Huguenot Wars, Lavardin Castle did not share the fate of so many other French castles. Although conquered, occupied and recaptured several times, the castle was saved from destruction. Captured by the Catholic League in 1589 , it was then conquered and occupied by the Protestant side, but a year later it was recaptured for the Catholics by the troops of the Prince of Conti , only to be captured again the following year by the troops of the French King Henry IV to become. Heinrich had the castle razed by royal order in order to make it militarily unusable once and for all. The complex is still in this defended state today.
literature
- Jean-Marie Pérouse de Montclos, Robert Polidori : Castles in the Loire Valley . Könemann, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-89508-597-9 , p. 204 .
- Eve Mercier-Sivadjian, Jean-Louis Sivadjian: Châteaux du Moyen Age en France . Larousse, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-03-5091047 , p. 47.
- Castles and cities of the Loire . Valoire-Estel, Florence 2006, ISBN 88-476-1863-0 , p. 110.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Entry of the castle in the Base Mérimée
- ↑ E. Mercier-Sivadjian, J.-L. Sivadjian: Châteaux du Moyen Age en France , p. 47.