Castle of Cognac
The Cognac Castle ( double. Château de Cognac , Château des Valois or Château François I. ) is an existing since the 10th century and repeatedly rebuilt castle in Cognac . The building has been recognized as a monument historique since 1925 .
history
The castle has existed since 950 when Hélie de Villebois , first lord of Cognac, had a castrum built. Around the year 1000 Itier and Arnaud de Villebois settled here and founded their dynasty. This building is known from a document from 1030 and from documents from the Saint-Léger church from 1031. Around this former castle, of which nothing has survived, a settlement was formed, the later city of Cognac. Around 1200 the castle was rebuilt in stone in the same place, at the same time with a first wall around the place.
Cognac came to the Plantagenet family by inheritance when the English King Richard the Lionheart married his son Philipp to the heiress Amélie de Cognac, who in turn sold cognac to his uncle Johann Ohneland . His widow, Isabella von Angoulême , married Hugo X. von Lusignan , who was able to claim cognac despite his excommunication . King Philip IV brought cognac to the French crown. From 1366 to 1370 the castle was, along with Angoulême Castle , one of the residences of Edward of Woodstock , the "Black Prince".
During the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) the castle saw changing owners, depending on the war or contract. Only the return of Jean de Valois after his 25 years imprisonment in England (1415-1440) brought a time of peace again. He found an abandoned castle in a poor structural condition and began to rebuild around 1450. His son Charles and his wife Luise von Savoyen made cognac a center of science and art. Her daughter Margaret of Navarra and her son François, who later became King Francis I , who was born here in 1494, did not forget the place: around 1517, Francis I had the sober Renaissance facade built along the river bank.
Due to neglect, the castle fell into disrepair from the end of the 17th century. Its owner at the end of the 18th century, the Count of Artois and later King Charles X , even sold some of the buildings. During the French Revolution to the national property ( bien nationally declared) and scheduled for demolition, the castle in 1795 by two brandy producers, the men was Otard and Dupuis, bought to camp for the vaulted cellars and rooms Cognac set up barrels. In the course of the 19th century, these building measures led to partial destruction of the building fabric, but on the other hand the new owners also carried out important work to preserve and restore them.
architecture
The castle or chateau of Cognac reflects the architecture of different building eras ( Middle Ages , Renaissance ): If the round towers give the buildings a more castle-like, medieval look, the river-side facade with its rectangular windows and the balcon du roi reflects that of Francis I. A fondness for Renaissance architecture brought back from Italy, although it differs from other castles of the king on the Loire ( Chambord , Blois ) by its extraordinarily austere exterior.
The component known as the 'residential wing of the governor' ( logis du gouverneur ) shows a beautiful Gothic portal and a round tower with an internal spiral staircase ( vis ). The elongated salle des gardes shows in its center a beautiful fireplace with a feather-adorned helmet over the coat of arms of the House of Valois-Angoulême with three lilies; the rib vault in the area of the chimney is quite complicated. As can still be seen in old photos, cognac barrels were also stored in this room until the middle of the 20th century.
Fontaine François I.
In front of the castle, at the balcon du roi , there is a former fountain, the predecessor of which is said to have been built by Francis I. However, it was completely renewed in the 17th century with a mixture of classical and baroque style elements and moved a few meters in the 19th century. The building has been classified as a Monument historique since 1925 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Château François Ier, Cognac in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- ^ Fontaine François Ier, Cognac in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
literature
- Pauline Reverchon: Cognac . Éditions SAEP, Ingersheim 1973.
Web links
Coordinates: 45 ° 41 ′ 54 ″ N , 0 ° 19 ′ 48 ″ W.