Commarque Castle
The Commarque Castle (French: Château de Commarque ) is located in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine , in the Dordogne department , in the valley of the Große Beune , in the vicinity of the Abri de Cap Blanc archaeological site, within sight of the Château de Laussel, which cannot be visited 8 km east of Les Eyzies .
The common name Château-de-Commarque, as you can find it on maps and on local signs, is actually misleading, as it is not a single castle, but rather a former fortified fortified village , a castrum , behind whose walls there is In the Middle Ages, at least six towers of knight or aristocratic seats, also called fortress houses, were found (No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7). There are parallels to this, for example the castle hill of Chauvigny or the Tours de Merle in the Limousin .
It is important for the place that here under, in and on the cliff, people seeking protection have settled in almost uninterrupted succession, beginning in the early Neolithic millennia, through the troglodytic epoch after the turn of the ages, through the Middle Ages to the early modern period .
history
Neolithic
Even in the Neolithic period, people had settled in the valley of the Große Beune under overhangs (abris) of vertically towering rocks and left their traces. Immediately below the towering walls of the fortress at the level of the level valley floor there is an abri with a cave (grotto) in which the early cultures engraved depictions of horses and mountain goats, proof that here more than 17,000 years ago People lived and were sedentary. The grotto cannot be visited by the public because of its narrow space.
Troglodytic
A little above the Abri, halfway up the steep face, you can see caves in the rock from below, to which a narrow staircase leads up. In the same way, you can get there from the side of the medieval fortress, at the level of the chapel and the former defensive tower passage. Here you come across a troglodytic dwelling carved into the rock , a "cave dwelling", which has usually been made usable for humans and pets by deepening natural stone cavities. The higher position in the rock face and the mostly narrow and rather cumbersome entrances offered greater protection and allowed easier defenses against marauding rabble than with single-storey houses. Comparable troglodytic dwellings, such as those at La Madeleine , date to around the 8th century. The accommodation here consists of a large living room and bedroom with sleeping niches with direct passages to the pigsty and the sheepfold. There humans and animals lived side by side.
middle Ages
As a result of wooden defense towers, the construction of the first stone towers began in the 12th century, with the von Commarque family (2) among the first on site, immediately followed by those of Beynac (1). Both families had their knightly seats at the highest position of the terrain, which rises vertically and then less steeply from the valley. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the settlement developed and completed itself into a stately fortress with knight seats, living quarters, warehouses, workshops and stables for the animals of the villagers, who were mainly employed in agriculture. Grain, vegetables and cloth hemp were cultivated in the fertile valley. The residents of the settlement were self-sufficient, both in terms of defense and nutrition. The troglodytic dwelling was also part of the fortified village in the Middle Ages.
The knights' seats with their towers were on the one hand united behind the common defensive wall, and their masters helped each other to defend their possessions from the outside world. But they also took care of each other by separating each other with fortification walls and ditches in the event of internal disputes. The entire area, including the fortification trenches, took up around 3,500 square meters of floor space.
The Grosse Beune running in the valley was used for the irrigation of the fields, but at the same time was also the borderline between the possessions of the Bishops of Sarlat on the Commarque side and those of the Counts of Périgord, including the Laussel Castle opposite.
Succession to the lords of Commarque
One of the most important lords of Commarque was Pons de Beynac, who by marrying his cousin united the feudal estates of Beynac and Commarque. He was involved in various disputes with the English. Through a second marriage, he joined the heiress of Castelnaud, and thus increased his fortunes.
Stop the ruin of the ruins of the castrum
Today the land is owned by a descendant of the von Commarque family, namely Mr. Hubert de Commarque. Since 1968 he has been organizing the uncovering and securing of the ruins of the fortified settlement, which are in ruins. Nature had already recaptured large parts of the buildings, which were overgrown with ivy and trees and were falling apart. Oaks even grew on the top of the donjon. The work has been supported by the French state since 1980, and an excavation program has been in place since 2002, the result of which is to give visitors a better understanding of the history of the fortified settlement.
Individual places in the settlement
The guard room
In addition to the lower exit gate (8), the remains of a lounge for the guard personnel can be seen. The habitability of the room is evidenced by traces of door locks and benches, and three large ceiling rings.
The defense tower or the gatehouse (7)
Recent excavations have unearthed the foundation walls of the Romanesque defense tower. There is also evidence of a doorway with a vault, which ensured the connection between the chapel and the side gate. This gatehouse, which was built around the change from the 12th to the 13th century, was completely destroyed in the 14th century.
The Saint-Jean chapel (6)
From the village church of Saint-Jean, built in the 14th century, there are still the rectangular chancel, vaulted with a slightly pointed barrel and three huge double girders, the approaches of the rectangular nave and the gable wall of the nave with three openings with round arches to accommodate bells . There are three small windows with round arches in the choir. The shapes do not indicate Gothic style. On the middle belt arch the coat of arms of the Pons de Beynac, a shield, with ten horizontal stripes, alternating in red and gold. On the stones of the vault you can see incised Roman numerals, presumably the setting marks of the stonemasons.
The rediscovered altar stone takes its original place in the choir.
Underneath the choir of the church in the transverse direction there is a passage, probably also intended for carts and cattle, which is covered with a sharpened barrel. Here was a main entrance to the fortified village. Access was protected by the belief that no one could go under the altar with weapons on with impunity.
To date there is only one document relating to the church: in 1382, Jean de Commarque's niece donated two pounds of wax to light the church's candles.
The tower house with buttresses (5)
One of the oldest houses in the village is named after its buttresses that point towards the valley. It was probably built in the middle of the 12th century. built. The name of a noble lordship is not known. In the 16th century the comfort of the house was improved by adding a larger window, latrines and a fireplace. The ground floor room carved out of the rock served as a storage room; the upper floor was the only lounge for living and sleeping.
The house with the oven (4)
Directly above the house above and only separated by a narrow passage (ditch) is the house with an oven, which you can find inside the heating fireplace. Between the two houses can be seen the remains of a drawbridge to the corbels are that can accommodate the laid across the moat bridge. This passage was reserved only for the residents of the two houses.
The fortified tower of Jean des Escars (3)
The defense tower, built roughly in the middle between the upper and lower border of the fortress, stands exactly on the south-eastern border. Its gable wall is part of the outer defensive wall. It was built in the 13th century. In a document written in 1598 it says about him: “Large square defense tower, once much higher and more powerful than today, destroyed by Mr. de Beynac.” The remains of the building, which have recently been restored, have preserved the medieval complex.
The fortified tower of the knight's seat of the Commarque (2)
It was built at the same time as the Romanesque tower of Beynac's in the 12th century, precisely in the southern corner of the castrum. Two of its outer walls are part of the town's defensive wall. The extent and appearance of this knight's seat are largely unknown, apart from the two storey high surrounding walls of the tower and those of the remaining smaller walls.
The knight seat of the von Beynac (1)
The Château der von Beynac was the largest and most important individual fortress in the settlement and, with its original cell, the Romanesque donjon, was also one of the first towers. The chateau with its dividing ditch takes up more than a quarter of the entire castrum. In addition to the altitude, the area of the castle also demonstrated the power of its feudal lordship.
The defense system
Like many other castles, the Château of Beynac had a three-part defense system, and if you add the town's defensive wall, it is also four-part. The first link is the outer bailey, with its outer part within the castrum. It is formed from the small courtyard behind the old castle entrance, with a drawbridge, and the building of the “large hall” (g). If the attackers penetrated here, they were exposed to the riflemen who were behind the numerous, now visible loopholes in the stair tower and in the wall of the second defensive ring. The great hall could fall into the hands of the first intruders into the castle. That could be one of the reasons why this room almost no longer exists. The next section of defense is the main castle or refuge. It essentially includes the large inner courtyard, the living rooms (f) and the second stair tower (e) that opens them up. The inner courtyard is again surrounded by loopholes in the surrounding buildings. The third and last section of defense is the double donjon, into which the last defenders and the rulers were able to take refuge for “last rescue” and then move upwards, bullet by bullet.
The room on the ground floor of the donjon was a pure "defense room", crammed full of weapons and their operators, who could operate their field of fire almost all around.
The double donjon (b)
The donjon (keep) of the knight's seat of those of Beynac consists of two construction phases: the first, a Romanesque tower from the 12th century, next to and above the second, a Gothic tower from the 13th century. The first donjon, which originally stood alone, was recognizable by its massive 2 meter thick walls, was 21 meters high. Due to the thick walls, the usable interior space was so narrow that it was hardly an option as a dwelling. Rather as a symbol of the unrestricted authority of his feudal rule, he should bear witness to a widely visible testimony. The Gothic donjon, added later in the 13th century, makes the entire ensemble over 30 meters high.
ground floor
The larger room (d) on the ground floor (at the level of the courtyard) of the donjon was only used for defense. The high wall niche has three loopholes. They are connected by a horizontal slit that expands the field of vision. On the wall facing the moat, the niche was broken open to install a drawbridge. On the opposite side of the trench, a defensive structure was built.
The room next to it in the Romanesque donjon is accessed via a door that was subsequently broken. Originally this room was a storage silo, which could only be entered through a trap door in the vaulted ceiling.
The residential building (f)
From the pentagonal stair tower (e) of the 15th century. you can see the interior of the residential building. The gentlemen lived here in peacetime. The ceilings in it have been destroyed, except for the remains of the ceiling beams. The ground floor was built in the 12th century, the large windows with natural stone crosses and the fireplace on each floor date from the 15th century. The last feudal lord to live here, Guy de Beynac, died in 1656.
The great hall (g)
The large rectangular hall, built around 1380, was covered with a Gothic pointed arch vault. It served the Pons de Beynac, among other things, to hold court hearings, to receive delegates from other rulers and to accept the oath of allegiance from his feudal people. To this day, the causes of the collapse of the large hall over 3/4 of its area have not been clarified.
The castle entrances and outer works (9)
Located opposite the original main entrance of the knight's seat of those of Beynac is a vestibule, also known as a barbacane, which was supposed to serve for the early defense of the castle entrance. It is still largely buried today. On the rising walls one has to imagine battlements behind which the defenders found protection. There was a drawbridge between the forecourt and the entrance door, which could be pulled up when the Barbacane fell. The situation was similar for the later broken entrance in the Gothic donjon on the southwest side.
Today's access via a footbridge (a) directly into the central courtyard was originally walled up and equipped with loopholes.
First floor of the Gothic donjon
In it, a double window with column division and side benches in the reveal allows daylight to enter. On the cross window there is a locking system for the shutters called a “colombe” (dove). The battlement can be reached via a staircase.
Second floor of the double donjon
Here you come to a large lounge that is covered by a Gothic vault with five ribs that rest on carved consoles. On the keystone in the center of the vault is the coat of arms of Pons II of Beynac. A small coat of arms is complemented by a helmet with viewing slits, adorned with two side horns and a cross on the right cheek. In a fight, the red and gold helmet decorations were visible from afar for their own men.
A passage leads into the highest room of the Romanesque tower, with the huge surrounding walls. A window with a “grid” made up of five columns provides daylight, on both sides the well-known window “benches” on which you can play chess in peace on an incised playing field.
Terrace and watchtower
One floor further up you get to the terrace and further up to a watchtower on top. It makes the entire height of the donjon 34 m high, at least 62 m above the valley floor. From here one could see the church towers of the parishes belonging to the area of the feudal lordship of the Commarque, today no longer due to the high growth of the forests.
The weir trenches (Gr)
Defense trenches have been dug into the rock along the surrounding wall on both mountain sides of the castrum. Because of the high vertical rock walls, it was not possible to do this on the sides from northwest to northeast. There were also trenches between the individual knight seats. The large rift between the main castle of the Beynac family and the rest of the settlement is particularly pronounced. Here you can still see the extraction sites of natural stone material for the walls of the facilities.
literature
- Julia Droste-Hennings, Thorsten Droste : France. the southwest. The landscapes between the Massif Central, Atlantic and Pyrenees . DuMont-Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2007, ISBN 3-7701-6618-3 .
- Duplicated leaflets from the information stand on site (Acceuil - Kiosk).
Web links
Coordinates: 44 ° 56 ′ 30 ″ N , 1 ° 6 ′ 7 ″ E