Josselin Castle
The Josselin Castle is located in Josselin , a French village in Brittany Morbihan department .
history
Guéthénoc, lord of Porhoët from the family of the Counts of Rennes , had the first castle built around the year 1000. He was looking for a place of high military and economic value and found it with a rock that dominates the valley of the Oust . The existence of the Church of Notre-Dame du Roncier as a place of pilgrimage contributed a lot to the wealth of the population and their masters.
Since Eudon de Porhoët, as regent for the young Breton Duke Conan IV, had gathered around him the Breton barons who were hostile to the English King Heinrich II Plantagenet and the new Count of Anjou , he had Josselin Castle razed under his personal supervision.
Olivier V. de Clisson acquired the rulership of Josselin in 1370 and had the castle rebuilt as an imposing citadel with eight towers and a donjon 90 meters high. He married his younger daughter Béatrix to Alain VIII. De Rohan , the heir of the Rohan family , whose castle was about 20 kilometers from Josselin.
In 1488 the castle was conquered by Duke Franz II and partially destroyed. His daughter Anne de Bretagne then gave it back to Olivier's grandson Jean II. De Rohan . He had the castle redesigned within the walls so that it looks like a country house from the side facing away from the river, with a much more open facade made of hewn granite and one of the first examples of the Renaissance in France; especially since he also employed Italian craftsmen for this. In order to show his appreciation, he had numerous "A" s carved around with a cord, the emblem of Anne de Bretagne.
In their absence, the Rohan, despite their inclination to Protestantism , had to put up with the fact that the governor of Brittany, the Duke of Mercœur , turned their castle into a base of the Catholic League in opposition to the new King Henry IV . In 1603, when Henry IV raised the vice-county of Rohan to a duchy and peerage , Henri II. De Rohan moved the center of his power to Pontivy .
Richelieu had the donjon and four towers torn down in 1629 and announced this to Duke Henri II with the words: "Monseigneur, je viens de jeter une boule dans votre jeu de quilles!" - he had thrown a ball into his bowling game.
Josselin was no longer inhabited in the 18th century and was used as a prison and warehouse during the French Revolution and Napoleon's reign . In 1832 the Duchess of Berry , Maria-Carolina of Bourbon-Sicily , was able to convince the Duke of Rohan to restore the castle.
Todays use
Today the castle is inhabited by the 14th Duke of Rohan, Senator Josselin de Rohan , who was the President of the Brittany region from 1992 to 2004.
You can tour the courtyard and some rooms that display furniture, family portraits, royal gifts and an equestrian statue of Olivier de Clissons by Emmanuel Frémiet . The Musée de poupées (doll museum) is housed in the old stables .
Web links
- Josselin Castle as a 3D model in SketchUp's 3D warehouse
Coordinates: 47 ° 57 ′ 8.5 ″ N , 2 ° 32 ′ 51 ″ W.