Le Champ de Bataille castle

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Aerial view of the Le Champ de Bataille castle with part of the extensive castle park

The castle Le Champ de Bataille (French: Château du Champ de Bataille ) stands between Le Neubourg and Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France, in the middle of the so-called Campagne du Neubourg , which is in the west by the river Risle and bounded to the east by the Iton River .

The first parts of the complex have been under monument protection as Monument historique since May 1952 . Other parts of the castle were added to the French list of monuments in 1971 and 1995 .

history

Bernhard the Dane is considered the progenitor of the Harcourt family , he was a follower of Wilhelm Langschwert , the son of Rollos . Many sources claim that he took part in the Battle of Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc, in which William Long Sword fought against Robert the Dane in 935 and the Champ-de-Bataille gave his name. However, this is historically unlikely, as Robert the Dane died in 1037 and thus would have been either very young in 935 or well over 100 years old overall. This is why other sources assume that this legend was invented and the place is called Champ-de-Bataille because it once belonged to a gentleman named Bataille.

Entrance to the castle

When the members of the Fronde were arrested or sent to the province by Jules Mazarin in 1650 , Count Alexandre von Créquy-Bernieulle (1628–1703) was one of the friends of the Prince of Condé who were sent to the province. He had the Le Champ de Bataille castle built between 1653 and 1665.

After the death of Alexandre von Créquy-Bernieulle, his nephew Gabriel-René, Marquis of Mailloc inherited the castle. He married Claude-Lydie d'Harcourt in July 1720, and after his death in 1724 the property fell to his nephew Anne-François d'Harcourt, Duke of Beuvron (1727–1797).

The castle was looted during the French Revolution . In 1802 the castle was still owned by the Beuvron branch of the Harcourt family. Thomas Thornton wrote about the castle at the time that it was beautiful and that it had been offered to him for sale, but that it had no water supply and therefore he did not want it. It was sold in 1805.

In 1903 it was bought back by Count Harcourt, the direct descendant of the Duke of Beuvron. In 1936 it was sold again and used as an orphanage. During World War II it was occupied by British troops, then by German troops, and finally, after liberation, it was used as a prisoner of war camp. In 1948 it was bought back by Duke Harcourt, who had it renovated until 1959. In 1966, the Harcourt family celebrated their millennium at Champ-de-Bataille Castle since the first Harcourt to bear the family name, Anquetil d'Harcourt.

In 1992 the palace was bought by the architect and decorator Jacques Garcia, who designed the palace's current gardens. He received the Henri Texier Prize for restoring and furnishing the palace.

Building

Northeast side

The palace was designed by Louis Le Vau , the architect who was also involved in the construction of the Versailles Palace in 1669/70 . It is built of stone and brick in the style of the first half of the 17th century. On two opposite sides of the square inner courtyard there is a main building almost 80 meters long, which is flanked by pavilions with small round turrets at the corners. These parallel buildings are connected on one side by a strong wall, which is also built in stone and brick. On the fourth side there is a terrace with balustrades at the end of which you can access the garden via a flight of stairs .

The interior was done in the neoclassical style of the late 18th century. The castle chapel, which extends over two floors and has an oval floor plan, also dates from this period.

Todays use

Jardin des Dieux , the "garden of the gods"

The interior of the palace, garden and park can be viewed for a fee. The garden is one of the gardens awarded by the French Ministry of Culture as “remarkable” (French: Jardin remarquable ) and one of the most beautiful gardens in France selected by the Concours des villes et villages fleuris . The park is 17 hectares. The garden is laid out as a baroque garden in the style of André Le Nôtres , with groves , artistically designed ground floor , ponds and avenues . The themed garden of the gods (Jardin des dieux) with its “Pillar of Zephyr ”, the “Ice Cellar of Cybele ”, the “Torches of Prometheus ” and the “ Aviary of Actaion ” was inspired by classical mythology . It is criss-crossed by canals with water features . Open-air opera performances and evening parties are held in the garden in July and August .

The 18-hole golf course Le Champ de Bataille, which belongs to the city of Neubourg, is 60 hectares in the middle of an old forest right by the castle.

literature

  • Raymond Bordeaux: Excursion archéologique du 2 Octobre . In: Société française pour la conservation des monuments historiques (ed.): Congrès archéologique de France . Derache, Paris 1857, p. 223-225 ( online ).
  • Jean-Jacques Gautier, Jean-Louis Gaillemain (Red.): Champ de Bataille . Société française de promotion artistique, Paris 1997, ISSN  1242-9198 .
  • Robert Schezen, Laure Murat: Castles and country manors in France . Heyne, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-453-05185-8 , p. 58.

Web links

Commons : Le Champ de Bataille castle  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Le Champ de Bataille castle as a 3D model in SketchUp's 3D warehouse

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Castle Le Champ de Bataille in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French), accessed on August 11, 2009.
  2. ^ François-René de Chateaubriand : Analysis raisonnée de l'histoire de France . In: Oeuvres complètes de Chateaubriand . tape 10 . Garnier, Paris 1861, Féodalité, Chevalerie, Education, moeurs générales des XIIe, XIIIe et XIVe siècles ( in Gallica ). (French)
  3. ↑ a b Châteaux de Normandie . In: Philippe Aubry (ed.): Maisons Normandes Hors-Série . tape 2 . VIP International, 2008, p. 60-75 . (French)
  4. ↑ a b c Return to Champ de Bataille. Retrieved February 23, 2009 (French).
  5. ^ Klaus Malettke: Opposition and conspiracy under Louis XIV . Studies of criticism and resistance to the system and politics of the French king during the first half of his personal reign. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1976, ISBN 978-3-525-35359-2 , pp. 1998 .
  6. ↑ Célestin Hippeau: Le gouvernement de Normandie au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siècle . G. de Laporte, Harcourt 1863, p. 104 f . ( on Google books ). (French)
  7. ↑ Château du Champ-de-Bataille on normandygite.uk (English), accessed on August 12, 2009.
  8. ^ Thomas Thornton: A sporting tour through various parts of France, in the year 1802 . tape 1 . Longman, London 1806, p. 38 ( on Gallica ). (English)
  9. ^ Yves Guéna: Château et territoire: Limites et mouvances . Presses Univ. Franche-Comté, 1995, ISBN 978-2-251-60595-1 , pp. 201 . (French)
  10. ↑ Christin Velan: Everything that glitters is gold. Berliner Zeitung , January 8, 2005, accessed on June 11, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Château du Champ de Bataille on travelandleisure.com ( Memento of the original of February 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed August 12, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.travelandleisure.com
  12. ^ R. Bordeaux: Excursion archéologique du 2 October . In: Société française pour la conservation des monuments historiques (ed.): Congrès archéologique de France . Self-published, Paris 1857, p. 224 ( online ).
  13. ^ Jardins remarquables , accessed August 14, 2011.
  14. ↑ A. Blanchard, M. Delafenêtre, Lisa Pascual: Jardins de Normandie . Your. Connaissance des Jardins, Caen 2001, ISBN 2-912454-07-7 , pp. 26th f . (French)
  15. ↑ Le Champ de Bataille Golf Course , accessed August 12, 2009.

Coordinates: 49 ° 10 ′ 6 ″  N , 0 ° 51 ′ 33 ″  E