Château de Chinon

Château de Chinon seen from the south in 2010

Château de Chinon is a castle located on the bank of the Vienne river in Chinon, France. It was founded by Theobald I, Count of Blois though by the 12th century the castle was the property of the counts of Anjou. King Henry II of England, a member of the house of Anjou, took the castle from his brother Geoffrey in 1156 after he rebelled a second time and proved to be a favoured residence of Henry II's. Most of the standing structure can be attributed to his reign and in 1189 he died at Château de Chinon.

Early in the 13th century, King Philip II of France harassed the English king's lands in France and in 1205 he captured Chinon after a siege lasting months. After that it remained under French control. When King Philip IV accused the Knights Templar of heresy in the first decade of the 14th century, several leading members of the order were imprisoned at Château de Chinon.

Used by Charles VII in the 15th century, the castle was used as a prison in the second half of the second half of the 16th century before it fell out of use and was left to decay. Since 1840, the castle has been recognised as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture and today it is managed by the town of Chinon and is a major tourist attraction. There is a museum within the castle and in the early 21st century Château de Chinon underwent a 14.5 million euro restoration.

History

The castle viewed from across the Vienne

Background

The importance of Chinon derives from its position on the bank of the Vienne river in Chinon, France just before it joins the Loire. From prehistoric times, the rivers of France formed the major trade routes, and the Vienne joins the fertile southern plains of the Poitou and the city of Limoges to the thoroughfare of the Loire, thus giving access to the sea at the port of Nantes on the western coast, and to the Île-de-France in the east. Chinon offers an easy crossing point by means of a central island in the Vienne, and the rocks dominating the shore provided not only a natural fort, but also protection against the annual flooding of the river

The site appears to have been used for a Gallo-Roman castrum; recent excavations during the restoration of the château have uncovered arms and ornaments dating from the 1st century AD.^{[citation needed]} Theobald I, Count of Blois built the earliest known castle on the mount of Chinon in the 10th century.

Counts of Anjou

Tour d'Horlge

By the 12th century, Château de Chinon was a possession of the counts of Anjou. According to contemporaneous chronicler Robert of Torigni, on the death of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou in 1151 his second son, who was also called Geoffrey, inherited four castles. Robert did not specify which these were, but historian W. L. Warren speculated that Chinon numbered amongst these castles. Geoffrey rebelled against his older brother, Henry, in 1152. Henry negotiated with the castellans of the castles of Chinon, Loudun, and Mirebeau to surrender before laying siege to Château de Montsoreau. Following the loss of Montsoreau, Geoffrey surrendered to his brother. By 1156 Chinon, Loudun, and Mirebeau were back under Geoffrey's control. That year he readied them for war as he rebelled against Henry a second time. In the intervening years, his brother had been crowned King Henry II of England after a civil war. Henry besieged and captured Geoffrey's castles in the summer of 1156 and kept them under his control, giving Geoffrey an annuity of £1,500 in compensation. The presence of a treasury and one of Henry II's main arsenals marked Chinon as a particularly important castle in the 12th century. It was a primary residence of Henry II who was responsible for construction of almost all of the massive castle, encompassing a site over 500 metres long and 75m wide, with a clock tower (14th century) rising 115 feet (35 m) high.

In 1173 Henry II betrothed his youngest son, Prince John, to the daughter of Count Humbert, an influential lord in Provence. John had no land, but as part of the arrangement Henry promised him the castles of Chinon, Loudun, and Mirebeau. Henry II's eldest son, also called Henry, had been crowned King of England alongside his father but had no land of his own and was angered by the situation. His discontent grew and Henry the Young King demanded some of the land promised to him be handed over, claiming to have the support of the English barons and his father-in-law, King Louis VII of France. While the king was at Limoges he was informed of a conspiracy involving his wife and sons to overthrow him. Choosing to keep his eldest son by his side, Henry II set off north to Normandy, ensuring along the way that his castles in Aquitaine were prepared for war. En route they stayed at Chinon; under the cover of darkness Henry the Young King escaped and set off to Paris to join the court of Louis VII. Two of Henry the Young King's brothers, Richard and Geoffrey, joined him in rebellion along with the barons of France and some in England. War followed, lasting until 1174, and Chinon, Loudun, and Châtellerault were key to Henry II's defence.

The Tour de Coudray, a keep, was built during the reign of Philip Augustus, and in the early 14th century was used as a prison.

After the revolt ended in 1174, relations between Henry II and his sons continued to be strained. By 1187 Henry the Young King was dead, Richard was in line to inherit, and Henry II was on the brink of war with Philip II. In June that year Richard travelled to Paris with Philip II and struck up a friendship with the French king. Concerned his son might turn against him, Henry II asked him to return. Richard went to Chinon and raided the castle's treasury so he could fund the repair of his own castles in Aquitaine. In 1189 Richard and Philip were wreaking havoc in Maine and Toulouse, capturing Henry II's castles; the king was ill and went to Château de Chinon. He left briefly in July to meet with Richard and Philip II and agree a truce, and died at Chinon on on 6 July. The king's body was taken to Fontevraud Abbey and Richard became king.

In 1199, John succeeded his brother as King of England. By 1202 his lands in France were under threat from Philip II of France, threatening the east, and the barons of Brittany. In January 1203 John sent a band of mercenaries to retrieve Queen Isabelle from Chinon as it was under threat from rebels. In the spring Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, took over as commander of Chinon's garrison; the war was not going in John's favour and in August that year he ordered the demolition of several castles, including Château de Montrésor, to prevent them from being used by the enemy. By 1205, Chinon was one of the last castles in the Loire Valley. Château de Chinon fell to French force in the Easter of 1205 after a siege of several months; damage to the castle meant the garrison was no longer able to hold out so sallied to meet the French outside the castle walls. Hubert de Burgh was injured and taken prisoner in the event, and would remain in captivity until 1207. Soon after Château de Chinon was captured, Philip II took Normandy from the England crown.

French rule

Inside the royal appartments before they were restored in the 21st century

Though it was not the reason they were built, castles could often be used as prisons. One such instance from the 14th century illustrates this aspect of Château de Chinon's history. Founded in the Holy Land as a crusading military order in the early 12th century, by the close of the 13th century the Knights Templar had gained swathes of lands in Europe, particularly France. King Philip IV of France had the members of the order in his kingdom arrested, accusing them of heretical practices. The leaders of the order, including the Grand Master Jacques de Molay, were imprisoned at Château de Chinon, in the Tour de Coudray built by Philip II one century earlier. Graffiti carved by the imprisoned knights can be seen on the walls of the tower. In August 1308, Pope Clement V sent three cardinals to hear the leaders' confessions. The outcome was that in 1312 the pope issue a bull, the Vox in excelso, suppressing the order and its property was given to the Knights Hospitaller. The leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment apart from Jacques de Molay and Geoffrey de Charney who were burnt at the stake.

The Hundred Years' War in the 14th and 15th centuries was fought between the kings of England and France over the succession to the French throne. The houses of Plantagenet and Valois both laid claim. The war ended in 1453 when the English were finally ejected from France, but in the early 15th century the English under King Henry V made significant territorial gains. The Treaty of Troyes in 1420 made Henry V the heir apparent to the French throne but when the French king, Charles&nbs;VI, and Henry V died in the space of two months in 1422 the issue of succession was again uncertain. The English supported Henry V's son, Henry VI who was still a child, while the French supported recognised Charles VII, the the Dauphin of France. Between 1427 and 1450 Château de Chinon was the residence of Charles, when Touraine was virtually the only territory left to him in France, the rest being occupied by the Burgundians or the English.

On 6 March 1429 Joan of Arc arrived at Château de Chinon. She claimed to hear heavenly voices that said Charles would grant her an army to relieve the siege of Orléans. Charles met with her two days after her arrival and then sent her to Poitiers so that she could be cross-examined to ensure she was telling the truth. Joan returned to Chinon in April where Charles granted her supplies and sent her to join the army at Orléans.

The royal apartments before and after the 21st-century restoration

In 1562 the château came briefly into the possession of the Huguenots and was turned into a state prison by Henry IV of France. After that it was abandoned until 1793 when, during the Reign of Terror, the castle was temporarily occupied by Vendeans. Soon though, it was left to decay until Emperor Napoleon III began a partial effort at restoration, supervised by Prosper Mérimée (the author of the story 'Carmen'). Today, it is managed by the Town of Chinon and is a major tourist attraction.

Since 1840, the castle has been recognised as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. Between 2003 and 2010 the castle was the subject of a massive excavation and restoration project, costing 14.5 million euros. The royal lodgings (Logis Royales) which have been roofless for two hundred years, have been restored inside and out, and now boast wooden or tiled floors and ceilings, as well as state-of-the-art underfloor heating. The ramparts have been rebuilt, and the Fort St. Georges, which existed only as groundwork, has been rebuilt as a visitor centre and entrance hall. The aim of the restorations is to present a realistic vision of a medieval fortress in a liveable and usable state, with an extended and upgraded museum of finds from the excavations.

Description

Fort du Coudray, the castle's westernmost enclosure

Writing in the 12th century, the chronicler William of Newburgh commented that even before Château de Chinon came under the control of Henry II "its strength was such that nature seemed to vie with human art in fortifying and defending it". That said, in the 12th century Henry II undertook a project of rebuilding the castle and much of the extant remains date from this period. The stone used to build the castle was quarried on the site.

The castle is divided, along its length, into three enclosures, each separated by a deep dry moat. There are some similarities with Château Gaillard, built by Richard the Lionheart in the closing years of the 12th century, in its layout (divided into three enclosures) and situation on a promontory above a nearby town. The easternmost enclosure is known as Fort St-Georges, the central called the Château de Milieu, while the westernmost is known as the Fort du Coudray. In the early 13th century, following the Capetian annexation of Anjou in 1205, a cylindrical keep similar to those at Rouen and the Louvre, was added by Philip Augustus, King of France, to the entrance of the Fort du Coudray.

See also

• Châteaux of the Loire Valley
• List of castles in France

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Barber, Malcolm (1993), The Trial of the Templars, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521457279 
• Erlande-Brandenburg, Alain (1995), The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages, Thames & Hudson Ltd, ISBN 978-0-500-30052-7 
• Flori, Jean (1999), Jean Birrell (translator), ed., Richard the Lionheart: Knight and King, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-2047-0 
• Gillingham, John (2002) [1999], Richard I, English Monarchs Series, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-09404-3 
• King, David James Cathcart (1988), The Castle in England and Wales: an Interpretative History, London: Croom Helm, ISBN 0-918400-08-2 
• Neillands, Robin (2001), The Hundred Years War, Routledge, ISBN 9780415261319 
• Powicke, F. M. (1999) [1913], The Loss of Normandy, 1198–1204, Manchester University Press, ISBN 9780719057403 
• Ralls, Karen (2007), Knights Templar Encyclopedia, Career Press, ISBN 9781564149268 
• Stokstad, Marilyn (2005), Medieval Castles, Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 9780313325250 
• Warren, W. L. (1973), Henry II, English Monarchs Series, University of California Press, ISBN 9780520022829 
• Warren, W. L. (1978), King John, English Monarchs Series, University of California Press, ISBN 9780520034945 
• West, F. J. (2004), "Burgh, Hubert de, earl of Kent (c.1170–1243)" (subscription or UK public library membership required), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3991 

Further reading

• Mesqui, Jean (1997) (in French), Chateaux-forts et fortifications en France, Paris: Flammarion, ISBN 2-08-012271-1 

External links

• Royal Fortress of Chinon – official site