Location: Chinon, Indre-et-Loire Map
Constructed: 12th century by Henry II
Tel. 02 47 93 13 45
The royal fortress of Chinon, set composed of three castles: fort du Coudray, château du Milieu, and fort Saint-Georges, is located in the French town of Chinon in the department of Indre-et-Loire, in the Center-Loire Valley region.
The fortress is built on a rocky outcrop overlooking
the Vienne, about fifteen kilometers from its confluence with the Loire,
and the town of Chinon, in the French department of Indre-et-Loire. This
strategic position allowed him to ensure control of the passage over the
Vienne, a tributary of the Loire. The village has developed below, on
the shore.
Little by little, the space was structured in three
distinct parts, which the kings called their "three castles", and which
appear in a stylized way in the form of three towers on the coat of arms
of the city.
Thus, from west to east, the spur is blocked by a
series of ditches — dry moats — which separate the three castles: Fort
du Coudray, the Middle Castle, and Fort Saint-Georges. Each of the three
castles has an independent enclosure. It is in the main castle, the
Middle castle, that the main houses and the Saint-Melaine priory
develop. The fortress, which stretches over 300 m long, had in
particular the function of controlling the road going from Tours to
Loudunais which crosses the Vienne at this point. The agglomeration has
lined up at the foot of the cliff, around the bridge.
The site of the fortress has been occupied for three thousand years, as revealed by recent archaeological excavations. We must wait until the end of the Gallic era to get to know its inhabitants a little. A Gallic warrior aristocrat erected his residence on the site of the current Fort Saint-Georges. Archaeologists have found the square ditch that served as its enclosure. Inside there were private houses, agricultural buildings, and a political and/ or cultural space. The owner of the premises was buried right in front, with his great sword, a privilege granted by Caesar to the veterans of his native auxiliary troops. It can be seen in the archeology room of the museum. In the Gallo-Roman era, Chinon was already a small town. On the height, stone or more modest constructions, in cob, develop. The area of the Gallic tomb is gradually giving way to a small cemetery, which will remain in use until the tenth century.
In the context of the end of the Roman Empire, the promontory is fortified and becomes a castrum evoked by the historian Gregory of Tours. A wall 2.40 meters thick is built. For its foundations, large stone blocks are recovered from ancient buildings. This enclosure was supposed to have a dozen towers. Thanks to her, Chinon, which was then part of the Visigothic kingdom, resisted a siege led by Ægidius, Roman general, in 463. The promontory thus fortified continues to be occupied during the Merovingian and Carolingian periods. Extensive buried silos and utility buildings from this period have been found. Chinon was then a capital of viguerie, and housed a royal monetary workshop in the seventh and thirteenth centuries; then, from 920 to 954, the Viking threat not being ruled out, the one of Tours was transferred there.
The castle proper takes shape between the sixth and tenth centuries.
It includes a county house and a tower. Protected by a separate
enclosure, they are located at the eastern end of the current middle
castle. This set is distinct from the barnyard located further west. It
contains the economic and artisanal facilities necessary for the
operation of the castle (silos, buildings ...).
In the tenth
century, the fortress was held by the Counts of Blois, great vassals of
the Duke of the Franks and then the king of the Franks. The first and
most powerful of them, Thibaud I called "the Cheat", viscount since 941.
He built a stone tower in 954, before rising count in 956 until 974. To
strengthen the defensive capacity of the castle, he surrounds it with a
clean enclosure which isolates it from the old castrum attested on the
site from the fifth century5. These works are concentrated on the
eastern tip of the spur, forming the structure of what will later be
called the Coudray Fort. In front of its entrance were a large plateau
built of utility buildings and a chapel placed under the name of
Saint-Melaine.
While the castle is a territorial issue between
the counts of Blois and Anjou, important transformations take place in
the first half of the eleventh century. To increase the area, a larger
rampart was built, and a priory was founded inside the castle.
In the tenth century, the Counts of Anjou strongly threaten the power
of the Counts of Blois. They seized Touraine in 1044: the castle of
Chinon was ceded to Geoffroy Martel. He died childless in 1060. He was
succeeded by his nephew Fouques IV. He succeeds in gradually restoring
his authority over his particularly unruly vassals. It is undoubtedly to
Fouques IV that we owe the completion of the new enclosure of the
fortress. He notably raises taxes for this purpose, between 1087 and
1105. When he died in 1109, Anjou almost reached its final
configuration. His powerful neighbors are the King of France, the Duke
of Aquitaine and the Duke of Normandy. His grandson Geoffrey the Fair
will adopt the nickname of Plantagenet that the dynasty will keep and in
particular his great-grandson, Henry II. This is the beginning of the
Angevin supremacy which will last until 1205, when the castle will be
conquered by the King of France Philippe Auguste.
The eleventh
century is a period of intense defensive construction in the Angevin
domains, marking out their territory with stone fortresses. It is a
pivotal period in the evolution of castle architecture in the West of
France. Several masonry increases on some towers and portions of walls
still date from this period. The large central plateau is gradually
being fortified, becoming the central space of the complex with the
installation of a first house on the site of the current royal house.
Henry II Plantagenet was designated heir to the crown of England on
November 6, 1153 by the Treaty of Wallingford. At the moment when the
Plantagenet territory reaches its apogee, it extends from the Pyrenees
to Scotland. In order to ensure the unity of his newly constituted
empire, Henry II will make Chinon his continental capital. It is from
this moment that the castle will take on the dimensions that we know it
today. From the marriage between Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, no
less than eight children will be born. Note that among these eight
children there are five male heirs. Two of them will become king:
Richard the Lionheart and John the Landless. In comparison, the loves of
Louis VII appear to be much less fruitful since it was not until his
third marriage that the heir to the crown of France was finally born,
Prince Philippe (in 1165) nicknamed Dieudonné because of his unexpected
coming into the world.
Henry II Plantagenet stores part of the
royal treasury in Chinon. He stayed there frequently between 1160 and
1180 and held his Christmas court there for the last time in 1172,
surrounded by his wife and sons who were already arguing over his
territorial inheritance. In 1173, he removed Eleanor from power and had
her locked up in the fortress of Chinon, before sending her to house
arrest in England. The castle of Chinon will also be the last home of
Henry II: abandoned by his children, he died on July 6, 1189 in the
Saint-Melaine chapel, of which a plaque on the ground, north of the
royal lodges of the Middle castle, marks the location and commemorates
the event. Then his body is transported to the abbey of Fontevraud.
His great achievement in Chinon is the construction of Fort
Saint-Georges and a palace within it. This palace is composed of three
wings perpendicular to a building body parallel to the Vienna. It has a
chapel, dedicated to Saint George. This set is structured around several
courses. It is protected by a simple enclosure, without towers, but
which is entered through two monumental doors, to the east and west. The
one in the west is the best known. It is a rectangular porch-tower,
which was located on the site of the current reception building of Fort
Saint-Georges. Because of the natural relief, its threshold was located
four meters lower than the palace buildings, to which an access ramp
led. Only pedestrians and riders could use this passage, because the
door was too narrow for carts. This palace was unearthed between 2003
and 2005 during archaeological excavations. He was not known before.
This is a very important discovery, because there are very few palaces
of that time that have come down to us. The remains are currently
preserved under a garden. The rampart overlooking the Vienne is still
visible and has been restored in all its majesty.
Crowned king during his father's lifetime in 1179, Philippe
Auguste strives to continue the policy of Louis VII by setting it up
as a real diplomatic strategy; taking the side of the weak against
the strong. Philippe allies himself with Richard and Jean against
their father. After the death of his brother Henry the Younger,
Richard becomes the heir to the crown of England. This leads to a
reorientation of the alliances of Philippe Auguste. This is the
reason why Philip now takes the side of Geoffrey, the fourth son of
Henry II, against Richard. However, the premature death of Geoffrey
in 1186 brought this strategy to a halt. Of the five sons of Henry
II, only two are still alive: Richard and John. Philippe has no
choice but to make peace with Richard. From this peace will be born
a friendship between the two lords which worries Henry II. Philip
soon persuaded Richard that his father wanted to disinherit him in
favor of John. In the aftermath, Richard takes the oath to the King
of France for the continental possessions of the Plantagenets that
he now considers his own. And it is as allies that Richard and
Philip hasten to lay siege to the squares still loyal to Henry II.
After fleeing Le Mans, the latter takes refuge in Chinon, his main
fortress. He died shortly after, on July 6, 1189. Richard then
becomes the undisputed master of the Plantagenet Empire.
The
new king of England does not enjoy his possessions for a long time
insofar as the call to the crusade allows him to deliver Jerusalem
from Saladin. Richard makes a non-aggression pact with Philip so
that neither of the two takes advantage of the crusade to get a hold
of the other's possessions. Philip returned to France before
Richard, broke the pact and decided to take action in 1193 by
attacking Gisors and the Norman Vexin.
On the way back,
Richard is taken prisoner by the Emperor Henry VI. He was released
only in 1194, against a substantial ransom. In his absence, it is
his mother who rules, but she cannot prevent her younger brother
from taking advantage of the situation. John allied himself with the
king of France and ceded to him part of the continental possessions
of the Plantagenets. On his return, Richard is therefore forced to
pursue a reconquest policy with, as an emblematic element, the
construction of Château-Gaillard. Richard also took the opportunity
to lead his armies south to checkmate unruly vassals, in particular
the Lord of Châlus who had sworn allegiance to the King of France
during the crusade. It was during this siege that Richard was
wounded; he died on April 6, 1199.
John without Land can then
gird the crown of England. He strengthens the defenses of the castle
to resist the pressure of his rival, the King of France. In
particular, he had Fort Saint-Georges fortified, which became an
advanced post protecting the main castle from the road to Tours.
From 1200, Jean sans Terre, who is aware of the strategic importance
of Chinon, prepares the castle for war; the fortification works are
led by the engineer Urri. Towers and ramparts were created and
reinforced, the western end of the promontory was isolated by a moat
and became the Coudray fort.
Shortly after, Jean sans Terre
organizes the kidnapping of Isabella of Angoulême, yet promised to
Hugh IX, Lord of Lusignan, Count of La Marche, and marries her with
great pomp in Chinon. Echoing the complaints of Hugh of Lusignan and
taking advantage of his kinship with Isabella of Angoulême, Philip
Augustus takes the pretext of this incident to confiscate the
continental possessions of the Plantagenets. Thus, Philip goes to
war with John. In the autumn of 1204, the armies of the King of
France laid siege to the fortress. Philip Augustus seized the
square, which passed for impregnable, on June 23, 1205, after a
siege of nine months.
The day after his victory, Philippe
Auguste decided to increase the defensive capabilities of the
fortress. In fact, it is at the gates of Poitou, which is still
under Plantagenet domination! Like the other castles of the kingdom,
he applies the standardized architecture that is his trademark. The
eastern end is separated from the central plateau by the digging of
a deep ditch, dominated by a new tower, the Philippian keep of
Coudray. In addition, the ramparts are reinforced by three circular
flanking towers enclosing pointed vaults (Boissy, L'echaugette, des
Chiens). They are equipped with bows made in the total thickness of
the wall (unlike the Plantagenet niches bows).
Particular
attention is paid to accesses. The main entrance to the castle is
made monumental by the construction of the Field gate, between the
Middle Castle and Fort Saint-Georges. It is a real entrance castle
defended by two large circular towers, equipped with a harrow and
preceded by a drawbridge. The Coudray keep is also the element of an
entrance castle of the same type, but with a single tower. The clock
tower-door is redesigned to accommodate a harrow. Finally, two
posterns are equipped: one is connected by an underground to the
Coudray keep, the other opens into the northern rampart and opens
into the moat which separates the Coudray fort from the Middle
castle.
Between August 18 and 20, 1308, the castle of Chinon is the scene of
an important event in the history of the order of the Temple. This
episode is part of a power struggle between the King of France Philippe
the Handsome (1268-1314) and Pope Clement V. In order to confiscate the
gold of the Knights Templar, the king instructs Guillaume de Nogaret to
collect testimonies relating to the deviances of the order. A trial
ensues where torture soon forced confessions that go far beyond the
initial accusations. The Templars thus admit to having spat on the
cross, succumbed to the sin of fornication, etc.. In order to conduct
his trial as he sees fit, the king works to keep the pope away.
Several months after ordering the arrest of all its members, Philip the
Fair agrees to send seventy-five templars before the pope in Poitiers.
But, along the way, the king has the four dignitaries of the order
detained at Chinon castle, including the grand master Jacques de Molay,
in order to thwart any attempt at absolution by the supreme pontiff.
The Pope then decides to send three cardinals to Chinon Castle in
charge of interrogating the dignitaries in order to reintegrate them
into the Catholic church. This interview was the subject of a report,
the original of which remained secret until 2001. The Chinon scroll is
the authentic act that results from this interview, and by which the
dignitaries confess their faults prior to their absolution. But the king
did not take this repentance into account and ends up condemning them to
the stake.
Around 1370, Duke Louis I of Anjou undertook the reconstruction of
the houses. Of this set, all that remains for us is the south wing,
which housed an audience at its (east) end. Justice was done there in a
very large room located upstairs, while the four heated rooms on the
ground floor served as an office.
At the time of Charles VII, the
whole adopts its final configuration: three wings around a courtyard.
One of the buildings of the priory Saint-Melaine, which was opposite the
house, is transformed into a palm game room, an aristocratic sport very
fashionable at that time. The perpendicular building that bordered the
Coudray moat had a porch allowing you to pass from the Middle castle to
the Coudray fort. The auditorium is redeveloped into the grand hall of
the castle, better known as the "hall of Recognition".
The rest
of the south wing was occupied by the apartments of Charles VII and his
wife Marie d'Anjou, housed on the first floor. They consist of a facing
room, a bedroom, cabinets and places of ease. The service rooms and the
dining room are on the ground floor. The queen, the main occupant for
more than twenty-five years (1435-1461), is at the origin of many
improvements. In 1454 the arrangements had not yet been completed, but
an accounting document made it possible to know the arrangements and
certain decorations.
The English seized Paris in 1419, forcing the Dauphin Charles (future
Charles VII) to go into exile in Bourges. By the Treaty of Troyes,
signed in May 1420, the parents of Charles VII, under Anglo-Burgundian
influence, disinherit their son in favor of Henry V of England, who
claims the Plantagenet inheritance.
Taking advantage of the
merciless struggle between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians, the
English, led by Henry V, are emboldened. They soon won decisive
victories, especially at Azincourt (October 25, 1415). A humiliating
treaty ensues in which Charles VI recognizes Henry V as his successor,
to the detriment of his own son, the Dauphin Charles.
The Dauphin
did not accept this treaty and was proclaimed King of France without
having been able to be crowned in Reims, located in Anglo-Burgundian
land. His kingdom, the kingdom of Bourges, corresponds approximately to
France south of the Loire. He leads an itinerant life there between his
different castles: Chinon, Tours, Loches and Amboise. Chinon then acts
as a summer residence. After having celebrated his marriage with Marie
d'Anjou in Bourges in 1422, the court of Charles VII moved to the castle
of Chinon in 1427. Princess Radegonde, the king's eldest daughter, was
born there in August 1428. It is in this context that the Maid enters
the scene, to ensure his legitimacy and convince him to be crowned in
Reims.
She arrived in Chinon on February 23, 1429 at the end of a
journey of some 470 kilometers, made in eleven days from Vaucouleurs; a
real feat for the time. This famous meeting is usually described as a
mythical and miraculous scene, the Recognition. It is not so, because
there were, not one, but two interviews in Chinon. The first takes place
on February 25, 1429, two days after his arrival. She is taken to the
king's room where he receives her in a small committee. At the castle,
she is housed in the Coudray dungeon. Her virginity was verified by an
assembly of women presided over by the Queen of Sicily, Yolande of
Aragon, then Charles VII sent her to Poitiers so that his advisers and
doctors of theology could judge her good faith.
On her return,
Jeanne was again received by the king in his room, between March 27 and
April 5, 1429. This second so-called "sign" audience takes on the
official and public aspect that is generally attributed to the first. It
marks the end of the Poitiers investigation and takes the place of
Jeanne's official presentation. Joan then brings to the king a gold
crown which was the material sign of her promise to lead the king to the
coronation, then she retires to the neighboring chapel.
This
episode, which took place within the walls of the fortress, marks a
decisive turning point for the Hundred Years' War. Thanks to the divine
election of Joan, real or fabricated, the prince manages to gather his
supporters behind his banner so that they regain confidence.
Subsequently, it is mainly Queen Marie of Anjou who will live at the
castle of Chinon surrounded by her court.
Then deprived of a strategic role and abandoned in favor of more
modern castles, the fortress gradually falls into ruins. Inventories
from the early seventeenth century describe it in a state of complete
disrepair. The Saint-Georges chapel was destroyed in 1763. The whole is
sold as a national asset during the Revolution and divided between
various individuals. They occupy the ruins, build houses at the foot of
the ramparts and dig cellars in the hillside.
From 1824, despite
the dangerousness of the site, the castle park was converted into a
public promenade. The circuit is embellished with a mulberry nursery, a
flowerbed is installed on the site of the large room of the ruined
houses.
In 1840, the fortress is classified as a historical
monument, but the ruins remain dangerous, and in 1854 the municipality
requests the demolition of the buildings. The intervention of Prosper
Mérimée will be decisive and will mark the beginning of the restoration
of the fortress of Chinon. In 1926, the adjoining land was also
classified.
An ambitious restoration program: the crowned royal
lodges
The ambition of the department is to preserve and enhance this
exceptional heritage. To promote the development of this prestigious
place, its influence, the chosen party was to combine contemporary
creation and heritage protection. The aim was to restore the historical,
architectural and artistic understanding of the site while respecting
the spirit of the place. To achieve this, the approach relied on the
complementarity of restoration and contemporary creation.
2003
marks the beginning of the program, with the rendering of the
preliminary studies, the prefiguration study, and the beginning of the
archaeological excavations.
Between 2005 and 2006, the southern
rampart of Fort Saint-Georges was restored. Between 2006 and 2007 it is
the tower of the eastern rampart, on the side of the Middle castle. The
year 2007 also marks the beginning of restoration work on the Coudray
keep. In the Middle Ages, the entrance door to the tower and the
associated defensive devices (harrow, stunner) were located on the first
floor. The door was accessible by a staircase located in a forecastle
(small annex building). Over time, stairs and foreheads fell into
disrepair. This access, which had become unusable, was condemned and a
door was pierced on the ground floor. The restoration consisted in
restoring the medieval access system, by rebuilding a stone staircase.
The ruined staircase that led to the summit platform has also been
redone. For the public, this place now offers an excellent view of the
entire castle, the royal lodges and the city of Chinon.
Concerning the royal lodgings, it was not a question of proceeding to an
identical restitution. The choice chosen was rather to rebuild a royal
dwelling highlighting the construction processes of the late Middle
Ages. The strong point of the project lay in the repair of the roof,
disappeared since the nineteenth century the large and small attic. The
great hall or hall of the Recognition, which is completely destroyed has
remained as it is. On the large eaves and the small eaves, the gables
have been completed by stonemasons in order to restore the original
slopes of the roofs and receive new frames. These are reproductions of
frames inspired by the models of the fifteenth century. The frame of the
king's room (small attic) has been the object of particular care and is
decorated with carved punches.
In 2015, a team from the History Secrets show shot several sequences
at the castle as part of two issues :
an issue dedicated to Aliénor
d'Aquitaine, entitled Aliénor d'Aquitaine, a rebel in the Middle Ages
broadcast on August 11, 2015 on France 2 ;
an issue dedicated to Joan
of Arc, entitled Jeanne d'Arc, in the name of God broadcast on September
22, 2015 on France 2.