Château de Biron

Château de Biron

 

Location: Dordogne département Map

Constructed: 12th century

 

Description of Biron Castle

Château de Biron or Biron Castle is situated in Dordogne département of France.  Château de Biron or Biron Castle was constructed here in the 12th century. It was named after Gontaut Biron who acquired local lands through marriage. It holds a strategic location in the valley of the Lede river. Biron Castle was captured by the sect of Cathars in 1211. This secretive and legendary sect of heretics quickly earned response from the Roman Catholic Church. Simon IV de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, led Albigensian Crusade against these heretics and retook the citadel the following year. Today only the keep is all that remains from the original building. In the 16th century the castle was reconstructed and added Renaissance living quarters, vaulted kitchens and a chapel. In 1928 Château de Biron was proclaimed as monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. In 1994 it was the filming location of La Fille de d'Artagnan with Sophie Marceau and Philippe Noiret.

 

Location
The castle is located in the Lède valley, on the borders of Périgord, of which it is the seat of one of the four baronies, on an enormous rocky hill overlooking the town of Biron, in the French department of Dordogne.

Historical
The castle of Biron, referring to archaeological data, would date from around the year one thousand, between the end of the tenth and the middle of the eleventh century. The lords of Biron are mentioned in texts at the end of the 11th century, vassals of the Count of Toulouse.

In the second half of the twelfth century, under Henri Plantagenêt, Duke of Aquitaine and King of England, the Birons erected an imposing tower, but from the end of this century, they abandoned the site to their descendants, the Gontaud-Birons, and left to settle in Montferrand-du-Périgord, in a residence which they held and which they then transformed into a castle.

Under the patronage of the Plantagenêts and the Gontauds, the castle was radically altered, the lower courtyard was surrounded by a curtain wall flanked by towers and the town was fortified.

In 1211, it was taken by the Albigenses who gave it to Martin Algai, a Spanish captain and mercenary in the service of the King of England, who then went into the service of Simon IV de Montfort, Count of Leicester, the main leader of the crusade against the Albigensians. Following the betrayal of Martin Algai who went into the service of the Count of Toulouse, Simon de Montfort seized the castle, had Martin Algai hanged and entrusted the castle to Arnaud de Montagu.

In 1222, the castle was sold by King Henri III to Henri de Gontaut.

The castle will remain the property of the Gontaut-Biron family until the eve of the Second World War in the person of Guillaume de Gontaut (1859-1939), since 1883 Marquis of Saint-Blancard and Biron, known as the Marquis de Biron ; it is reputed to have given its name to the district of high antiquity of the famous "flea market" of Saint-Ouen in Paris. Anne-Charles de Gontaut (° 1963) is the current bearer of the title.

Taken and ransacked by the English in the 14th and 15th centuries, Pons de Gontaud de Biron († 1524), regained his fortune, transformed the medieval fortress into a comfortable residence. It is he who erects the double church which will become the dynastic sanctuary, in order to accommodate his tomb and that of his brother Armand. In order to regain his rank, he married Marguerite de Montferrand, his relative. His son, Jean (1502-1557) will marry a Bonneval, from a large Limousin family. Introduced to the court, he fell into disgrace with François I. His son Armand (1524-1592) will be the unconditional support of the Valois and Catholicism in a region largely won over to the Reformation. Killed in the fights of the League, he will not be able to see the outcome of the transformation of the castle which he had undertaken. His work will remain unfinished following the disgrace of his son Charles (1562-1602) executed under Henri IV. It was Charles Armand de Gontaud-Biron who in the 18th century modernized the castle, which was later, due to its remoteness, ransacked during the Terror.

In 1938 the castle will be bought by the Copper-Royer family, who will keep it for forty years; in 1950 and 1952 Jacqueline Copper-Royer represented various aspects of the castle with drawings or prints (iconographic collection of the Departmental Archives of the Dordogne).

On May 30, 1974, a violent hailstorm caused major damage to the roofs of the buildings, and in 1978 it was a very dilapidated castle complex that was sold to the Dordogne department, which then undertook to restore it.

In 1980, the association Friends of the Château de Biron and Béatrice Gonzalez de Andia, related to the Gontaut-Birons, obtained from the Ministry of Culture the necessary funds to carry out the most urgent repairs.

In 2012, renovation work on the framework of the Maréchaux wing began, planned for a period of two years and a cost of 2.3 million euros.

In the 21st century, the Château de Biron, open to public visits, served as a setting for exhibitions and shows.