Location: Périgord Map
Constructed: 13th century
Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle takes a strategic high location over river Dordogne valley across Château de Beynac. The first document that mentions Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle dates back to the 13th century at the time of the Albigensian Crusade, although it might have existed before that. It became famous during extermination of heretical group known as Cathars. Simon de Montfort briefly took the castle, but Cathar castellan was Bernard de Casnac quickly retook the citadel hanging the whole garrison of soldiers. In the several centuries the castle changed hands repeatedly. Needless to say many legends and paranormal claims still exist on the location. Today it is a private property open to the public and features the museum of medieval warfare.
Probably built at the end of the twelfth century, the castle of
Castelnaud ("new castle" in Occitan), is the possession of Bernard de
Casnac, Cathar lord and vassal of the Count of Toulouse. In 1214, Simon
de Montfort, who led the crusade against the Cathars, known as the
“Albigensian crusade”, seized the fortress. Taken over by Bernard de
Casnac, it was finally burned by the Archbishop of Bordeaux in 1215.
A new castle was built in the middle of the 13th century under
Capetian authority. After the Treaty of Paris in 1259, Castelnaud
recognized the suzerainty of the Duke of Aquitaine, Henry III of
England. In 1368, Magne de Castelnaud married Lord Nompar de Caumont.
The Caumonts then became the lords of Castelnaud and Berbiguières.
As the Hundred Years War begins, the Caumont family chooses the side
of the English. During this long war, the castle changed sides many
times according to alliances and special interests. In March 1437, after
sixteen years of English occupation, the castle was taken over by troops
commanded by Jean de Carbonnières, bastard of Pelvezy, with Jean de
Veyrines de Saint-Alvère and Jean d'Aynac as associates. Mathelin de
Montbrun, lord of Cardaillac, claims restitution as his property having
obtained letters from the king the previous year which made him hope for
restitution. The castle fell back into English hands in March 1439. In
1442, the King of France, Charles VII, ordered the siege of the castle
then held by supporters of the King of England. After three weeks of
tension, the besieged ceded the fortress for 400 gold crowns. Castelnaud
Castle was definitively taken over by the French on October 7, 1442, who
won the Hundred Years War eleven years later.
Following the
conflict, the Caumont family took over the castle and remained its owner
until the Revolution.
In the 16th century, during the Wars of
Religion, Geoffroy de Vivans, a Huguenot captain, defended the
stronghold on behalf of the Caumonts, followers of the Protestant
religion. Faced with Geoffroy, known as "the battler", feared throughout
Périgord, and the new fortifications (bastion and artillery tower) that
came to reinforce the defenses of the castle, no one tried to take
Castelnaud during these wars, which were nevertheless particularly
intense in Périgord.
The castle was occupied by a more or less
numerous garrison until the Revolution.
Sold as national property
in 1789, after the flight of its owners, the castle of Castelnaud serves
as a stone quarry. The artillery tower and the southern main building
lose their summit. The vegetation then conquers the monument, which
gradually falls into oblivion.
In 1965, Philippe Rossillon, former student of the ENA and diplomat, long employed in institutions of the Francophonie and mayor of Beynac-et-Cazenac, bought the castle of Castelnaud with his wife, Véronique Rossillon, to renovate it. In 1985, his son, Kléber Rossillon left Aérospatiale to take over and opened the castle to the public. He then created the Museum of War in the Middle Ages and embarked on the reconstruction of life-size jet machines: trebuchet, bombarde, mangonel, pierrière, bricole and couillard4.
War Museum
Inaugurated in 1985, the museum of war in the Middle
Ages invests the rooms of the seigniorial dwelling. The fund of the
collection consists of 300 pieces of arms from the 13th to the 17th
century, coming from Europe (swords, halberds, armour, crossbows,
artillery pieces, including a reconstruction of a bombard),
reconstructions of siege engines as well as a furniture set. The museum
is structured dynamically according to a succession of different spaces:
artillery room, passageways, weapons rooms, models, video rooms,
terraces, weapons store, casemates, armory workshop, kitchen , upper
room of the furnished dungeon, gallery of hoardings, for a total of
fifteen rooms.
The castle was frequented by more than 233,000
visitors in 2022.
In 2020, the Château de Castelnaud obtained the
Qualité Tourisme mark for the quality of its welcome and its services.
Protection
After a first classification of the castle alone as
historical monuments on December 20, 1966, a new classification - which
cancels the old one - integrates the castle and its enclosure on October
28, 1980, and, on the same day, the châtelet of entrance is listed as a
historical monument.
Bernard de Casnac, owner of the castle in 1214, husband of Alix de
Turenne.
Simon de Montfort takes the castle in 1214.
Magne II de
Castelnaud marries Nompar de Caumont, owner in 1368.
Pons de Beynac,
joined the troops of Charles VII during the siege of 1442.
Geoffroy
de Vivans (1543-1592), captain of the castle in 1563.
Jacques Nompar
de Caumont, companion of Henri IV, Marshal of France in 1622.