Château du Peyruzel: A Historic Castle in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page5 sections
History
Medieval origins and wartime occupation
Château du Peyruzel is a castle in France, located at Le Peyruzel in the commune of Daglan, Dordogne. Its history reaches back to the thirteenth century, while construction of the château was completed in the sixteenth century. The lordship of Peyruzel belonged to the Domme family in 1281, one of the oldest families of Périgord.
The château was drawn into the Hundred Years’ War, the prolonged conflict between the English and French crowns from the fourteenth to the fifteenth century. In the fourteenth century, English routiers, armed companies that often included mercenaries and were known for raiding, occupied Peyruzel. They used the site as a base for attacks on the surrounding region.
Changes of lordship
After the Domme family, Peyruzel passed to the Solminhac family and later to the La Roque de Saint-Pompon family. The La Roques held both the lordship and its judicial rights in the parish of Daglan. In the feudal system, a lordship combined territorial authority with powers exercised by its lord.
Jean II de Cugnac married Marguerite de La Roque in 1464. In 1552, a donation by Hélie de La Roque made Jean III de Cugnac lord of Peyruzel, Saint-Pompon, and Fournels at Campagnac-lès-Quercy.
Wars of Religion and the Mirandol family
During the Wars of Religion, Marc de Cugnac, Jean III’s son, joined the Catholic League, a Catholic political and military movement active during the French Wars of Religion. Fighting in the region involved Geoffroy de Vivans, a Protestant military captain associated with the forces of Henry of Navarre, the future King Henry IV of France. Vivans occupied Saint-Pompon and later took it again. A château associated with Marc de Cugnac was burned during this conflict, with only its keep surviving.
In 1595, probably because the Wars of Religion had left him short of money, Marc de Cugnac sold the Peyruzel fief to François de Mirandol. The Mirandol family also owned Château de Péchaud and retained both properties until the French Revolution. In 1760, Château du Peyruzel exercised high justice over Daglan, meaning that its lord could hear serious criminal cases and impose the most severe penalties within the lordship.
The château is privately owned. It was entered on the French register of historic monuments on 12 October 1948, a legal protection below the status of a classified historic monument. It is also listed in the French Ministry of Culture’s Mérimée architectural-heritage database under reference PA00082510.
Remains
Château du Peyruzel occupies an elevated position overlooking the region between Domme and Gramat, as well as the road along the Céou River. The building has a Greek-cross plan, with its principal sections arranged as four arms meeting at a central point. One window in an arm of this cross-shaped layout belongs to a thirteenth-century phase, providing a surviving architectural indication of the château’s medieval origins. The building that stands today reflects the completion of the château in the sixteenth century.
