Castel of Carlat: Fortified Castle and Seat of the Viscountcy of Carladès
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Unclassified
- Eras represented
- Unclassified
- Civilizations
- Unclassified
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page14 sections
History
Castel of Carlat is a fortified castle in France, constructed between the tenth and sixteenth centuries as the seat of the Viscountcy of Carladès, a territory governed by a viscount below the rank of count. Its original proprietors were the Viscounts of Carlat, while its current owner is the Prince of Monaco. The stronghold occupied an important position in the political and military history of Auvergne.
Early Frankish and medieval history
In 508, Thierry I, the Frankish king and son of Clovis, captured Carlat. The action helped him establish lasting control over Auvergne. After Clovis died three years later, Thierry returned to suppress rebellions led first by Basolus and then by Arcadius.
During the eighth century, Pepin the Short used Carlat in his conflict with Waifre, the prince of Aquitaine who opposed the expansion of Frankish authority. In 839, Louis the Pious, the Carolingian emperor who succeeded Charlemagne, besieged troops belonging to his grandson Pepin II, king of Aquitaine, at Carlat.
The castle is known from records dating to the tenth century. In 1050, it passed by marriage to the Viscount of Millau and Gévaudan. Inheritance later transferred it to the king of Aragon, who granted it to the Count of Rodez before 1196.
Royal sieges and noble ownership
English forces captured Carlat in 1369. In 1386, Charles VI of France confiscated the stronghold and granted it to Jean, Duke of Berry, a royal prince and major territorial lord.
Louis XI besieged Carlat in 1476 to apprehend Jacques d’Armagnac, Duke of Nemours and Viscount of Carlat, who had conspired against him. After an eighteen-month siege, negotiations and promises persuaded Jacques to leave the castle. He was arrested, taken to Paris in an iron cage, and beheaded on 4 August 1477.
In 1489, Pierre II, Duke of Bourbon, acquired the Viscountcies of Carlat and Murat from Jean d’Armagnac, the eldest son of the deceased Jacques III.
Marguerite de Valois at Carlat
Marguerite de Valois, a French princess and queen of Navarre, made Carlat her residence after fleeing Agen while an army attempted to return her to Nérac, where her husband Henri of Navarre was staying. Her mother, Catherine de Medici, had given her Carlat. Marguerite arrived on 30 September 1585 with her ladies and servants and was received by the captain, Gilbert de Robert de Lignerac, known as Gilbert de Marzes.
Marguerite became ill at Carlat in April 1586. Her household physicians and surgeon could not determine the cause, so doctors were summoned from Aurillac, Murat, Villefranche-de-Rouergue, and Moulins. Water from the mineral spring at Vic was brought to her daily by mule, and she recovered in May.
On 4 June 1586, she attended dances, mime, and a communal feast at Vic-en-Carladez. There she encountered the bourrée, a traditional dance of central France, which she later introduced at court.
Marguerite left Carlat on 20 October 1586. Her departure followed the depletion of her treasury, the death of Gilbert de Marzes, and his replacement by his violent brother François Robert de Lignerac. François killed the son of her apothecary in her presence and tried to separate her from Jean d’Aubiac, a household officer in her service who was reputed to be her lover. A tradition also connected her departure with fear of plague. She continued to Ybois near Issoire under the protection of Amblard de Scorailles-Claviers, Lord of Murat-Larabe.
Dismantling and later reconstruction
In 1602, Henri IV ordered the arrest at Aurillac of François du Pouget, Lord of Mourèze and governor of Carlat, because he was suspected of involvement in the conspiracy of Marshal de Biron, a military commander implicated in a plot against the king. François’s wife, Marie d’Olivier, prepared the castle for defense and refused to surrender it until her husband was released. Negotiations ended the standoff, Carlat was handed over to the king, and François was freed on 19 June 1602. Henri IV then ordered the castle dismantled in 1603 and 1604.
A scale model begun by inhabitants of Carlat in 1989 reconstructs the castle as it appeared in 1603, when dismantling began. The project drew on archival documents from the period, nineteenth-century excavations, and later archaeological and historical knowledge.
Remains
The remains occupy the summit of a basalt plateau surrounded by steep ravines. A staircase cut into a geological fissure provided access to the plateau. The fortress was organized within two enclosing defensive walls strengthened by powerful towers, while its interior contained religious, military, administrative, and residential buildings.
Defensive enclosure and plateau
Fortified approach
The steep ravines around the basalt plateau formed the site’s natural setting. Access was concentrated through a staircase cut into a geological fissure, leading up to the fortified summit.
Double defensive walls
The fortress had two enclosing defensive circuits equipped with powerful towers. These walls defined the defended area and surrounded the buildings that formed the castle’s interior.
Interior buildings
Religious and military buildings
The interior included a church, a convent of Poor Clares, barracks, and stables. It also contained the Commandery of Malta, an estate administered by the Order of Malta and described as the most important commandery of the Auvergne regional division of that order.
Governor’s residence and Bridoré palace
The governor’s residence stood within the fortress alongside the palace called Bridoré. Marguerite de Valois established her residence in Bridoré during her stay at Carlat.
Scale model of the castle
Reconstruction at 1:25 scale
The model presents the castle in its 1603 form at a scale of 1:25. Its buildings were recreated in molded earth, then fired and finished as ceramics. The original village and isolated farms were represented with stone, wood, stone roofing slabs, and straw.
