Castle of Montrond: A Medieval Fortress in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Foundation and Medieval Development
The Castle of Montrond is a ruined medieval fortress in France, built in 1231 on Montrond Hill by Amédée de Neufchâtel, Lord of Montrond. Pierre V de Scey was also identified as a co-builder. The castle stood beside Montrond-le-Château in the Doubs department and served the seigneury of Montrond, a feudal territorial lordship governed by a lord.
The seigneury had existed for almost a century before the stone castle was built. This earlier lordship suggests that the hill may already have held a fortification, possibly a wooden tower, before the construction of the 1231 stronghold.
Damage and Royal Connections
In 1356, the Basel earthquake caused one of the castle’s towers to collapse, even though the earthquake’s centre was more than 150 kilometres away. The fortress later received an important visitor when Archduke Maximilian of Austria celebrated Christmas there in 1492. Maximilian, the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, was the son-in-law of Charles the Bold through his marriage to Mary of Burgundy.
Capture and Ruin
The castle was captured by French troops under Louis XIV in 1674 during the Franco-Dutch War, a European conflict fought from 1672 to 1678. France conquered Franche-Comté from Spain during the war, and the fortress fell during that campaign.
After its capture, the castle was dismantled and was never rebuilt. The buildings that remained were apparently reused as a farm, after which the site declined into ruin. A tower ruin still stood 10 metres high until it collapsed in 1935. The remaining ruins were later demolished because they had become a safety hazard.
Remains
Hilltop Site
The castle occupied an oval plateau on Montrond Hill, which rises 90 metres above the surrounding countryside. Its surviving remains are small and heavily overgrown, making the architectural details difficult to discern.
Nearby sites
