Château de Bocsozel: A Medieval Fortified House in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page8 sections
History
Château de Bocsozel is a ruined medieval fortified house in France, located at Bocsozel in the commune of Mottier. Associated with the Bocsozel family, a noble lineage of the Viennois in Dauphiné, its construction is conventionally placed in the twelfth century, although documents indicate that the site was in use earlier.
Early records and the Bocsozel family
A charter dated 25 January 1000 records the castle as castrum Bocizelo in the cartularies of Grenoble Cathedral known as the Cartularies of Saint-Hugues. Another charter, dated 2 April 1003, may refer to the site as castrum Bocissello or castrum Bocisello, although this identification remains qualified. A charter from 1004 also mentions a castle with the same name.
These early records contain the first references to the Humbertian dynasty, a medieval ruling lineage whose descendants became the counts of Savoy. The place appears as Bozosello around 1140. The earliest cited member of the Bocsozel family is Humbert de Bocsozel, who is said to have lived in 1093.
Later condition and heritage status
The castle later became ruined. Its surviving remains are in the commune of Mottier, in the Isère department, and the site carries the Patrimoine en Isère heritage label.
Remains
The ruins occupy the summit of a hill above Mottier and the Liers plain. The surviving complex consists of two towers and several sections of the surrounding rampart, while an ancient castral mound, an artificial or modified mound used as the elevated base of a medieval fortification, rises west of and behind the ruins.
Hilltop setting
The castral mound stands behind the remains and provides a broad view over the surrounding area. Its position forms part of the surviving archaeological setting of the former fortified house.
Fortification remains
Round tower
The round tower is the best-preserved element of the castle. Probably built during the thirteenth or fourteenth century, it is constructed of pebbles and retains a vault at the level of its first storey.
Curtain wall and second tower
A curtain wall, a connecting defensive wall between towers or other fortified elements, linked the round tower with the other tower. Attributed to approximately the same period, the wall follows an unusual plan that combines quadrilateral and pentagonal forms. Several sections of the surrounding rampart also survive.
