Château de Bois-Sire-Amé: A Ruined French Château in Vorly
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Castle
On this page11 sections
History
Château de Bois-Sire-Amé, also called Bois-Trousseau, is a ruined French château in Vorly, in the Cher department, built in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. Located east of the village near an earlier feudal motte, the site developed from a fortified residence into a luxurious country palace associated with the court of Charles VII.
Earlier origins and the Trousseau fortress
The site’s history may extend beyond the twelfth century. A wood mentioned in 1150 and 1159 in connection with the foundation and confirmation of Noirlac Cistercian Abbey has been identified with the area. In 1220, the nearby feudal site was attributed to Ameil du Bois. The name Bois-Sire-Amé is thought to derive from this earlier foundation.
In July 1396, Charles VI authorized Jacquelin Trousseau to build a powerful fortress on his lands. The authorization referred to an older tower, probably connected with the remains later identified as the nearby feudal motte. Construction of the new château took place from the late fourteenth to the early fifteenth century, around 1400.
Jacquelin Trousseau was the son of Artault Trousseau, Viscount of Bourges. The family came from the Bourges merchant milieu and had gained wealth through the cloth trade. As one of the household officers of Jean, Duke of Berry, Jacquelin represented a relatively minor noble family whose ambitions were expressed through the construction of an imposing residence.
A royal residence in the fifteenth century
In June 1447, Jacquelin Trousseau married Perrette, the daughter of Jacques Coeur, in the presence of King Charles VII. Jacques Coeur was a wealthy merchant and royal financier who served as the king’s chief treasurer. Perrette’s substantial dowry helped finance the improvement and embellishment of Bois-Sire-Amé in the Gothic style.
The enlarged residence became a substantial and exceptionally luxurious country palace, anticipating the later châteaux of the Loire. Charles VII, who disliked cities, stayed there regularly from 1446 and spent almost the entire year there after 1447. He held prestigious festivities, received ambassadors, and signed ordinances at the château, while Queen Marie of Anjou stayed at Mehun-sur-Yèvre.
Two historians, Auguste Vallet de Viriville and Gaston du Fresne de Beaucourt, proposed that Charles VII used Bois-Sire-Amé as a private retreat to meet Agnès Sorel, his favored companion and adviser. Her presence at the château has not been established. The later tradition connecting her with the site appears to derive from a quatrain attributed to Francis I.
After Jacquelin Trousseau’s death, Bois-Sire-Amé continued to host festivities. On 6 June 1455, Charles of Anjou, Count of Maine, held a celebration there in the presence of Charles VII for two noblewomen described as their mistresses. Charles of Anjou also financed further works, with their expenses administered by Jacques Coeur.
Charles VII apparently stopped staying at Bois-Sire-Amé after 1456. This may have followed Jacques Coeur’s implication and disgrace in 1451, shortly after the death of Agnès Sorel in 1450. According to Claude-Charles Pierquin de Gembloux, Francis I stayed at the château in July 1524 and composed a quatrain referring to the “Dame de Beauté.” The poem helped establish the later tradition linking Agnès Sorel with Bois-Sire-Amé, although she apparently never visited the château.
Later ownership and decline
Financial difficulties caused the Trousseau family to lose the château. André Tollet, an esquire and gentleman of the king, acquired it in 1587. Jean-Baptiste Colbert acquired it in February 1682 after purchasing the château of Châteauneuf-sur-Cher.
The château remained occupied throughout the eighteenth century, although its agricultural estate produced only modest revenues. From the French Revolution onward, it appears to have been used as a stone quarry while passing through several successive owners. The ruins then deteriorated progressively. The chapel doorway was classified as a historic monument on 14 March 1924, the château ruins were registered on 24 February 1926, and the last surviving tower was classified on 22 June 1931. All remaining built elements and the château grounds, excluding the parts already classified, were registered on 10 April 2019.
Remains
Fortified layout
In its original form, Château de Bois-Sire-Amé consisted of a large residential body arranged along one side of an enclosed courtyard. Three round towers stood on the side facing outside the enclosure, while a more powerful square tower occupied the north side. The entire complex was surrounded by deep, broad, water-filled ditches.
Northern square tower
The northern tower was square, crenellated, and fitted with machicolations, projecting openings used to defend the base of a wall or tower. It formed the strongest element of the château’s outer defenses and is the last surviving tower to have received classification as a historic monument.
Entrance and enclosure
The enclosure had two round corner towers and an entrance reached by a drawbridge. Two additional towers defended this approach. The curtain wall, the enclosing defensive wall of the site, has disappeared, leaving the surviving features as fragments of the former fortified courtyard.
Residential remains and earlier feudal site
Residential body
The residential body survives in ruined form. Its floors and roofs have been lost, and the building no longer presents the complete palace created through the fifteenth-century improvements. Its surviving fabric nevertheless identifies the main residential side of the former courtyard complex.
Feudal motte
A separate earlier feudal motte lies a short distance from the later château. Identified in the nineteenth century, it is a raised earthen mound associated with an early fortified residence or tower. Its separate position helps distinguish the earlier medieval site from the later fortress built for Jacquelin Trousseau.
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