Bressieux Castle: A Medieval Fortified Seat in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- French, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page14 sections
History
Bressieux Castle is a medieval fortified castle in France, built and developed by the lords of Bressieux on the wooded foothills of the Chambaran plateau. It was the seat of the Barony of Bressieux, one of the four baronies of Dauphine, a historic province in southeastern France.
Origins and medieval rebuilding
A first castle was probably erected around 1025 by a lord named Bornon. In the late eleventh century, Aymard I may have added a circular ditch around the mound. Toward the end of the twelfth century, Aymard III built a castle of rounded stones. The site was mentioned in 1207 as castrum Bressiacum, a fief dependent on the Church of Vienne.
During the mid-thirteenth century, Aymard VI rebuilt the castle in pink brick after partly levelling the earlier walls of rounded stone. The keep was constructed and the ditch enlarged in 1276. This rebuilding created the principal fortified form whose remains survive today.
Lords, overlordship, and succession
The castle and its surrounding lordship were shaped by changing political allegiances. Aymard de Bressieux paid homage to Count Amadeus V of Savoy in 1317, while Hugues de Bressieux paid homage to the Dauphin in 1327. In medieval Dauphine, the Dauphin was the province’s ruler. After the province came under the French crown in 1349, the title became that of the heir to the French throne.
Following the death of Geoffrey de Bressieux without a male heir, the lands and castle passed to his son-in-law Humbert de Grolee after a dispute between Humbert and Aymard de Clermont. The Bressieux family held the lordship until 1403. It then passed to the Clermont family from 1403 to 1420, the Grolee family from 1420 to 1588, the La Baume de Suze family from 1588 to 1720, the Valebelle family from 1720 to 1780, and the Berard de Gouteffrey family from 1780 to 1789.
The castle also gave rise to a new parish whose boundaries were restricted to the castle site. In 1538, Aymard Antoine de Grolee received King Francis I there. In 1612, King Louis XIII raised the Barony of Bressieux to a marquisate, a formal increase in the rank of the lordship.
Archaeology and protection
Archaeological excavations took place notably during the nineteenth century and again from 1983 to 1992. The Association for the Preservation of Bressieux Castle was established in 1981. The ruins have been protected as a French historic monument since 16 August 1904. The site is owned by the commune of Bressieux.
Remains
Bressieux Castle stands on the summit of a hill about 1 kilometre northwest of the village, at an elevation of 529 metres, overlooking the Bièvre plain to the north. Its fortified enclosure is surrounded by a substantial dry ditch that remains visible. The later medieval rebuilding used pink brick, while earlier construction employed rounded stone.
Fortified entrance and enclosure
Entrance chatelet
The entrance chatelet, a fortified gateway structure, dates from the last quarter of the thirteenth century. Two round, crenellated defensive towers form the entrance, although both are partly breached. They were raised twice and retain traces of their former crenellations. Tall, straight arrow slits, narrow openings for shooting from behind protection, remain in the towers.
Drawbridge and gate defences
A drawbridge once preceded the gateway. The bridge has disappeared, but its pivot sockets remain visible in the gate towers. Grooves for the former portcullis, a vertically sliding defensive gate, also survive. The entrance formed part of the enceinte, or fortified enclosure, and controlled access across the surrounding ditch.
Inner court and domestic buildings
Residential and service buildings
Excavations within the inner court revealed numerous remains of residential buildings dating from the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. The principal residential building retains vestiges of fireplaces and windows with stone seats. The court also contains limited remains of the kitchens, including traces of an oven, together with service buildings.
Ice house and well
An ice house survives among the service areas. A well more than 20 metres deep also remains within the inner court, providing evidence of the facilities associated with occupation of the fortified residence.
Keep
Main tower
The circular keep, or main fortified tower, is truncated but still rises 23 metres. Its walls are 2 metres thick, and a very narrow staircase built within the wall serves its three levels. Access originally passed through a pointed-arch doorway set high above a later lower opening.
Defensive and later openings
Short, straight arrow slits in the keep defended the long curtain wall, the defensive wall linking fortified points. After the tower ceased to serve a defensive function, two broad cross-mullioned windows were opened. These windows were divided by intersecting stone mullions, reflecting a later adaptation of the keep. A panoramic view of the surrounding area is available from the top of the tower.
