Château de Retz: Medieval Fortified Castle in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Château de Retz is a medieval fortified castle in France, near Feucherolles, built by the French nobleman Barthélemy de Roye around 1215 after his return from the Battle of Bouvines. That 1214 conflict ended in a victory for King Philip II of France over a coalition led by the German emperor Otto IV. Originally called the “chastel de Roye,” the castle stood in the forest of Cruye, later known as the forest of Marly.
Foundation and wartime fortification
During the Hundred Years’ War, a long series of conflicts fought mainly between the English and French monarchies from the fourteenth to the fifteenth century, Château de Retz became a fortified residence intended to help protect Paris from English attacks. It formed one of five defensive works in the forest of Cruye, alongside the castles of Hennemont, Bethemont, La Montjoie, and Sainte-Gemme.
The castle also contributed to the formation of the hamlet of Saint-Jacques de Retz. English forces led by Edward of Woodstock, known as the Black Prince, burned the castle and the nearby Abbey of Joyenval in 1346. Charles V, king of France from 1364 to 1380, later restored it and stayed there several times. Charles VI and his queen, Isabeau of Bavaria, also used the residence occasionally. In 1431, English forces attacked the castle and the village of Saint-Jacques de Retz again.
The lordship and the end of the castle
Around 1485, Louis XI granted the lordship of Retz to Pierre Cœuret, his squire and senior royal kitchen official. The Cœuret de Valmartin family, also called Vaumartin at that time, subsequently held the lordship. The place name developed through forms connected with Roye, including Roys, Roai, Ray, Rais, and Raiz. It became definitively Retz at the end of the seventeenth century, when it was replaced by the ducal title of Retz associated with the Gondi family, who then owned the forest.
The castle was destroyed during the seventeenth century under Louis XIV. Sections of wall and the keep survived that destruction, and maps from 1769 showed the site as a ruin. Under Louis XV, the remaining structure was completely demolished to clear hunting grounds in the forest of Marly. In 1790, the hamlet of Saint-Jacques de Retz became part of the village of Chambourcy.
An excavation-authorization request by the HISCREA association led to a limited excavation in 1993. The work exposed parts of the castle and helped clarify the surviving remains. A tunnel probably connected Château de Retz with Château de Sainte-Gemme, although such underground passages frequently collapsed and were filled with sand when they reappeared.
Remains
Château de Retz lies north of Valmartin in the commune of Feucherolles. The medieval castle occupied a square plan measuring approximately 65 metres on each side within its moats and about 80 metres across the entire complex. The surviving moats define the broad original layout, while the structure itself is now barely visible and survives only as ruins.
Enclosure and excavated structures
The 1993 excavation revealed portions of the enclosing walls, towers, and rooms with ribbed vaulting. These fragments provide the principal physical evidence for the fortified complex and its internal spaces. Sections of wall and the keep had remained after the seventeenth-century destruction, but the later levelling carried out under Louis XV left only limited ruins above ground.
Moats and surviving layout
The moats remain as the clearest indication of the castle’s former plan. Their square arrangement corresponds to the fortified enclosure and places the excavated walls, towers, and rooms within the dimensions of the medieval complex.
