Chinon’s Royal Fortress
Overlooking the town, the fortress built by the count of Blois, Thibaut the First, evokes the time when the history of France and England were intimately joined, the courts of Henry II Plantagenet and Eleanor of Aquitaine having been established there in the 12th century. Philippe Auguste, who defeated Jean Lackland, occupied the place in 1205 and had a dungeon erected there. In 1429 there took place in the grand hall of the royal residence the historic meeting between Joan of Arc and the Dauphin, the future Charles VII.
A little history
At the meeting place of three provinces: Anjou, Poitou and Touraine, the rocky outcropping supporting Chinon’s royal fortress is a strategic site that has been occupied since antiquity and fought over for ages. A castle was installed there in the 10th century if not before: at that time the count of Blois had a tower built there. But it was Henry II Plantagenet, the count of Anjou and King of England from 1154 on, who gave the fortress its present silhouette.
In 1205, after a long siege, the king of France, Philippe August, became master of the fortress and had the dungeon of Coudray built.
In 1308 it was the scene of a major event in the history of Templars. The grand master, Jacques de Molay, and several high dignitaries of the order were imprisoned there before being judged and burnt at the stake in Paris.
During the Hundred Years War the castle housed the court of Charles VII. It was there, in March 1429, that he received Joan of Arc who had come to support his claim to the throne and convince him to be crowned at Reims.
The fortress’s decline started in the 17th century when it became a possession of Cardinal Richelieu. In 1808 the monument was given to the local council, and now belongs to the Conseil général of Indre-et-Loire.
www.forteresse-chinon.fr
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