Château d'Acquigny

The Château d'Acquigny is a French castle located in the department of Eure in Upper Normandy.

The present castle was built in 1557 by Anne de Laval and was listed in the French National Inventory of Historical Monuments in 1926.

Acquigny sits at the confluence of two rivers: the Eure, formerly navigable to Chartres, and the Iton. The two rivers were dammed and redirected during the 12th century by the monks of Conches-en-Ouche to power mills in the region. These newly created branches also fed into the castle's moats, which protected the monastery of Saint-Mals and the medieval village located directly behind the current castle.

On either side of the château are heavily wooded hills that shelter the valley in which the château lies, creating a microclimate slightly warmer than the surrounding areas.

The Renaissance château that exists today was built on the site of a medieval fortress that had been built in the 11th century to protect Normandy while William the Conqueror was campaigning in England.

Following the imprisonment of Charles II of Navarre in 1356, the Duke of Lancaster was sent by the King of England to rescue Philip of Navarre, brother of Charles. His army of twelve hundred horsemen, sixteen thousand archers and two thousand armed brigandines convened in Évreux.

The original fortress was taken by Navarre and his army. Following the Battle of Cocherel, the castle served as a refuge and stronghold for Navarre. Control of this strategic location along the two rivers caused much anxiety for the king of France, who feared a loss of influence in the High Normandy Region and ordered his forces to retake Acquigny. After a six-month siege by the French forces, the fortress was retaken.

In 1378, the fortress was razed by Charles V, who wished to destroy any fortifications and castles in Normandy that stood for the King of Navarre. Charles V was successful in this aim with the exception of Cherbourg, which the French could not capture.

When the English were forced out of Normandy in 1450, Anne de Laval took possession of Acquigny. In an act to pay homage to the king of France, Anne de Laval combined the baronies Acquigny and Crevecoeur Crevecoeur.

The present castle was built in 1557 by Anne de Laval, daughter of Guy XVI de Laval and widow of Louis Silly. She was also the cousin of the king and first lady of honor of Catherine de Medici.

Text adapted from “Château d'Acquigny” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Château d'Acquigny ranks #5,090 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #397 of the 524 mapped in France. Founded 1557, it is older than 38% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Évreux, 17 km away. It is one of the 17 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Normandy. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗