Château de Brandon

The Château de Brandon is a castle in the commune of Saint-Pierre-de-Varennes in the Saône-et-Loire département of France.

The castle was built on the site of Gallo-Roman camp. Although it undoubtedly existed before, there is no documentary evidence before the 13th century when a charter shows it as a purely defensive site under the Duchy of Burgundy, which it remained until the 15th century.

It is an excellent example of military architecture with upper and lower walled courtyards, 12th century round walk and a 13th-century drawbridge tower. The main building was modified during the reign of King Louis XIII where the fortress was turned into a 17th-century residence.

The castle stands on top of a hill. The buildings are distributed around an irregular shaped enceinte divided into two by a wall separating the farmyard of the lower courtyard from the residential court. The latter, of lengthened rectangular form, is flanked in the north-western and north-eastern corners by square towers. A wing at right angles occupies the east side; it is connected by a section of wall to a third square tower. The courtyard is completed by the agricultural buildings and a stable. A gate tower located at the south-western corner gives access to this area.

Ancient Rome : military post at junction of routes.

13th century :probable existence of a strengthened tower owned successively by the lords of Brandon then by captains who hold it in the name of the dukes of Burgundy.

1365 : the tower is entrusted to Robert d' Essertenne who becomes its hereditary lord.

14th century : the duke Philippe II of Burgundy raises the stronghold to a barony to the advantage of Philippe de la Roche, grandson of the preceding. 1453 : castle sold.

1528 : after complex successions within the Lugny family, the castle is acquired by Hugues-Bernard de Montessus 1633 : property seized by Charles de Montessus, great-grandson of the preceding. 1638 : sold to Alphonse de Chaumelis.

1653 : death of Alphonse de Chaumelis who leaves two daughters – Jeanne et Huguette – under the supervision of their uncle, Jean-Baptiste de Chaumelis.

1670 : Huguette de Chaumelis, daughter of Alphonse, marries Claude de la Coste, inherits Brandon at the conclusion of a fight against her uncle who had tried to despoil it.

Text adapted from “Château de Brandon” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Château de Brandon ranks #7,540 of 8,764 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #644 of the 675 mapped in France. Founded c. 1650, it is older than 27% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 672 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗