Château de Chaumont
Encyclopedia
The Château de Chaumont is a French
castle at Chaumont-sur-Loire
, Loir-et-Cher
, France
.
The first château-fort on this site between Blois
and Amboise
was a primitive fortress built by Eudes II, Count of Blois
, in the 10th century with the purpose of protecting Blois from attacks from his feudal
rivals, the counts of Anjou. On his behalf the Norman Gelduin received it, improved it and held it as his own. His great-niece Denise de Fougère, having married Sulpice d'Amboise, passed the château into the Amboise family for five centuries. The castle was burned to the ground in 1465 in accordance with Louis XI
's orders and was later rebuilt by Charles I d'Amboise from 1465–1475 and then finished by his son, Charles II d'Amboise de Chaumont from 1498–1510, with help from his uncle, Cardinal Georges d'Amboise
; some Renaissance features
were to be seen in buildings that retained their overall medieval appearance.
The Château de Chaumont was purchased by Catherine de Medici in 1560, a year after her late husband Henry II
's death. There she entertained numerous astrologers, among them Nostradamus
. In 1559 she forced Diane de Poitiers
, her late husband's long-term mistress, to exchange the Château de Chenonceau
for the Château de Chaumont. Diane de Poitiers only lived at Chaumont for a short while.
In 1594, at the death of Diane's grand-daughter Charlotte de la Marck, the chateau passed to her husband the vicomte de Turenne, who sold it to a tax farmer Largentier, who had grown rich on gathering in the salt tax called the gabelle
. Largentier eventually being arrested for peculation, the chateau and the title of sieur de Chaumont passed into a family originating at Lucca
, who possessed it until 1667, when it passed by family connections to the seigneurs de Ruffignac.
The duc de Beauvilliers bought the chateau in 1699, modernized some of its interiors and decorated it with sufficient grandeur to house the duc d'Anjou on his way to become king of Spain in 1700. His eventual heir was forced to sell Chaumont to pay his debts to a maître des requêtes ordinaire
to Louis XV, Monsieur Bertin, who demolished the north wing built by Charles II d'Amboise and the Cardinal d'Amboise, to open the house towards the river view in the modern fashion.
In 1750, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray
purchased the castle as a country home where he established a glassmaking and pottery factory. He was considered the French "Father of the American Revolution" because he loved America. Benjamin Franklin
was never a guest at the castle. His grandson, Temple, was. However, in 1789, the new French Revolution
ary Government seized Le Ray's assets, including his beloved Château de Chaumont.
Madame de Staël later acquired the château in 1810. The comte d'Aramon bought the neglected château in 1833, undertook extensive renovations under the architect Jules Potier de la Morandière of Blois, who was later inspector of the works at the château de Blois
; M. d'Aramon installed a museum of medieval arts in the "Tour de Catherine de Médicis". By 1851 the "Chaumont suite" of early-16th century Late Gothic tapestries with subjects of courntry life emblemmatic of the triumph of Eternity, closely associated with Chaumont and now at the Cleveland Museum of Art
, was still hanging in the "Chambre de Catherine de Médicis"; the tapestries had been cut and pieced to fit the room. Marie-Charlotte Say, heiress to the Say sugar fortune, acquired Chaumont in 1875. Later that year, she married Amédée de Broglie
, who commissioned the luxurious stables in 1877 to designs by Paul-Ernest Sanson
, further restored the chateau under Sanson's direction and replanted the surrounding park in the English naturalistic landscape fashion
The castle has been classified as a Monument historique
since 1840 by the French Ministry of Culture. In 1938 the government took over the ownership. The Château de Chaumont is currently a museum and every year hosts a Garden Festival from April to October where contemporary garden designers display their work in an English-style garden.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
castle at Chaumont-sur-Loire
Chaumont-sur-Loire
Chaumont-sur-Loire is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher département in central France.-See also:* Château de Chaumont* Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department...
, Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher is a département in north-central France named after the rivers Loir and Cher.-History:Loir-et-Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The first château-fort on this site between Blois
Blois
Blois is the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours.-History:...
and Amboise
Amboise
Amboise is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. It lies on the banks of the Loire River, east of Tours. Today a small market town, it was once home of the French royal court...
was a primitive fortress built by Eudes II, Count of Blois
Count of Blois
The County of Blois was originally centred on Blois, south of Paris, France. One of the chief cities, along with Blois itself, was Chartres. Blois was associated with Champagne, Châtillon , and later with the French royal family, to whom the county passed in 1391...
, in the 10th century with the purpose of protecting Blois from attacks from his feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
rivals, the counts of Anjou. On his behalf the Norman Gelduin received it, improved it and held it as his own. His great-niece Denise de Fougère, having married Sulpice d'Amboise, passed the château into the Amboise family for five centuries. The castle was burned to the ground in 1465 in accordance with Louis XI
Louis XI of France
Louis XI , called the Prudent , was the King of France from 1461 to 1483. He was the son of Charles VII of France and Mary of Anjou, a member of the House of Valois....
's orders and was later rebuilt by Charles I d'Amboise from 1465–1475 and then finished by his son, Charles II d'Amboise de Chaumont from 1498–1510, with help from his uncle, Cardinal Georges d'Amboise
Georges d'Amboise
Georges d'Amboise was a French Roman Catholic cardinal and minister of state. He belonged to the house of Amboise, a noble family possessed of considerable influence: of his nine brothers, four were bishops. His father, Pierre d'Amboise, seigneur de Chaumont, was chamberlain to Charles VII and...
; some Renaissance features
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...
were to be seen in buildings that retained their overall medieval appearance.
The Château de Chaumont was purchased by Catherine de Medici in 1560, a year after her late husband Henry II
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
's death. There she entertained numerous astrologers, among them Nostradamus
Nostradamus
Michel de Nostredame , usually Latinised to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He is best known for his book Les Propheties , the first edition of which appeared in 1555...
. In 1559 she forced Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France. She became notorious as the latter's favourite mistress...
, her late husband's long-term mistress, to exchange the Château de Chenonceau
Château de Chenonceau
The Château de Chenonceau is a manor house near the small village of Chenonceaux, in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France. It was built on the site of an old mill on the River Cher, sometime before its first mention in writing in the 11th century...
for the Château de Chaumont. Diane de Poitiers only lived at Chaumont for a short while.
In 1594, at the death of Diane's grand-daughter Charlotte de la Marck, the chateau passed to her husband the vicomte de Turenne, who sold it to a tax farmer Largentier, who had grown rich on gathering in the salt tax called the gabelle
Gabelle
The gabelle was a very unpopular tax on salt in France before 1790. The term gabelle derives from the Italian gabella , itself from the Arabic qabala....
. Largentier eventually being arrested for peculation, the chateau and the title of sieur de Chaumont passed into a family originating at Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
, who possessed it until 1667, when it passed by family connections to the seigneurs de Ruffignac.
The duc de Beauvilliers bought the chateau in 1699, modernized some of its interiors and decorated it with sufficient grandeur to house the duc d'Anjou on his way to become king of Spain in 1700. His eventual heir was forced to sell Chaumont to pay his debts to a maître des requêtes ordinaire
Maître des requêtes
Masters of Requests are high-level judicial officers of administrative law in France and other European countries that have existed in one form or another since the Middle Ages.-Old Regime France:...
to Louis XV, Monsieur Bertin, who demolished the north wing built by Charles II d'Amboise and the Cardinal d'Amboise, to open the house towards the river view in the modern fashion.
In 1750, Jacques-Donatien Le Ray
Jacques-Donatien Le Ray
Jacques-Donatien Le Ray was a French "Father of the American Revolution", but later an opponent of the French Revolution. His son of the same name, known also in America as James Le Ray, eventually became a United States citizen and settled in Le Ray, New York USA.-Early life:Born in the port...
purchased the castle as a country home where he established a glassmaking and pottery factory. He was considered the French "Father of the American Revolution" because he loved America. Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
was never a guest at the castle. His grandson, Temple, was. However, in 1789, the new French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
ary Government seized Le Ray's assets, including his beloved Château de Chaumont.
Madame de Staël later acquired the château in 1810. The comte d'Aramon bought the neglected château in 1833, undertook extensive renovations under the architect Jules Potier de la Morandière of Blois, who was later inspector of the works at the château de Blois
Château de Blois
The Royal Château de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher département in the Loire Valley, in France, in the center of the city of Blois. The residence of several French kings, it is also the place where Joan of Arc went in 1429 to be blessed by the Archbishop of Reims before departing with her...
; M. d'Aramon installed a museum of medieval arts in the "Tour de Catherine de Médicis". By 1851 the "Chaumont suite" of early-16th century Late Gothic tapestries with subjects of courntry life emblemmatic of the triumph of Eternity, closely associated with Chaumont and now at the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
, was still hanging in the "Chambre de Catherine de Médicis"; the tapestries had been cut and pieced to fit the room. Marie-Charlotte Say, heiress to the Say sugar fortune, acquired Chaumont in 1875. Later that year, she married Amédée de Broglie
Broglie
Broglie is a commune of the Eure département, in FranceBroglie may further refer to:* The House of Broglie, a noble French family with many notable members, including:** Maurice-Jean de Broglie , a French aristocrat and bishop...
, who commissioned the luxurious stables in 1877 to designs by Paul-Ernest Sanson
Ernest Sanson
Paul Ernest Sanson was a French architect trained in the Beaux-Arts manner.Sanson entered the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris at the age of eighteen, and followed the courses offered by Émile Gilbert...
, further restored the chateau under Sanson's direction and replanted the surrounding park in the English naturalistic landscape fashion
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
The castle has been classified as a Monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
since 1840 by the French Ministry of Culture. In 1938 the government took over the ownership. The Château de Chaumont is currently a museum and every year hosts a Garden Festival from April to October where contemporary garden designers display their work in an English-style garden.