Château de Chinon
When King Philip IV accused the Knights Templar of heresy during the first decade of the 14th century, several leading members of the order were imprisoned there.
From prehistoric times, when the settlement of Chinon originated,[1] rivers formed the major trade routes,[2] and the Vienne joins the fertile southern plains of the Poitou and the city of Limoges to the thoroughfare of the Loire.
Robert did not specify which these were, but historian W. L. Warren speculated that Chinon, Montsoreau, Loudun, and Mirebeau numbered amongst these castles as they were in the territory which may have been traditionally the inheritance of the second oldest son.
Henry negotiated with the castellans of the castles of Chinon, Loudun, and Mirebeau to surrender before laying siege to the Château de Montsoreau.
In the intervening years, his brother had been crowned King Henry II of England at the end of a long-running civil war.
[11] In 1173 Henry II betrothed his youngest son, Prince John, to the daughter of Umberto III, Count of Savoy, an influential lord in Provence.
Choosing to keep his eldest son by his side, Henry II set off north to Normandy, ensuring along the way that his castles in Aquitaine were prepared for war.
En route they stayed at Chinon; under the cover of darkness Henry the Young King escaped and set off to Paris to join the court of Louis VII.
[13][14] Two of Henry the Young King's brothers, Richard and Geoffrey, joined him in rebellion along with the barons of France and some in England.
In June that year Richard travelled to Paris with Philip II and struck up a friendship with the French king.
[18] In 1189 Richard and Philip were wreaking havoc in Maine and Toulouse, capturing Henry II's castles; the King was ill and went to the Château de Chinon.
[24] The French king was a prolific castle-builder and was responsible for building the cylindrical keep at Chinon, the Tour du Coudray.
The round keep was typical of French design of the period, a departure from usually square keeps, and was repeated by Philip II at the castles of Dourdan, Falaise, Gisors, Laon, and Lillebonne.
[30] The Hundred Years' War in the 14th and 15th centuries was fought between the kings of England and France over the succession to the French throne following the extinction of the main line of the House of Capet.
[32] Between 1427 and 1450 Château de Chinon was the residence of Charles,[33] when Touraine was virtually the only territory left to him in France, the rest being occupied by the Burgundians or the English.
Prosper Mérimée, better known as a writer, assumed the position in 1834 and helped halt the decay that had set in at Château de Chinon and instigated repairs to the structure.
Before the visitor centre was built, the site was the subject of an archaeological excavation which covered nearly 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft), unearthing the entire interior of the fort.
[38] Standing on a rocky outcrop above the river Vienne, Château de Chinon has natural defences on three sides and a ditch dug along the fourth.
[39] Writing in the 12th century, the chronicler William of Newburgh commented that even before Château de Chinon came under the control of Henry II "its strength was such that nature seemed to vie with human art in fortifying and defending it".
There are some similarities with Château Gaillard, built by Richard the Lionheart in the closing years of the 12th century, which also consists of three enclosures and sits on a promontory above a nearby town.
The Fort St-George was built under Henry II and contained a chapel dedicated to St George, England's patron saint.
