Château de Rauzan

History

The Castle of Rauzan was erected in the 13th century by Jean Sans Terre for the King of England and Duke of Guyenne. It then became property of Rudel of Bergerac (1223-1320), then of Guillaume-Raymond of Madaillan (1320-1391) who participated at the side of Prince Noir, governor of Guyenne of 1356 to 1370 at the battle of Poitiers in 1356 and at the imprisonment of the King of France, Jean the Good. In October 1370, Bertrand of Guesclin returned to France where he was made constable to Charles V and then began his big venture: To expel the English. Contrary to the habits of the French chivalry, he did not proceed to the great mountains with the entire French army, but prefers to methodically reconquer whole provinces, besieging castle after castle. He would chase the English of Normandy, Guyenne, Saintonge and Poitou. The Castle of Rauzan fell in 1377. Rauzan is then the subject of a lawsuit between Henri IV (1367-1413) and Jeanne of Armagnac, great-granddaughter of Saint Louis and wife of Guillaume-Amanieu of Madaillan (1375-1414), last male representative of that branch, whose wife had a daughter named Agnès, who died young. At the death of her husband, she got the right to remarry with a French person under the condition of giving up the Castle of Rauzan. Rauzan then falls to Bernard Angevin (1437-1480), whose opportunistic attitude pointed the English camp to the French camp in accordance to his interests. At the end of the Hundred Years' War, he is next to crown of France and retains all of his property. As the troubles of the war passes, he would refurbish the castle little by little which would evolve the fortified castle into a castle of residence. Rauzan then passed into the hands of Durfort of Duras who gradually abandons it. Bordeaux quarrymen even extracted stones of the building (for cutting tombstones) and blocks of rock which it was based on, which causes the fall of the northern part of the castle. The ruins became, in 1819, the property of Chastellux before the town acquired it in 1900.

Building Description

The building secured three main functions that characterized the medieval Castles: Defense, housing and reflection of the power of the family.

The Castle Entrance

The entrance was protected by several defensive elements. ~Barbarian controlled the drawbridge and access to the Castle. ~there was also another drawbridge that disappeared. ~the door was corrected by portcullis: a watch tower to the left and the dungeon to the left as well.

The Dungeon

The Dungeons cylindrical plan was built around 1325. Each floor has three archers. ~On the first floor it had a latch located in the center of the room it provided access to the reserves restored below. ~ The second floor holds the oldest castle fireplace ~Parts of the third and fourth floors are more spacious because they were built on an octagonal plan and have much wider arches. Also they are not cluttered with stacks because they are heated with heating vents.

The Stately Home

Built in the early century 16th, the stately home was completely remodeled in the 15th century. When it was built a central separation wall and cross windows were introduced onto the courtyard outside. It can be accessed by opening the courtyard on the ground floor or the lap serving all floors. On the first floor was the reception room which only a few frescoes remained. The Lord’s apartments lay in the second floor, all the rooms in this home contained fireplaces. The home of the ladies (northeast) was built in the 16th century but was completely destroyed in 19th century, when the castle was abandoned. The lap open courtyard function was to serve various homes. The door of honor is purely Gothic styled and coated with the arms of Bernard Angevin and Duras Durfort surmount.

The West Buildings

Along the west wall, facing the stately house sit buildings that overlook the courtyard which remain on the foundation today. This structure was a very common defense system from given books. That which remain include: Latrines leading into the ditch; a walkway accessed by stairs, a ditch and towers to the prison lay around the well, both have been ruined.

The Northern Wall

Nothing remains in this part of the building due to The Quarrymen of Bordeaux extracting its stone for carving tombstones which caused the wall to collapse in 1845.