Château de Meudon

Meudon Castle, also known as the Royal Castle of Meudon or Imperial Palace of Meudon, is a French castle located in Meudon in the Hauts-de-Seine department. At the edge of a wooded plateau, the castle offers views of Paris and the Seine, as well as of the Chalais valley. Located between Paris and Versailles, in the heart of a hunting reserve, the castle has an ideal topography for large gardens. It had many successive owners from the Renaissance until the fall of the Second French Empire. It should not be confused with the Bellevue Castle, also located in Meudon.

Famous past residents include: Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly, Duchess of Étampes; the Cardinal of Lorraine, Abel Servien; François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis of Louvois and Louis, Grand Dauphin, also known as ''Monseigneur'', who linked the Chaville Castle to Meudon Castle. The Château-Vieux (Old Castle) burned down in 1795 and was rebuilt as the Château-Neuf (New Castle), which in turn burned down in 1871. Demolition was considered, but most of the castle was preserved and became an observatory with an astronomical telescope in 1878 and was then attached to the Observatory of Paris in 1927.

The castle of Meudon has been classified as a historical monument since 12 April 1972. in the Chalais-Meudon park has been classified as an historical monument since 4 June 2000. It was the first storage facility for aerostats in the world and is one of the few still standing.

History

"There are few citizen architects or enlightened foreigners who would have wished, as we did, that the expenditures incurred at Versailles had been made at Meudon, as the most beautiful place in the world, both in its layout and in its location. "
- , Cours d'Architecture ..., 1773, volume 4, p. 132.

Meudon at the end of the Middle Ages

Lords of Meudon (1200s–1413)

There is little information on the origin of the castle, but it was certainly a small castle with an unknown floor plan. Many records do, however, exist of 12th-century lords named "Meudon" as well as a mention of a "manor of the Meudon vale" in the 14th century. Marie-Thérèse Herlédan published an account of this period in her book ''Meudon, Avant le Roy'' (Meudon Before the King). Many Meudons held positions in court, such as Robert de Meudon, the Grand Panetier of France under King Philip the Fair. His title was mentioned in a deed in 1305.

Augustin Isbarre (1413–1425)

On 17 July 1413, Jean de Montrevel, known as the Hermit, lord of La Faye, chamberlain of the king and husband of Jeanne de Gaillonnel, holder of the castle's fief, sold the castle with his wife's consent to the wealthy Augustin Isbarre, banker and jeweller. In 1422, Isbarre, whose family had performed financial services for the royal family, was appointed cupbearer to the king. He died in Paris on 27 August 1425 and was buried at the .

Renaissance

The Sanguin family and the Duchesse d'Étampes (1426–1552)

The fief of Meudon was bought in 1426 by , valet of Charles VII and treasurer of the Duke of Burgundy. He was previously associated with the former owner, Augustin Isbarre, a provost of the merchants of Paris from 1429 to 1431. It seems that he had built a manor on the site of the old castle. He died in Paris on 14 February 1441.

Jean Sanguin, known as the "Bastard of Sanguin", inherited the seigniory of his father; he died in Paris on 13 November 1468. He had several children, including Antoine Sanguin, who inherited the fief and became lord of Meudon. Antoine later married Marie Simon and died on 18 October 1500.

The manor was demolished in 1520 by Antoine Sanguin, known as the Cardinal de Meudon, son of the previous Cardinal de Meudon, who built a square ''corps de logis'' of brick and stone with a loft floor over a ground floor that had ornamented skylights. It was adorned in the Italian style with pilasters, bands and stone framing. The layout of the castle supposedly influenced that of the Château du Grand Jardin, in Joinville, a property of the de Guise family. Antoine Sanguin gave the castle to his niece Anne of Pisseleu, also called the Duchess of Étampes, on 5 September 1527. She had become the mistress of François I, and almost the ''de facto'' queen of France. To better accommodate his mistress, François financed an addition of two square pavilions on either side of the initial body and two wings that ended with identical pavilions. These extensions mirrored the style of the main building. In the style of the Château d'Écouen, corbelled corner turrets were also added to the pavilions. The structure was similar to the works undertaken at the château at Marchais, then owned by Nicolas de Longueval, Count of Bossut and Superintendent of Finance under Francois I, governor of Champagne and Brie and a member of the inner circle of the Duchess of Étampes. The same still-unknown architect must also have headed the expansion of Meudon and Marchais, as well as those of the neighbouring castle in Sissonne, which are all in the same style. A triumphal arch was also built into the center of the enclosure wall, serving as a majestic entrance to the courtyard.

Francis I of France stayed in Meudon from 11 July to 5 August 1537. He stayed there many times until his death in 1547.

File:Chateau de Meudon vers 1520.jpg, Sketch of the village of Meudon showing the location of the castle of Antoine Sanguin around 1520
File:Élévation chateau d'antoine sanguin.jpg, Rendition of the castle of Meudon