The Château d'Usson is one of the so-called Cathar castles in what is now southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It is located in the ''

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

'' of

Rouze Rouze (; Languedocien: ''Rosa'') is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Rouze are called ''Rouzéens''. See also *Communes of the Ariège department The following is a list of the 327 ...

, in the Ariège ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

''. It is sited upstream from

Axat Axat (; ''Atsat'' in Occitan) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Axatois'' or ''Axatoises''. Geography Axat is located in Cathar country at the door ...

, along the Aude river gorge, carved out of the foothills of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

. It is situated at 920 m in altitude and dominates the valley of the Aude. The

Château de Puilaurens The Château de Puilaurens (Puilaurens Castle, also ''Puylaurens''; in Occitan: ''lo Castèl de Puèg-Laurenç'') is one of the so-called Cathar castles in the ''commune'' of Lapradelle-Puilaurens in the Aude ''département''. The castle is loca ...

is 30 km away,

Château de Puivert The Château de Puivert ( Languedocien: ''Castèl de Puègverd'') is a so-called Cathar castle situated in the '' commune'' of Puivert, in the Aude ''département'' of France. The castle has been classified as a ''monument historique'' by the Fre ...

49 km and

Château de Quéribus The Château de Quéribus (in Occitan Castèl de Queribús) is a ruined castle in the ''commune'' of Cucugnan in the Aude ''département'' of France. It has been listed as a ''monument historique'' by the French Ministry of Culture since 1907. ...

60 km.

History

The castle dates from the 11th century (perhaps earlier) and during the

Cathar Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...

period marked the eastern boundary of the territories of the

Counts of Foix The Count of Foix ruled the independent County of Foix, in what is now Southern France, during the Middle Ages. The House of Foix eventually extended its power across the Pyrenees mountain range, joining the House of Bearn and moving their cour ...

. In the 12th century, this was the capital of the Donézan region. Before the ''défilé'' was cut through the mountains to link

Quillan Quillan (; Languedocien: ''Quilhan'') is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of Brenac was merged into Quillan.Axat Axat (; ''Atsat'' in Occitan) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Axatois'' or ''Axatoises''. Geography Axat is located in Cathar country at the door ...

, this was an inaccessible outpost providing succour for faidits and other persecuted Cathars. The Cathar

bishop of Toulouse The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...

Guilhabert de Castres is known to have taken refuge here. Château cathare d'Usson-les-Bains (Rouze ; Ariège)

Towards the end of the wars against the Cathars this was one of their last sanctuaries, providing support for

Montségur Montségur (; Languedocien: ''Montsegur'') is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. It is famous for its fortification, the Château de Montségur, that was built on the "pog" (mountain) on the ruins of one of the las ...

. The seigneurs of Usson, Bernard d'Alion, lord of the Château de Montaillou, and his brother Arnaud d'Usson sent arms and supplies to their besieged comrades there. On 15 March 1244, the day before 225 Cathar ''parfaits'' were burned alive at Montségur, four other ''parfaits'' left the castle there for Usson, where the Cathar treasure had been evacuated a few months earlier. This mystery has fed a number of theories about the equally mysterious treasure supposedly found at

Rennes-le-Château Rennes-le-Château (; oc, Rènnas del Castèl) is a commune approximately 5 km (3 miles) south of Couiza, in the Aude department in the Occitanie region in Southern France. In 2018, it had a population of 91. This hilltop village is k ...

in the 19th century. Bernard d'Alion was

burned alive ''Burned Alive: A Victim of the Law of Men'' is a best-selling book, ostensibly a first-person account of an attempted honor killing. The author, Souad, is described as a Palestinian woman now living in Europe who survived an attempted murder ...

at Perpignan in 1258. The castle was rebuilt as a French border fortress, and given by

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

to the new Marquis d'Usson. Like other seigneurial residences it was sold as communal property at the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, after which time it was used as a stone quarry. Not far away is the Château de Donézan, where Cathars were still holding out eleven years after the fall of Montségur. Château d'Usson is listed as a '' monument historique'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visua ...

. On display at the castle are parts of the wreckage of a

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

British Dakota transport aircraft which crashed on 5 December 1944 on a nearby mountain with the loss of seventeen lives.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Usson, Chateau d' Buildings and structures completed in the 11th century Monuments historiques of Ariège (department) Castles in Ariège Ruined castles in Occitania (administrative region) Catharism