The Château Du Crest is a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Jussy of the

Canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of forty-five Municipality, municipalities, and the seat of the governme ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. It is the only wine producing chateau in the left Bank of

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

in the Canton of

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

History

Jussy was a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

town of the

Bishop of Geneva The Diocese of Geneva was a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese in part of Switzerland and Savoy from 400 to 1801, when it merged with the Diocese of Chambéry. The merged diocese was later broken up, due to changes in national bo ...

in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The chateau was built on the grounds owned by the Bishop, circa 1220. Several families, such as the de Compesières and the de Rovorée clans, took turns in looking after the castle and its domains for the Bishop who had the legal jurisdiction over it. With the advent of

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, the castle found itself in the middle of the intrigues between the city fathers of

, who dislodged the Bishop as the lord of the city state in 1536, and the

Duke of Savoy The titles of the count of Savoy, and then duke of Savoy, are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the House of Savoy held the county. Several of these rulers ruled as kings at ...

. The lord occupant of the castle, Michel de Blonay, refused to abandon his

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

faith and side with

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

. Several attempts at resistance followed. With the defeat of the Saoy Duchy in the war of Escalade in 1598, the castle was taken by the Calvinists and destroyed in the 1590s. With the Treaty of St. Julien in 1603 that recognized Geneva as a Republic, the castle fell into ruins. Crest-Castle-aerial-2

Agrippa d'Aubigné, a nobleman and reformed French Huguenot squire of Henry IV of France, Henry IV, was expelled from France as result of his participation in the conspiracy against Duke of Luynes before acquiring the rights to the ruins of the chateau. Hired to direct the work of fortification in the cantons of Geneva, Bern and Basel, d'Aubigné rebuilt the castle du Crest. Due to the previous experiences with fortifications this close to Geneva, the city fathers did not want to see a fortified structure and hence permitted only the right to build "a manor house to safeguard against thieves and murderers." However, Agrippa d'Aubigné went beyond the permission granted to him. He built fortifications regardless, such as turrets, loopholes, a drawbridge, and a deep moat. He justified this to Geneva as a protection against papal armies. d'Aubigné died in 1630, and the castle passed into the hands of the Micheli family. In 1637, Jacques Micheli of Lucca in Tuscany acquired the lordship. His descendants own the property to this day. The family played an important part in shaping the politics of Geneva and held several important positions. This changed with Jacques-Barthélemi Micheli du Crest (1690–1766) who was a declared enemy of the state. A bright politician and inventor of a thermometer published the "Maxims of a Republican" and was openly critical of the city fathers. He was exiled and sentenced to Presumption_of_death, death in absentia. His descendants retained the rights of the castle. Since 2005, the Castle has been looked after by the Foundation Micheli-du-Crest.

References

External links

Château Du Crest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau Du Crest Castles in the canton of Geneva Ruined castles in Switzerland

History

See also

References

External links