The Château de Puilaurens (Puilaurens Castle, also ''Puylaurens''; in
Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...
: ''lo Castèl de Puèg-Laurenç'') is one of the so-called
Cathar castles in the ''
commune'' of
Lapradelle-Puilaurens in the
Aude
Aude ( ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it " ...
''
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
''. The castle is located above the
Boulzane Valley and the villages of Lapradelle and Puilaurens. There is a path from
Axat to the castle.
History
Origins
The castle is located on ''Mont Ardu''. This name appears for the first time in 958 in a charter where
Lothair confirms the donation of
Sunifred II, Count of Urgell, lord of
Fenouillèdes, at the
Abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa of the provostship of
Puilaurens which is composed of the Boulzane valley or
Sainte-Croix valley. The document also mentions the presence of a Saint-Laurent church serving as a fortified and hilltop refuge from the
Carolingian period.
The first known
castellan
A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...
of Puilaurens is Pierre Catala who appears as a witness in the acts of Guillaume de Peyrepertuse in 1217. In 1229, Guillaume de Peyrepertuse commanded the castle of Puilaurens and, in 1242, it was held by Roger Catala, son of Pierre.
In addition to the castle, a village was built all around it, which made Puilaurens 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 ...
.
The Cathar presence
It is known only for the role of refuge of the castle during the
Albigensian Crusade
The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...
. In 1240, a woman named Saurine Rigaud, inhabitant of Fanjeaux and a Cathar believer, found refuge in Puilaurens, where she met twelve monks including eight women.
In 1242, the Cathar deacon of Fenouillèdes, Pierre Paraire, stayed there. Several
Perfecti
Perfect (also known as a in French or in Latin) was the name given by Bernard of Clairvaux to the leaders of the medieval Christian religious movement in southern France and northern Italy commonly referred to as the Cathars. The were not cle ...
were housed there from 1245 to 1246.
The annexation of the castle
Around 1250, the castle passed into the hands of the
crown of France. By a letter dated August 1255,
Louis IX of France
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...
ordered the seneschal of
Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department.
...
to fortify the castle. It is these works which inaugurate the appearance of the castle as we know it today.
Saint Louis had it reinforced to defend the
Languedoc
The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France.
Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately .
History
...
against Aragonese incursions. The
Treaty of Corbeil of 1258 made the castle one of the fortresses on the border of the kingdom facing the
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
.
It then becomes one of the "Five sons of Carcassonne" with the castles of
Quéribus,
Peyrepertuse
Peyrepertuse (; Languedocien: ''Castèl de Pèirapertusa'') is a ruined fortress and one of the so-called Cathar castles located high in the French Pyrénées in the commune of Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse, in the Aude ''département'', and has bee ...
,
Château de Termes and
Château d'Aguilar, all located at the top of “impregnable” rocky peaks.
After the work campaign under Louis IX, it was occupied in 1260 by the largest garrison on the entire border, under the orders of a
Châtelaine
''Châtelaine'' is a French language, French-language magazine of women's lifestyles, published in Quebec by St. Joseph Communications.
History and profile
The magazine was first published in 1960 by Maclean-Hunter Publishing. It covers issues ...
, Odon de Monteuil, with a chaplain and 25 sergeants at arms
In 1263 there is a record of the following taken to the Chateau, ten salted pigs, two
bushel
A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an Imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, US customary unit of volume, based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel was used mostly for agriculture, agricultural pr ...
s of wheat, six
Minots of good flour, as well as
crossbow
A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...
s measuring two feet, four of horn and two of wood,
crossbow bolts, eighteen shields, five helmets.
Consolidation and fortification work continued under the leadership of
Philip the Bold
Philip II the Bold (; ; 17 January 1342 – 27 April 1404) was Duke of Burgundy and ''jure uxoris'' Count of Flanders, Artois and Burgundy. He was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxembourg.
Philip was th ...
from 1270 to 1285.
The castle would resist several
Aragonese attacks and will remain as the southernmost fortress in France. It resisted two
Siege
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
s but was taken in 1636 by default, as half of the garrison was at
Port Leucate and 800 Aragonese came from
Prades and managed to seize it.
The abandonment of the castle
Like the other sons of Carcassonne, the castle of Puilaurens was gradually abandoned following the
Treaty of the Pyrenees
The Treaty of the Pyrenees(; ; ) was signed on 7 November 1659 and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635.
Negotiations were conducted and the treaty was signed on Pheasant Island, situated in the middle of the Bidasoa River on ...
ratified in 1659 which fixed the
French-Spanish border at the level of the Pyrenees ridges. A weak garrison occupied the citadel for some time. Then, poorly defended and poorly maintained from the end of the 17th century, it was definitively abandoned during the
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...
.
monument historique
() is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
since 1902.