Louvre Castle

The Louvre Castle (), also referred to as the Medieval Louvre (), was a castle () begun by Philip II of France on the right bank of the Seine, to reinforce the city wall he had built around Paris. Over time, it was expanded but was generally demolished above ground in stages between 1528 and 1660 to make way for expanding the Louvre Palace, while some parts of the castle's foundations were incorporated in construction of the later palace.

Name

The semantic distinction between a Louvre "castle" in the Middle Ages and "palace" in the modern era is no more than a recent usage. The medieval complex was often referred to simply as the Louvre (), as its modern successor still is. It was also qualified in medieval times as a fortress (, royal abode (), or mansion ( or ). Conversely, the Louvre Palace was still referred to as a castle () until the mid-18th century if not later.

History

Fortress

Before his departure for the Third Crusade in 1190, King Philip II wanted to protect his capital Paris against invasions, especially from English-held Normandy less than 100 km away, with memories still lingering of the Viking siege of Paris in 845. He ordered the construction of a new city wall, known since as the Wall of Philip II Augustus, which was started in 1190 on the right bank. The fortress was nearly squared in plan (78 m by 72 m), surrounded by a 10 m wide moat filled with water from the nearby Seine river. It was reinforced by ten defensive towers, on the corners and at the middle of each side, with twin towers defending narrow gates on the southern and eastern sides, protected by drawbridges. Two additional buildings housing the garrisons and the arsenals were located outside of the surrounding wall, to the west and south of the central courtyard, respectively.

A keep named the "big tower" () was built around 1200 in the center of the courtyard. It was a circular structure with a diameter of 15.6 m and 30 m tall, with walls 4.25 m thick at the base. It was surrounded by a ditch, 9 m wide and 6 m deep. This ditch was dry (not a water-filled moat) and paved with large irregular stones. It was crossed by a drawbridge, whose interior arch was built in stone to limit the risk of fire. The keep had a conical roof slate over the machicolation. It also had a well and a large tank for supporting long sieges, as well as a chapel inside. The choice of a round rather than squared or rectangular keep was for military reasons, because attackers could more easily sap the wall at the angles of squared towers compared to circular towers.

Royal residence

The Louvre evolved gradually away from its initial purely military function. Louis IX had new rooms built in 1230–1240 without any real defensive purpose, including a ceremonial room that was later known as the . The Louvre became a residence intermittently during the troubled times of the 14th century. By the mid-14th century, Paris had grown well beyond the walls of Philip II. Étienne Marcel had started building a new city wall further to the west, which King Charles V the Wise (1364-1380) brought to completion, later known as the Wall of Charles V. Soon after becoming king, Charles initiated a major transformation of the Louvre into a prestigious royal residence. His architect added upper floors, windows, turrets, sculpted decoration, and gardens. Charles V repurposed the northwest tower, formerly known as (Falconry), into the first French Royal Library containing over nine hundred manuscripts.

During the Hundred Years' War, English soldiers commanded by Henry V of England, who was allied to the Burgundians who controlled Paris, entered the city. In December 1420, the English occupied the Louvre Castle without a fight. There, they found a Paris ruined by civil war and scarcity and stayed there until 1436.

Demolition and rebuilding

In 1525, Francis I of France was defeated at Pavia and held prisoner. During his captivity, the court interfered with the King's decisions using its ''droit de remontrance'' ''(right of remonstrance'' in French). In addition, the faculty of theology and the Parlement of Paris started to show some independence. The King held a ''lit de justice'' on 24, 26 and 27 July 1526, during which he demonstrated his authority and decided to take back his kingdom and make the Louvre castle his main residence in Paris. As a symbol of his authority, he ordered the demolition of the dungeon in 1528 in order to build an Italian style palace. In 1546, he charged the architect Pierre Lescot to build a modern palace in the spirit of the Renaissance architecture, with a large ''hôtel particulier'' and ceremonial rooms. After the death of Francis in 1547, his son Henry II of France continued the work by Pierre Lescot. Between December 1546 and March 1549, he had the west wall destroyed to build a ballroom and the south wall to erect the royal pavilion (1553–1556), which housed the royal apartments and the small gallery.

After the death of Henry II, his widow Catherine de' Medici continued the development of the south wing for her apartments. From 1564 onwards, she prioritised the construction of the new Tuileries Palace and the establishment of a large Renaissance garden.

Under Henry III of France, the Louvre became a space for royalty, a place of entertainment and the theater of historical events such as the marriage of the future King Henry IV of France with Margaret of Valois, which led to the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572.

During his reign, Henry IV destroyed the remaining elements on the south side, including the moat, in order to build the ''Grande Galerie'' (''Great Gallery'' in French) connecting the Louvre and the Tuileries. This was completed in 1610. He also began the construction of the ''Cour Carrée'' on the base of the existing Lescot wing. The surface was four times the size of the original medieval court. Some buildings between the two palaces were also destroyed. This project, named ''le Grand Dessein'' (''the Grand Design'' in French), also had a military function by establishing a covered walkway between the Louvre and the Tuileries outside the city walls. Henry IV created this walkway in case he needed to flee on horseback during a riot.

In order to establish his power, on 24 April 1617 the young Louis XIII murdered Concino Concini, the favorite of his mother Marie de' Medici, at the entrance gate connecting the castle to the city.

Louis XIII demolished the northern part of the medieval enclosure in order to extend the Lescot wing in this direction, providing symmetry. The eastern part was demolished by Louis XIV to allow for the construction of the Louvre Colonnade.

File:Louvre - Les Très Riches Heures.jpg, The Louvre pictured in the ''Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry'', 1410s
File:Tour de Nesle and Louvre castle on the Crucifixion of the Parlement of Paris.jpg, The Louvre pictured in the ', mid-15th century
File:The old Louvre and Montmartre hill in the Middle Ages.jpg, The Louvre seen from the south, pictured in the ''Pietà of Saint-Germain-des-Prés'', late 15th century
File:Le chateau du Louvre sur un plan de 1615.jpg, Depiction on Merian map of Paris, 1615

Plans and reconstructions

File:Plan.chateau.Louvre.png, Map of the Louvre under Charles V, by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1856; oriented south on top and north at bottom)
File:Plan of medieval Louvre - Berty 1866 after p128.jpg, Map of the medieval Louvre, by Adolphe Berty (1866)
File:Quartier du Louvre, 1380.jpg, Map of the Louvre in 1380, by (ca.1880)
File:Quartier du Louvre, 1595.jpg, Map of the Louvre in 1595, by (ca.1880)
File:Louvre chateau 1.jpg, The castle from the south and Seine river around the year 1200, as imagined by Louis-Pierre Baltard around 1800
File:Vue cavalière du Louvre médiéval - comte de Clarac, 1826 - Christ 1949 Fig5.jpg, Reconstruction of the medieval Louvre by the Comte de Clarac (1826)
File:Chateau.Louvre.png, Reconstruction by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1856)
File:Coupe.escalier.Louvre.png, Viollet-le-Duc's reconstructed section of the (1856)
File:Vue perspective de la grande vis imaginée par Viollet-le-Duc.jpg, Viollet-le-Duc's reconstruction of the (1856)
File:Vue à vol d'oiseau du Louvre agrandi par Charles V.jpg, Reconstruction by (ca.1880)
File:Le Louvre sous Charles V, 1380.jpg, Another view of the Louvre in 1380 as reconstructed by Hoffbauer (ca.1880)
File:Le Louvre sous Louis XIII, 1622.jpg, The Louvre in 1622 as reconstructed by Hoffbauer (ca.1880)
File:Model of the medieval Louvre (2359560020).jpg, Model of the Louvre after Charles V's transformation, placed in 1989 in the underground spaces displaying the castle's remains
File:La grande vis du Louvre 3 de 3.jpg, Recent computer model of the

Excavations and remains

During the 19th century, it was found that the dungeon, along with two of the four walls were not completely demolished, but instead the stones from the walls were taken down to fill ditches in preparation for construction of the Louvre Palace.

During the construction of the Louvre Pyramid, the bases of the keep and the two walls were cleared. A major excavation campaign resulted in the discovery of hundreds of everyday life objects. They are now accessible to the public in a collection named ''Medieval Louvre'' which features the lower room (today known as the ''Salle Saint-Louis'') and the objects found during the excavations (small games, jugs, flasks, ...).

File:Fouilles exécutées dans la cour du Louvre - Mise à jour des fondations de l'ancienne tour de Philippe Auguste.jpg, First excavation of the medieval Louvre by Adolphe Berty in 1866
File:Fouilles de la cour Carrée pendant les travaux du Grand Louvre.jpg, The 1980s excavation of the Louvre's keep
File:Louvre medieval foundations flickr.jpg, Remains of the Louvre's basement level, restored and opened to the public in the 1980s
File:France-003265 - Old Interior (16212276366).jpg, The photographed in 2014
File:Cruches trouvées dans les fouilles du château du Louvre.jpg, Pottery unearthed during the 1980s excavations
File:Jeux trouvés dans les fouilles du château du Louvre.jpg, Dominoes, dice and other games

Notes

Bibliography

* Christ, Yvan (1949). ''Le Louvre et les Tuileries: Histoire architecturale d'un double palais''. Paris: Éditions "Tel". .
* Erlande-Brandenburg, Alain (1996). "Palais du Louvre", vol. 24, p. 161, in ''The Dictionary of Art'', 34 volumes, edited by Jane Turner. New York: Grove. .
* Hanser, David A. (2006). ''Architecture of France''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. .
* Pérouse de Montclos, Jean-Marie, editor (1994). ''Le Guide du patrimoine Paris''. Paris: Hachette. . .

External links

* http://www.francebalade.com/paris/louvre.htm
* http://philippe-auguste.com/en/ville/louvre.html
* http://www.templedeparis.fr/2013/09/13/la-grosse-tour-premier-donjon-de-paris/
* http://www.richesheures.net/epoque-6-15/chateau/75louvre-description.htm
* https://www.templedeparis.fr/2013/09/13/la-grosse-tour-premier-donjon-de-paris/

{{DEFAULTSORT:Louvre, Château du
Louvre Palace
1202 establishments in Europe
1200s establishments in France
Châteaux in Paris
17th-century disestablishments in France
Buildings and structures in the 1st arrondissement of Paris
Buildings and structures completed in 1202
Houses completed in the 13th century
Buildings and structures demolished in the 17th century
Demolished buildings and structures in Paris
Ruined castles in ÃŽle-de-France
Palaces in Paris
Royal residences in France
Philip II of France
Medieval Paris