The Louvre Castle (), also referred to as the Medieval Louvre (), was 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 ...

() begun by

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), also known as Philip Augustus (), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks (Latin: ''rex Francorum''), but from 1190 onward, Philip became the firs ...

on the

right bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

of the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

, to reinforce the

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...

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 The Louvre Palace (, ), often referred to simply as the Louvre, is an iconic French palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, occupying a vast expanse of land between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxe ...

, 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

was still referred to as a castle () until the mid-18th century if not later.

History

Fortress

Before his departure for the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

in 1190, King Philip II wanted to protect his capital Paris against invasions, especially from English-held

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

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

. 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

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable b ...

s. 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 A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

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

, whose interior arch was built in stone to limit the risk of fire. The keep had a conical roof slate over the

machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...

. 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 The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

, English soldiers commanded by

Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, who was allied to the

Burgundians The Burgundians were an early Germanic peoples, Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared east in the middle Rhine region in the third century AD, and were later moved west into the Roman Empire, in Roman Gaul, Gaul. In the first and seco ...

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 Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

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 The ''Parlement'' of Paris () was the oldest ''parlement'' in the Kingdom of France, formed in the 14th century. Parlements were judicial, rather than legislative, bodies and were composed of magistrates. Though not representative bodies in the p ...

started to show some independence. The King held a ''

lit de justice In France under the Ancien Régime, the ''lit de justice'' (, "bed of justice") was a particular formal session of the Parlement of Paris, under the presidency of the King of France, for the compulsory registration of the royal edicts and to im ...

'' 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 () is the French term for a grand urban mansion, comparable to a Townhouse (Great Britain), British townhouse. Whereas an ordinary (house) was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a ...

'' and ceremonial rooms. After the death of Francis in 1547, his son

Henry II of France Henry II (; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was List of French monarchs#House of Valois-Angoulême (1515–1589), King of France from 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I of France, Francis I and Claude of France, Claude, Du ...

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 Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

continued the development of the south wing for her apartments. From 1564 onwards, she prioritised the construction of the new

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...

and the establishment of a large Renaissance garden. Under

Henry III of France Henry III (; ; ; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he ...

, 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 Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

with

Margaret of Valois Margaret of Valois (, 14 May 1553 – 27 March 1615), popularly known as , was List of Navarrese royal consorts, Queen of Navarre from 1572 to 1599 and Queen of France from 1589 to 1599 as the consort of Henry IV of France and III of Navarre. Ma ...

, 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 The (), in the past also known as the Galerie du Bord de l'Eau (Waterside Gallery), is a wing of the Louvre Palace, perhaps more properly referred to as the Aile de la Grande Galerie (Grand Gallery Wing), since it houses the longest and largest ...

'' (''Great Gallery'' in French) connecting the Louvre and the Tuileries. This was completed in 1610. He also began the construction of the ''

Cour Carrée The Cour Carrée (, Square Court) is one of the main courtyards of the Louvre Palace in Paris. The wings surrounding it were built gradually, as the walls of the medieval Louvre were progressively demolished in favour of a French Renaissance archi ...

'' 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 Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown. ...

murdered Concino Concini, the favorite of his mother

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as rege ...

, 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 LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

to allow for the construction of the

Louvre Colonnade The Louvre Colonnade is the easternmost façade of the Louvre Palace in Paris. It has been celebrated as the foremost masterpiece of French architectural classicism since its construction, mostly between 1667 and 1674. The design, dominated by t ...

. File:Louvre - Les Très Riches Heures.jpg, The Louvre pictured in the ''

Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry The (; ), or , is an illuminated manuscript that was created between and 1416. It is a book of hours, which is a Christians, Christian devotional book and a collection of prayers said at canonical hours. The manuscript was created for John, ...

'', 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 Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author, famous for his restoration of the most prominent medieval landmarks in France. His major restoration projects included Notre-Dame de Paris, ...

(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

(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 Louvre Pyramid () is a large glass-and-metal entrance way and skylight designed by the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei. The pyramid is in the main courtyard (Cour Napoléon) of the Louvre Palace in Paris, surrounded by three smaller pyr ...

, 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 ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

'', 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 Île-de-France Palaces in Paris Royal residences in France Philip II of France Medieval Paris