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Origin and history

The tower of Espiens, located in the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, is one of the few remains of a castle built at the end of the 13th century. This quadrangular castle, flanked by square towers at angles, was built under the authority of Edward I, King of England and Duke of Guyenne, who in 1286 entrusted the management of fief recognitions in Agenais and Condomois to local commissioners. Half of the castle then belonged to Bertrand de Galard, lord of Espiens, while the other half was divided between Pierre d'Auvignon, Gailhard de La Roche and Guillaume Raymond de Nazareth.

The family of Galard, lords of Espiens since the 12th century, kept the castle until the beginning of the 15th century, when Bertrand de Galard died without heirs in 1401. The castle then passed into the hands of the family of Pardaillan in the 15th and 16th centuries, then to the Duke of Albret in 1556, before being ceded to the Carmelites of the Incarnation in Paris. In the 17th century, Paul de Mazelières acquired the seigneury and built a new castle, while the tower of Espiens, bought by the commune in 1891, was partially preserved despite the collapse of one of its sections in the years 1975.

The castle, inscribed in the historic monuments in 1926, illustrates the medieval military architecture of the region. Its towers, partially integrated into later buildings, testify to the successive changes of the site. The southeast tower, still standing on a height of 6 to 7 meters, retains defensive elements such as a broken arched door and traces of a harrow, recalling its strategic role in the Agenese feudality.

Historical sources, including fief recognitions of 1286, reveal the importance of the castle in local power networks. The noble families such as the Galards, the Pardaillans and the Mazelières have left their mark, while the architectural transformations reflect the political and social evolutions of the region, from English domination to integration into the kingdom of France.

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