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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The château d'Excideuil, located on a steep rock south of the town of Excideuil (Dordogne), finds its origins in the 11th century under the impulse of the Viscounts of Limoges. The latter build walls and a dungeon to control the road from Limoges to Périgueux via Saint-Yrieix. The site is mentioned for the first time around 1100 in a donation of the Viscount Adémar to the Abbey of Uzerche. Its strategic role is confirmed by the conflicts between the bishop of Périgueux and the count of Périgord, suggesting an early fortification to defend the nearby castle of Auberoche.

In the 12th century, the castle was at the heart of family and political struggles. In 1176, Bernard de Comborn, uncle of Adémar V, returned the castle to his nephew after he had plundered, in exchange for the castle of Salon. Between 1182 and 1184, Excideil resisted the assaults of Richard the Lion Heart, then temporarily fell under English control in 1199 after the betrayal of Ademar V. Recaptured around 1210-1211 by Gui V, he welcomed in 1303 Philip the Bel and in 1304 the future Pope Clement V. During the Hundred Years' War, he alternated between English (1351, 1360) and French, before being taken over by Du Guesclin in 1370.

The 15th and 16th centuries marked a transition to a residential vocation. In 1574, the castle, then owned by Jeanne d'Albret (Catholic side), passed to the Protestants before being taken over the following year. In 1582, Henry III of Navarre (later Henry IV) sold it to Francis of Pérusse des Cars. By marriage he fell to the Talleyrand-Périgords, who obtained his marquisate erected in 1613. Delayed in the 18th century, its property was transferred to the Château de Chalais, causing its degradation. A fire ravaged the chestnut in 1973, before partial restoration at the end of the 20th century by the Naudet family.

The architecture of the castle reflects its evolution: two square dungeons of the 12th-XIIIth centuries connected by a wall, a Renaissance house (1582-1587) with a cylindrical staircase tower, and a castle from the 14th-XVth centuries remodeled around 1580. The lower courtyard housed the houses of the knights, while the upper courtyard, reserved for the Viscounts, overlooked the valley of the Loue. Ranked a historical monument in 2014, it is now divided between private property (logis and dungeon) and communal (free visit).

Its military and seigneurial history illustrates the stakes of the medieval Périgord, between Anglo-French conflicts, Wars of Religion and architectural transformations. The presence of figures such as Richard Cœur de Lion, Du Guesclin or Henri IV underscores its strategic importance, while its gradual abandonment in the 18th century reflects the changes of the local elites towards more modern residences.

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