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Origin and history

The Château de Villers-Cotterêts, also known as Château François I, is a Renaissance building built in the 16th century in the city of the same name, in the department of Aisne (Hauts-de-France). Commanded by François I between 1528 and 1532, he replaced a medieval castle ruined by the Hundred Years' War. The master masons of Paris Jacques and Guillaume Lebreton direct the works, financed by the sale of wood from the forest of Retz. The site, appreciated for its proximity to Paris and its giboyous forest, became a royal residence where François I signed in 1539 the ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts, a founding text for the French language.

The castle had its apogee during the reigns of Francis I and Henry II, who in 1558 signed the laws of the Auld Alliance (French-Scottish treaty). After the death of Henry II, he entered the dowry of Catherine de Medici (1559). In the 17th century, it hosted royal feasts, such as the representation of the Molière Tartuffe in 1664 for Philippe d'Orléans, brother of Louis XIV. The castle, redesigned over the centuries, preserves major Renaissance elements: a facade with two superimposed orders (ionic and corinthian), a ledged loggia, and carved decorations (salamanders, fleurs de lys, putti).

From the French Revolution, the castle lost its royal function. Transformed into a barracks, then a begging depot under Napoleon (1804), he became a hospice in 1889, a role he retained until 2014. Left behind, it was declared a historic monument in 1997 and a national estate in 2022. Between 2020 and 2023, a major restoration project (210 million euros) reveals medieval remains, such as a glazed paving and 15th century walls, as well as archaeological objects ( bronze spoon, seal matrix).

Since 1 November 2023, the castle houses the Cité internationale de la langue française, a project led by Emmanuel Macron and the Centre des monuments nationales. This choice is part of the legacy of the Order of 1539, which imposed French as an administrative language. The site, completely restored, highlights its staircase of the King (caving vault adorned with salamanders), its Renaissance chapel (fries in high relief, baroque altarpiece), and its historical palm game. The inauguration, originally scheduled for 19 October 2023, was postponed due to the assassination of Professor Dominique Bernard.

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