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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Feuilse, located in Saint-Just-Luzac in Charente-Maritime, finds its origins in a medieval fief named Chardes, dependent on the land of Bernardières. In 1600, the wealthy Protestant merchant Jean Jousselin acquired this fief and undertook, as early as 1612, the reconstruction and expansion of the house. When he died in 1613, his heirs continued the work, but the building fell into bad shape over the decades.

In the 17th century, the castle passed into the hands of the Jousselin family, notably Benjamin and Jeanne, then of their nieces, including Marie Jousselin, wife of Pastor Jean Bernon. The latter, after abjuring Protestantism following the revocation of the edict of Nantes (1685), enlarged the house, erected a monumental gate and built a chapel in 1710 to affirm its conversion. The estate remained in the family until 1791, when it was sold to Pierre Gariské.

The architecture of the castle, partially classified as a historical monument in 1989, reflects these successive transformations. The chapel, registered in 1984, bears witness to the turbulent religious history of the site. The house, with its painted woodwork and vestibule, illustrates the style of the seigneurial residences of the modern period in Saintonge.

The castle changed hands again in 1816, acquired by Gabriel Bergerat, marking the end of a period marked by Protestant heritages and architectural adaptations linked to the political and religious upheavals of the 17th and 18th centuries.

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