Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Clermont-Dessous is located on a hill overlooking the Garonne, near Port-Sainte-Marie, in the department of Lot-et-Garonne. The hill, probably fortified in the 11th century, houses a castle protecting the vulnerable part of the rocky spur, separated from the village by a ditch. The parish church of Saint John the Baptist, dated the 12th century, also served as a castral chapel and participated in the defence of the whole. The site was first mentioned in 1271 in the Seizimentum, dependent on Baylie de Port-Sainte-Marie.

In 1221, the castle resisted a siege led by Amaury de Montfort, stressing its strategic importance. During the Hundred Years War, it played a key role, with a dungeon probably built in the 13th or 14th century. In the 15th century, the house was remodeled, perhaps by co-teachers such as Lérôme-Patrice de Monorgon (died 1506) or Jacques Yzalguier. A second body of houses, added at the end of the 15th or at the beginning of the 16th century, completes the whole, while sill windows of that time remain in the neighbouring village.

The castle changed hands throughout the centuries, successively belonging to the Lamothe families (XII century), Pardaillan de Gondrin, Ferrand, Malvezin de Lassale (1425), then to Benquet, Péticlo, Monorgon, and Yzalguier. In 1437, roadmen took over the castle, requiring a contribution for its redemption. In the 16th century, the seigneury passed to the Narbonne-Lara, then to the Chapt de Rastignac in 1705. The latter, including Jacques-Gabriel Chapt de Rastignac (died 1755), marked the history of the place until its partial ruin in the 19th century. In 1950, the castle was listed as a historical monument, and is now partially restored.

Among the notable figures related to the castle, Blaise de Monluc married Antoinette Yzalguier, daughter of a co-sister, in the local church in 1526. Peter II of Secondat (1490-1560) and his son John II (1515-1599), lords of Montesquieu, also possessed Clermont-Dessous. The site, falling into ruins, was consolidated in 1969. Its quadrangular dungeon, its ramparts and its church-castral still bear witness to its medieval past and its role in regional defence.

Excavations in the dungeon revealed anthropomorphic burials dating perhaps from the Xth-XI centuries, confirming an ancient occupation. The castle, isolated from the village by a ditch, had a enclosure with a single door on the gorge, defended by a small 15th century castle. The buildings, organized around a courtyard, included a body of east lodges with entrance chestnut and a poterne. The archères and chimneys, comparable to those of Bonaguil Castle, illustrate the defensive and residential developments of the late Middle Ages.

Today owned by the commune, the castle of Clermont-Dessous, although partially in ruins, remains an architectural testimony of the conflicts and seigneurial transformations in Aquitaine. Its registration in 1950 and its successive restorations preserve a heritage linked to Gasconic history, from feudality to modern times.

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