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Origin and history

The château de Cherveux finds its origins in a medieval castral motte, mentioned since 1100 as a dependency of the abbey of Saint-Maixent. In the 13th century it became a fortress of Lusignan, a powerful family of which Guy of Lusignan was king of Cyprus and Jerusalem. Confiscated by Saint Louis in 1242 and then returned, he passed into the hands of the Mello, Craon and Chalons before being seized by the English in 1363 under Edward III. After Du Guesclin's victory in 1369, he returned to Amaury de Craon, then to Guy de La Tremeille, chamberlain of Charles VII.

In the 15th century, Robert Conningham (or Cunningham), Scottish captain of the Royal Guard, rebuilt the castle in its present form around 1470. The monument, of pentagonal plan, combines dungeon, towers and carved mâchicoulis, typical of the flamboyant Gothic. During the Wars of Religion, he became a Protestant stronghold under Louis de Saint-Gelais, admiral Huguenot, before being repeated several times (1569, 1574, 1586). His son Joshua authorized a Protestant temple there in 1620, before the family converted to Catholicism.

During the Revolution, the castle was confiscated after the execution of the Narbonne-Pelet, its burned archives and its marteled coats of arms. Sold as a national property in 1794 to Pierre Allonneau, it escapes destruction thanks to its public utility (douves used by the inhabitants). Ranked a historic monument in 1929, it passed into the hands of the Eckel family after several changes of owners in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its architecture, marked by defensive interiors and adorned skylights, bears witness to the adaptations to firearms.

The site, surrounded by moat fed by a spring, preserves a pentagonal courtyard and a five-level dungeon, connected to a 15th century house body. The successive destructions (wars, sieges) have erased part of the walls and three towers, but the remaining elements – carved chimneys, hexagonal staircase, "ship overturned" structure – illustrate its past prestige. Today, the castle houses guest rooms and remains a remarkable example of a Poitevin fortress transformed into a seigneurial residence.

The local legend attributes its foundation to the fairy Melusine, mythical figure of the Lusignan, who would have built the fortress in one night. This oral tradition, though not historical, emphasizes the anchoring of the castle in the regional imagination. The archives also reveal its role as a refuge: during the conflicts, neighbouring peasants found protection for their families and property, in exchange for chores or contributions to reparations.

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