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Origin and history

The Château de Grisac, located in the commune of Pont de Montvert - South Mount Lozère in Lozère, was built in the 13th century by Guillaume Grimoard, a knight-paysman. This castle is inseparable from the history of the Grimoard family: here it was born in 1310 Guillaume de Grimoard, future Pope Urban V (1362-1370), who spent part of his childhood there. The site, initially fortified, was erected as a marquisat in the 14th century, and its main structures were probably built around the middle of the same century, before being enlarged in the 15th century.

From the end of the 15th century, the castle was gradually abandoned, and then undergone major transformations between the 17th and 19th centuries. In the 19th century, it became a farm and even housed a communal school. Current remains include a dungeon, a partially collapsed central body, agricultural buildings, and traces of defensive devices. The site was classified as a historical monument in 1984 for its medieval parts (donjon and house), while the outbuildings were registered on the same date.

Private property for centuries, the castle was restored in the 20th century by Renaud Mouchet de Battefort de Laubespin and his wife Arlette de Garnier des Garets, who transformed the ruins into a habitable home. Today, it belongs to their daughter, Maria Gilda Mouchet de Battefort de Laubespin, and houses a permanent exhibition dedicated to Urban V. Its architecture thus combines medieval elements (watch tower, fortified courtyard) and more recent additions, reflecting its evolution through the ages.

The château of Grisac also illustrates the history of the Gevaudan, a former province whose strategic position it occupied between Cevennes and Mont Lozère. Its link with Urban V, the pope of Avignon, who tried to bring the papacy back to Rome, makes it an emblematic site of the religious and medieval heritage of Occitanie. The defensive remains and the farm yard also recall its dual role, both seigneurial and agricultural, over the centuries.

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