Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château du Montot is an ancient fortified house, first mentioned in 1372 as the capital of the seigneury of the Montot. Located in Oudry, Saône-et-Loire, it then belonged to Perrier de Fautrière, vassal d'Hugues du Bois de la Rochette. This medieval fief, marked by complex family successions, passed into the hands of the Fautrière, Bazay, Bresches, then of Albon before returning to the Bois de la Rochette in the 17th century.

In 1695 the estate consisted of a house body, a chapel, a dungeon surrounded by walls and five towers, one of which served as a staircase. Partly ruined in 1764, it was handed over by inheritance to Villeneuve, then to Varax and Gevigney before being acquired in 1956 by the Lauferon family. Today, there remain only three round towers, a tower of stairs and the southern end of the house, redesigned in the 19th and 17th centuries.

The castle illustrates medieval defensive architecture, with ditches fed by the Oudrache, a tributary of the Bourbince. His heraldic sculptures (chardons des Villeneuve, bonsoir des La Rochette) bear witness to alliances between noble Burgundy families. The chapel, authorized to celebrate Mass in 1607, reflects its religious and seigneurial importance.

The archives reveal conflicting estates, as in 1439 in the Fautrière family or in 1542 between the Bazay and Bresches. The seigneury, maintained by the Duke of Burgundy in 1499, was a strategic issue until its transformation into a rural residence. The demolitions of the 19th century erased part of its history, but the elements preserved make it a witness to the mutations of the local aristocracy.

The heraldic of the family owners (Fautrière, Albon, du Bois de la Rochette) still adorns the facade. These blasmons, described in the sources, recall the lines that marked its history, from the Hundred Years Wars to the Revolution. The site, private since 1976, remains a characteristic example of the burgundy strong houses, between military office and seigneurial residence.

External links