Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Champiteau Tower is a ten-metre square structure, reinforced by cutting stone links. It consists of a cellar, a ground floor and three floors. Located at the bottom of the slope, at the edge of a pond on the commune of Saint-Firmin (Saône-et-Loire), it belonged to a fief mentioned in the 12th century, linked to the lords of Antully and Montjeu. At the French Revolution, it was owned by the conventional Le Pelletier de Saint-Fargeau. Today, this private tower is not visiting.

In the 12th century, Champiteau's fief belonged to the lords of Antully, a local noble family. In the middle of the 14th century, a strong house already existed on the site, and in 1381 the fief passed by marriage to Odile de Montjeu. In the 16th century, he changed hands several times: Claude Regnard in 1537, Philibert de Montconis in 1554, then Georges II de Saint-Belin and Nicolas d'Orge before the end of the century. These transfers reflect the aristocratic alliances and heritages of the time.

In 1614, the fief was sold to President Jeannin, a renowned lawyer and writer, while the house was already abandoned. The tower, the vestige of this complex, survived until the Revolution, where it belonged to Louis-Michel Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, a political figure marked by his revolutionary commitment. Its history thus illustrates the evolution of seigneurial possessions in Burgundy, from their medieval climax to their decline in modern times.

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