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Origin and history

Choisel's fort house, also known as Choysel, is a 13th century medieval building, profoundly transformed in the 15th and 18th centuries. Located 900 metres above sea level on a nipple in the north-east of the village of Saint Paul (Savoie), it was the centre of the seigneury of Choisel, erected in the 14th century. His vestiges, including a house and three towers partially damaged in 1794, bear witness to his defensive and residential role. The family of Seyssel owned it from the 13th century until the Revolution, marking its history with alliances, inheritances and conflicts linked to Savoyard sovereignty.

Originally, the fief belonged to the family of Seyssel, which held him from the bishop of Belley and not from the Earl of Savoy, as attested Aymon de Seyssel in 1263. Over the centuries, the seigneury passed into the hands of several members of this line, including Guigon de Seyssel (1350), Pierre de Seyssel (1390, Viscount of Novalaise), and Antoine de Seyssel (1560), who married Marie de Lucinge, bringing the fief neighbour of Malet. The fort house was also temporarily shared with the Allamand brothers (1432–181) and Pierre Torchecellon (1503–1504), before returning to the Seyssel.

In the 17th century, Aynard de Seyssel (1602–80), Viscount de Choisel and military, inherited the estate and lived there until his death. His will of 1618 designates his only son as his successor. The strong house, strategically located, was involved in the Franco-Savoyard conflicts: in 1630 Aynard was ordered to defend the place during a French invasion. The last Viscounts, like Charles-François de Seyssel (†1782), alternated between Choisel and their winter residence in Yenne, before the Revolution marked a turning point.

The French Revolution led to the sale of the castle as a national good in 1793, despite the attempts of Sébastienne-Pétronille de Seyssel (widow of Charles-François) to preserve it by having the turrets shaved. Accused of carrying out activities contrary to public order, she sees the estate confiscated. In the 19th century, the castle passed into the hands of the knight Perrin de Lépin, then of the Bauds family (1900) and finally of Joseph Dullin (1945). Today, only remains remain, including the base of the cross of justice and the arms of the knight of Lépin at the entrance.

Architecturally, the fort house combines a house body and three towers (two on the facade, one on the back), remodeled with door windows in the 15th century and additions to the 18th century. The towers, sank in 1794, and the court sheltering the traces of seigneurial jurisdiction recall its judicial and noble past. The site, although degraded, remains a testimony of the power struggles in Savoy between noble families, ecclesiastical authorities and French kingship.

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