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Origin and history

Beaumont-sur-Sarthe Castle is a medieval fortress built between the 11th and 12th centuries by order of the Viscounts of Mans and Beaumont, local lords. Built in stone in a Romanesque architectural style, this seigneurial house adopts an irregular rectangular plan (33 m long, 22 m wide), with an initial height estimated at 30 meters. Its walls, thickened by local sandstone foothills, housed a seigneurial house in the upper part and a circular watch tower of 6 meters in diameter. One bayle (outpost) housed stables and commons in the east. The exact date of its foundation remains undetermined, but its defensive role is attested as soon as it is built.

From its foundation, the castle becomes a strategic issue in regional conflicts. In 1062-1064 he was at the heart of the tensions between the Counts of Maine and the Dukes of Normandy, including Guillaume the Conqueror and Hubert de Beaumont. In 1073, William the Conqueror's English troops invested before returning him in 1083. In 1135, under the lordship of Roscelin I, the city and the castle were looted and burned by the English. During the Hundred Years War, he changed hands several times: taken in 1417 by Henry V of England, he was taken back in 1449 after 25 years of occupation.

In the 15th century, an ordinance of Louis XI aimed to dismantle the strongholds to calm the local seigneuries. The castle of Beaumont-sur-Sarthe is partially destroyed: only the upper floor of the dungeon is shot down, and the walls of the enclosure are cut to form an inner courtyard. Now deprived of its defensive function, it no longer houses garrison. In 1927, the remains of the castle – including the corner tower and the ruins of the dungeon – were listed as historical monuments by ministerial decree, recognizing their heritage value.

Today, the castle presents itself in the form of ruins and partial remains, dominated by a corner tower and walls in red sandstone. Located on the Sarthe, close to the city centre, it is bordered by Rue du Mans (RD 338) to the west and Rue du Château to the northeast. Its architecture, characteristic of the first Roman stone dungeons, makes it a witness to military and seigneurial techniques of the Middle Ages.

Historical sources underline its role in the conflicts between Normans, English and local lords, as well as its gradual decline after the 15th century. The archives mention in particular the work of historian Alphonse-Victor Angot on the Viscounts of Maine (1914) and the studies of Robert Tiger on the fortifications of Beaumont (1901).

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