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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Brassac, mentioned from the 12th century as the seat of a barony, originally belonged to the family of Planels, vassal of the Duke of Aquitaine, before being bought in 1190 by Raymond V of Toulouse. This count, seeking to counter the influence of the local lords, entrusted the fortress – then reduced to a dungeon surrounded by ditches – to Durand Mercader, a road captain. The castle was briefly occupied by Richard Coeur de Lion, reflecting tensions between the Counts of Toulouse and the Kings of England for the control of Languedoc. After the Crusade of the Albigens, the seigneury passed under the tutelage of the bishop of Cahors, then of Alphonse de Poitiers, before returning to the crown of France.

In the 13th century Galard's family, the new owner, strengthened the castle's defenses by erecting a wall of enclosure, a palisade and a well, while oscillating between allegiance to the kings of France and England. During the Hundred Years' War, the Galards, initially pro-English, changed sides after the devastating raids of John Chandos in 1346 and 1356. The castle, symbol of their power, was also the scene of the wars of Religion in the sixteenth century, when Huguenots seized it while John III of Galard defended Lauzerte. The seigneury was erected as a county in 1609 by Henry IV, marking the peak of the family.

The French Revolution marked a tragic turning point: the castle, burned and partially razed, lost its towers and courtines, preserving only the medieval foundations and the house of the 15th century, spared despite the damage. Galard's family, looted, managed to buy it back and restore it before ceding it in 1891 to Pierre Chabrié, a deputy, whose descendants saved the building from ruin. In 1997, he returned to Gilles de Galard de Béarn de Brassac, descendant of the historic owners. Today, it is classified as a historical monument (1926 and 1979), visiting and witnessing nearly nine centuries of tormented history.

Architecturally, the castle consists of a quadrilateral of 40 meters side, initially flanked by four round towers (XIIth–XIIIth centuries) of which only the foundations remain. The walls, thick from 2 to 3 meters, keep murderers and cannons, while the 15th century house, built on the site of the primitive dungeon, houses a spiral staircase in a polygonal tower. The moat, partially filled, was crossed by a drawbridge replaced by a stone bridge. Nearby, there remains a castral mound and remains of earlier fortifications, recalling the medieval origins of the site.

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