Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Cœuvres, located in the department of Aisne, is an emblematic monument of the Hauts-de-France region. He was first associated with the d'Estrées family, notably Antoine d'Estrées (circa 1530-1609), father of Gabrielle d'Estrées, favorite of Henri IV. His son, François-Annibal duc d'Estrées (1573-1670), embellished the castle at the beginning of the seventeenth century with paintings and panelling, entrusted to the painter Thomas Blondeau. The estate then passes into the hands of several generations, including Jean, Count d'Estrées, and his daughter Marie d'Estrées, married to Michel François Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois.

In the 18th century, the castle was left to Louis Alexandre Céleste of Aumont, Duke of Villequier, who organized the flight of Varennes in 1791. After the failure of this attempt, he fled to Brussels, and the castle was seized as a national good during the Revolution. In ruins, it was divided into four lots, then bought in 1823 by Charles-Raymond Degranges, who restored it and lived there with his family. The property then belongs to his daughter Claire, married to Count Alexis-Bénigne-Louis de Bertier de Sauvigny.

During World War I, the castle was occupied by the General Staff of the 6th Army in 1914 and then served as a military hospital. In 1918, during the 2nd Battle of the Marne, the castle and the village suffered intense fighting and were reduced to ruins. The castle communes were listed as historical monuments in 1927. Count Albert de Bertier de Sauvigny, owner and mayor of the village, bears witness to this period in his book Local History Pages.

External links