Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The fort house of Nanc, located in Nanc-lès-Saint-Amour in the Jura (Burgogne-Franche-Comté), is a rectangular building of 24x14 meters facing south-east, equipped with three floors and a central circular tower with spiral staircase. Its sled windows, thick walls (1.6 to 1.8 m) and murderers reflect its defensive role on the salt road, a multi-year road crucial for trade and taxes. A fresco by Abbé Moirod in the local chapel attests to the existence of a crenellated tower, while archives evoke a first strong house collapsed around 1448.

The seigneury of Nanc, originally linked to the Dramalay (Xth-XI centuries), passed into the hands of the Laubespin in the 14th century. In 1434, Philippe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, confiscates the fief to Antoine de Laye (allied with the King of France) to give it to his Chancellor Nicolas Rolin, who already controls 60 strategic fiefs. The first strong house, probably built around 1400 by the Laubespins, was destroyed in 1479 during the Louis XI Wars against the County. The reconstruction in the 16th century coincided with the peace of Arras (1482) and the need to secure the border between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Empire, while the region became an issue for the salt trade and smuggling.

In the 16th century, the castle passed to the Champdivers, then to the Gorrevod: Pernette de Gorrevod (an illegitimate daughter of Laurent de Gorrevod, governor of Bresse and close to Marguerite of Austria) inherited in 1519. Laurent de Gorrevod, a major figure in Charles Quint's empire, also oversees the construction of the Brou church. The Montjouvent, allied with the Gorrevod, then owned Nanc until the 17th century. The castle survived the wars of Ten Years (1634-1644) and the French annexation of 1678, unlike nearby fortresses such as Laubespin, shaved by the troops of Louis XIV.

In the 18th century, the Vuillemenot (anoblished by their charge at Dole) acquired Nanc in 1713. Emmanuel-Marie Vuillemenot revived forgotten seigneurial rights in 1745, triggering a revolt in 1748: the archives were burned, two guards killed, and the village was temporarily empty. The French Revolution finished to weaken the castle, looted in 1794. Purchased by the commune in 1838, it houses town hall and school until 1936. Ranked a historic monument in 1934 for its facades and roofs, it is today a testimony of border struggles and social tensions in Franche-Comté.

The frescoes of Abbé Moirod, preserved in the chapel, illustrate key episodes such as the construction of the chapels by Charles-Eugène de Lévis-Charlus (17th century) or the watchtowers imposed on the subjects of Nanc. The 19th century excavations reveal a staircase carved in the rock, possible vestige of the first castle. The blazon of the Champdivers (d.

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