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Origin and history

The castle of Caumale, located in Escalans in the Landes, is a monument whose origins date back to the 12th century, with major transformations in the 15th, 16th and 19th centuries. It preserves two medieval low towers and five others dating from the 15th to 16th centuries, surrounded by an enclosure adapted in wine cellars. Resistant to the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion, he became a refuge for Gabarret, his neighboring city, before being transformed into a recreational residence by the Delisle family, linked to the colonies of Santo Domingo and Cuba.

In the 17th century, Caumale was mentioned as "noble house" (1666), anointing his owner according to the use of gascon, although not recognized by the crown. The seigneury passed from the Grenier (attested in 1618) to the Boyrie de Caumale in the 18th century, after Jean-Marie Boyrie married Jeanne de Grenier in 1744. The castle, known as a "noble castle and garden" in 1758, was sold in 1830 to Joseph Bernard Delisle, a family of refugee planters, who reinvigorated it inwardly and received personalities such as Rochambeau son or Humboldt.

In 1870, the heirs Delisle yielded Caumale for 150,000 gold francs. The site, registered with the Historical Monuments in 2002, includes a square house flanked by four corner towers (including a stairway leading to Governor Rochambeau's chamber), agricultural communes, and an old parterre. Its history mixes medieval defense, seigneurial gascons stakes, and colonial heritage, while remaining open to the public summer as a wine-producing domain of Armagnac.

Historical sources, including the work of Abbé Devert and Professor Jacques de Cauna, highlight his role as a refuge and his connection to the Gabardan, a hunting ground of Gaston Fébus. An underground would connect Caumale to Gabarret. During the Revolution, Madame de Caumale (mother of the sellers of 1830) offered asylum to the proscribed Count of Vaublanc, illustrating his anchoring in the aristocratic and colonial networks of the time.

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