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Origin and history

The castle of Perricard, located in Montayral in Lot-et-Garonne, is a 16th century building built by the Raffin family, originally from Rouergue. The first mention of a lord of Perricard dates back to Pierre de Raffin around 1400, but the construction of the present castle probably began in the late 15th or early 16th century. The southeast tower, the oldest part, belonged to a medieval fortress. A missing inscription indicated that the completion of the work, including the large southwest tower and its Renaissance decorations (fleurs de lilies, rosaces), dated from 1565 under Antoine de Raffin.

Perricard's seigneury was the subject of family conflicts in the 17th century. After the death of Jean de Raffin in 1598, his wife Anne de Bezolles inherited from the place had to face his father-in-law, Philippe de Raffin, to take possession of it. In 1603 a decree of the Parliament of Bordeaux granted him the castle, but Philippe and his sons illegally occupied it in 1609 before being expelled. Anne de Bezolles had the castle modernized, adding a chapel around 1610, described in 1667 by Bishop Claude Joli as a vaulted oratory with side galleries.

In the 19th century, the castle was divided into two agricultural properties after its purchase by François de Laffargue in 1837. The east wing, enlarged, became a barn stable in 1861, while the west wing, partially ruined, received a new facade. In spite of these transformations, Renaissance elements remain: monumental chimneys, carved decoration (dolphins, ecotized branches), and dogive vaults. The castle, classified as a historical monument in 1927, illustrates the evolution of a medieval fortress as a seigneurial residence and then as a farm.

The Raffin, allied to the local aristocracy (La Tour, Lusignan), dominated the region until the 17th century. Their decline allowed families such as the La Goutte de La Pujade, then the Montalembert, to acquire Perricard. François de Bosredon even raised the seigneury in the eighteenth century. The archives also mention cadurcian workshops (of Cahors) for decors, highlighting the artistic exchanges between Quercy and Agenais.

The architecture combines defensive features (murder suitable for firearms, corner towers) and residential features (large rooms, painted ceilings). The southwest tower, with its vermiculated bandage, recalls the castle of Fumel, another Renaissance achievement of the Upper Ages. The chapel, vaulted in a broken cradle, and the vaulted kitchen of ridges testify to the religious and domestic duality of the place.

Today, the castle of Perricard, although shared and transformed, retains remarkable elements such as the medieval square tower, pierced by an archery and a flamboyant window, or the consoles carved of dolphins. Its history reflects the seigneurial tensions, matrimonial alliances and economic adaptations that marked the southwestern part of France from the Middle Ages to the modern era.

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