Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of the Duke Kings of Sauveterre-la-Lémance is a medieval fortress built between 1289 and the beginning of the 14th century on the order of Edward I Plantagenet, king of England and Duke of Aquitaine, to defend the east of the Agenas against the French Quercy. Built on a rocky spur at 119 meters above sea level, it overlooks the valleys of Lemance and Sendroux, offering a major strategic position. The first written traces date back to 1290, and the works, originally planned before 1289, were slowed down by the Guyenne War. The site combines a high pentagonal courtyard flanked by three towers (including a hexagonal dungeon) and a lowyard protected by a ditch cut in the rock, illustrating an archaic defensive design for the time.

The castle played a key role in Franco-English conflicts. In 1304, Raymond Hugues de Tarnac became the first chestnut appointed by the royal administration, marking a stabilization phase. During the War of Saint-Sardos (1323–1324), the fortress was strengthened by the English, then changed several times during the Hundred Years War: French in 1346 under Evrard de la Roche, English in 1348 when Édouard III gave it to Bertrand de Durfort, before being taken over by Hugues de Blanquefort for France in 1352. After the Treaty of Brétigny (1360), it became English until it was finally taken by the French in 1432, under Charles VII. The site was then entrusted to Naudonnet de Lustrac, then to Jean de Sermet in 1476, whose family settled there for a long time.

The architecture reflects its military and residential evolution. The hexagonal dungeon (13 m in diameter, 3.5 m thick walls) dominates the whole, connected to two secondary towers by pierced courtines of cruciform archeries. The lower yard, protected by a 24 m wide ditch and 6.5 m deep, houses a fortified gate. The seigneurial dwellings, rebuilt in the 15th to 16th centuries, bear witness to an adaptation to a less strictly defensive use. The castle, classified as a Historical Monument in 2003, retains major medieval elements despite the revolutionary destructions (fire in 1789) and its acquisition in 1936 by airman Jean Mermoz.

Defensive systems include 21 killers of various types (single, double, or inverted row), reflecting technical adaptations. The later raised West Tower and the partially collapsed North Tower illustrate the changes experienced over the centuries. A tank and a well ensured water autonomy, while corbelled latrines and chimneys revealed a concern for comfort for the time. The site, although private, remains an emblematic example of the New Aquitaine border castles, marked by rivalries between Plantagenets and Capetians.

Future

It was purchased by airman Jean Mermoz in 1936, a year before his death.

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