Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Cavagnac, located in the Lot, came into being in the 12th century, when the Robert de Cavagnac family erected the first walls, of which a high tower known as "Romanesque" or "Sarasine" remains. This site is built near an ancient Roman villa, Villa Cavaniacus, mentioned as early as 868 in the cartular of Beaulieu Abbey. From the middle of the 12th century, the seigneury of Cavagnac was held by the Roberts under the suzeraineté of the abbots of the abbey Saint-Pierre de Beaulieu, as evidenced by the tribute rendered by Guillaume-Robert around 1180. The lords of Cavagnac, linked to the abbey by oaths of fidelity, also share fiefs with the priors of Friac.

In the 14th century, suzeraineté passed from the abbots of Beaulieu to the Viscount of Turenne, Guillaume-Roger de Beaufort. In 1351, Rigald de Cavagnac, descendant of Guillaume-Robert, took an oath to the Viscount for his possessions, but he now had to share them with Guillaume de Vassal. In 1365 Bertrand de Cavagnac, lieutenant of the Viscount, played a key role in the submission of the Viscount of Turenne to King Charles V. At the end of the 14th century, the seigneury passed through marriage to the family of Guiscard, who held the rights of high justice and occupied the castle without interruption until the Revolution.

In the 16th century, the feudal castle was transformed into a more modern residence, then enlarged in the 18th century by a body of monumental houses, reflecting the power of the Guiscards. During the Revolution, the castle was attacked by villagers, and its coat of arms, engraved on a stone on the façade, was damaged. The family died in 1790 with Jean Pierre de Guiscard, and the castle passed to his sister, Marie Madeleine, wife of the Marquis de Plas de Curemonte. Today, a descendant of this family, the branch of Counts Desplaces, still owns it.

Among the figures related to this lineage, Marie Angélique de Scorailles de Roussille (1661–1681), duchess of Fontanges and favorite of Louis XIV, is a descendant of the Plas de Curemonte. In the 19th century, Gustave Desplaces (1820–69), a polytechnic engineer and railway pioneer, took part in major projects such as the Tarascon Bridge or the Saint-Charles station in Marseille. His great-grand-nephew is the current owner of the castle.

The castral site, including the medieval tower, the vestiges of the enclosure and the facades of the castle's wings, was listed as historical monuments in 2013. Its architecture combines feudal heritage and transformations Renaissance, witnessing five centuries of seigneurial history in Quercy.

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