Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Castrum d'Orgueil, now in ruins, was a medieval fortified complex located in Mauroux, Lot department. His first attested lords appeared in 1114, during a donation to the abbey of Moissac by Gausbert-Borrelh of Orgueil. The Orgueil family, perhaps linked to the lords of Luzech, dominates the site, divided between six co-seigneurs under the suzerainety of the Count of Toulouse. Castrum, combined with a port on the Lot and a dam (the Fossat), plays a key role in river trade and local conflicts.

Around 1270-1271, the co-signors granted a charter of customs to the castrum, affirming their baronial authority. After the death of Alphonse de Poitiers (1271), King Philip IV the Bel inherits the rights and installs a royal bayle in Orgueil in 1292 to limit local power. During the Hundred Years' War, the Lords of Orgueil supported the King of England: the site became a closed camp occupied by "English" companies, such as Guillaume de Clarens (1380) or Jean Lescop (1387).

The decline began with the abandonment of the castrum around 1390, after it was bought by the Count of Armagnac for 11,000 francs in order to end the abuses. The excavations of the 1970s and 1982s revealed the remains of the dam, landings and a common mill, confirming its economic importance. The ruins, inscribed in the historical monuments in 1993, bear witness to its seigneurial and strategic past between Quercy and Aquitaine.

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