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Origin and history

Pieusse Castle, located in the department of Aude in Occitanie, is a medieval building built between 1140 and 1145 during the reign of Louis VII the Younger by the Counts of Foix. This castle, characterized by a massive defensive dungeon, was the scene of significant events, notably the Cathar Council of 1225, where a hundred perfects, led by Guilhabert de Castres, bishop of Toulouse, decided to create the bishopric of Razès. Benoît de Termes was ordained bishop of this new diocese.

In 1229 Bernard Roger, son of the Count of Foix, gave the castle to King Louis IX, who attached him to the bishopric of Narbonne. The monument remains under the influence of the Archbishops of Narbonne until the French Revolution. Sold as a national property in 1791, it became a private property and was partially transformed into a home and agricultural dependency. The dungeon, still standing up to the first floor, preserves remarkable architectural elements, such as geminied windows with carved capitals and stone seats.

The castle of Pieusse is also known for its well, which allowed to feed the village in case of siege. According to local tradition, this well would have housed a treasure hidden by Bishop Dillon, the last president of the Languedoc General States and Archbishop of Narbonne, during the Revolution. The building, classified as a historic monument in 1989, features traces of 13th-century painted decorations, including floor ceilings decorated with geometric and vegetal motifs.

Today, although the castle is a private property not open to the visit, its remains, including the north wall and the dungeon, remain visible from the village of Pieusse. These elements demonstrate its strategic and historical importance, particularly in the context of the religious conflicts of the Middle Ages and the crusade against the Albigois.

Historical sources also mention that Pieusse was the seat of a barony including the villages of Alaigne and Routier. The seigneury reported to the archbishop of Narbonne, who exercised high, medium and low justice there. Guy de Lévis, seigneur of Mirepoix, officially appointed Pieusse to the archbishops of Narbonne in 1229, by order of Saint-Louis, thus consolidating his ecclesiastical status until the Revolution.

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