Castle of Bonne en Haute-Savoie

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Origin and history

The Château de Bonne is an ancient castle probably built in the 13th century, whose ruins remain on the commune of Bonne, in Haute-Savoie (region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes). It occupied a strategic position east of a hill, on the right bank of the Menoge, controlling the northern access of the Faucigny from Geneva as well as the Green and Giffre valleys. Its location, called "Haute-Bonne", was distinguished from the fortified village of Basse Bonne, located below.

Between the 13th and 16th centuries, the castle was the center of a castle of the Faucigny, mentioned in acts of the Grande Dauphine Béatrice (1284, 1293, 1296). In 1293, she ceded her chestnuts, including Bonne, to Count Amédée V de Savoie, acquiescing her definitive attachment to the house of Savoie in 1355. The site lost its military role after it was taken by the Bernese in 1589, and then dismantled in the 17th century.

The châtellenie de Bonne, organized around the castle, included nine villages (Bonne, Boëge, Burdignin, etc.) in the 14th century. The chaplain, an officer appointed to manage the estate, collected tax revenues and maintained the fortifications. The châtellenie accounts, kept at the departmental archives of Savoie, bear witness to its administration until the 16th century.

Architecturally, the castle occupied the front of a half-moon-shaped hill, protected by walls of 9 to 10 meters high. Its role was both defensive (control of the axes towards Annecy and La Roche) and administrative, as a relay between the local communities and the Savoyard princely court.

Historical sources include delphinal acts, Savoyard archives (series SA, 13th–XVIth centuries), and studies such as that of Nicolas Payraud on the castles of Savoie. The ruins, although partially preserved, illustrate the strategic importance of the site in the medieval territorial organization of the Faucigny.

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