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Origin and history

Courcy Castle, built in the late 11th century and rebuilt in the 13th-14th centuries, is a typical example of medieval military architecture. Located in the south of Calvados, on the banks of a tributary of the Dives, it consists of remains of two fortified enclosures, including a quadrangular power station flanked by twelve towers (nine remain). The fortress, surrounded by flooded ditches, also housed a 11th-century chapel of Sainte-Catherine, remodeled in the 15th to 16th centuries. Today in ruins, the site has been classified as a historic monument since 1975, although threatened by the lack of adequate protection measures.

The seigneury of Courcy originated with Robert de Courcy, son of Baudry le Teutonique, a German knight at the service of Duke Richard II of Normandy in the early 11th century. The castle, initially in land and wood, was the scene of conflicts, as the siege of 1091–92 between Richard de Courcy and Robert II de Bellême, in the context of the war of succession between Robert Courteheuse and Henri I Beauclerc. In the 14th century, the Barony passed to Guillaume de Courcy, captain of Carentan and then of Paris, before being transmitted by marriage to the Carbonel de Canisy in the 17th century.

The decline of the castle began with its dismantling in 1626, following the order of Louis XIII to shave non-strategic fortifications. Now deprived of military role, it became a farm. The coat of arms of Courcy's house, with its gimmicked gimmick, recalls its past prestige. Among the remarkable elements are the chapel of Sainte-Catherine, the barn with tithes of the sixteenth century, and the gates of the enclosures, silent witnesses of its turbulent history.

Current remains include 10 metre high walls, round and square towers (including a likely dungeon), as well as ditches fed by a stream. The first enclosure protected the village, the second the lower courtyard (now occupied by agricultural buildings), and the third, central, formed the heart of the fortress. Despite its ranking, the site suffers from continuous degradation, stressing the urgency of conservation measures.

Historical sources also mention an ancient chapel of Saint-Ferréol, destroyed in the 18th century, of which only a stone of consecration remains re-used in the barn. The castle, symbol of Norman seigneurial power, reflects the architectural and political evolutions of the region, from feudal conflicts of the Middle Ages to its gradual abandonment in modern times.

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