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Origin and history

The castle of Mauvezin, located in the Hautes-Pyrénées in Occitanie, finds its origins in the eleventh century under the Counts of Bigorre, before being rebuilt around 1380 by Gaston Fébus, Count of Foix and Viscount of Béarn. This castle, characteristic of southern military architecture, was a strategic issue during the Hundred Years' War. In 1373, the king of France Charles V sent his brother, the Duke of Anjou, to take him back to the English after a six-week siege, the revision being caused by the exhaustion of the tank. Gaston Fébus finally obtained the castle by his son's marriage to Beatrix, the daughter of the Earl of Armagnac, and placed his heraldic shield there with the motto "Jay belle dame" above the door.

From the 17th century, after Bigorre joined France in 1607, the castle lost its defensive vocation and was gradually dismantled, its stones reused to build the surrounding houses. In the 19th century, it became a source of local legends, associated with sorcerers and Sabbaths. In 1862, MP Jubinal tried unsuccessfully to establish a historic museum there, before Masseube Mayor Ribal acquired it in 1906 to restore it and create a gascon museum. Today, the castle, classified as a historical monument in 1941, houses a folk museum and offers tours of medieval life.

Architecturally, the castle is distinguished by its 37 meters high quadrangular dungeon, with thick walls of 3.5 meters at the base, built with cobbles of the Arros and bricks. The rectangular enclosure, reinforced by seven foothills, was designed to resist the assaults, while mâchicoulis ran the ramparts. The site, occupied since protohistory, illustrates the evolution of fortifications from the High Middle Ages to the Renaissance. After centuries of abandonment, it was completely restored and opened to the public, with rooms dedicated to local history and daily life in the Middle Ages.

The castle also preserves the library of the Escòla Gaston Fèbus, an Occitan cultural centre. Shows and theme days are regularly organized, especially in the summer, perpetuating its role as a place of memory and transmission of the Bigurdan and Béarnais heritage. Its carved shield, concrete walls of Gallo-Roman pebbles and medieval remains make it a rare testimony to the military and seigneurial history of the Pyrenees.

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