Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The château de la Barre, built in the 12th century by vassals of the Counts of Savoie, became in the 14th century a strategic fief. In 1344 Guillaume de Cordon, a knight, paid tribute to Louis de Savoie, seigneur of Vaud. His son, Rodolphe de Cordon, received in 1362 a new infeodation of Count Amédée V, including rights of justice extended to men and local fiefs. The seigneury remained in this family until the 15th century, despite political turbulence.

In 1435, after the disgrace of Aynard de Cordon, his wife Louise de Chambost sold the fief to Humbert de Beaumont to guarantee his dowry. The Duke of Savoy then bought the land and the infeod from several lords, including Pierre Juillet (1444), Lambert de Lusignan (1446), and Louis Bonivard (1449). In 1488 Antoine de La Forest married Claire Bonivard, integrating La Barre with this family. The Forest turned the castle into a residence of pleasure in the 16th-17th centuries, while preserving feudal elements.

In the 18th century, the castle, sold and partially ruined, retains its 13th century square dungeon (32 meters, six levels). It is also linked to a famous fact: in 1826, Antoine Berthet, preceptor at the castle, seduced Henriette de Cordon before being dismissed. Persuaded of treason, he fatally hurts the wife of the mayor of Brangues. Sentenced to death and executed in 1828, his story inspired Stendhal for Red and Black.

Architecturally, the site combines medieval fortifications (XIII century) and Renaissance gardens, witness to its evolution between defensive function and aristocratic residence. The seigneury, powerful in the seventeenth century, covered several fiefs and judicial rights, before extinguishing in 1745 with a branch of the La Forest.

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