Château de La Marche en Saône-et-Loire

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of La Marche, built in Villegaudin (Saône-et-Loire), finds its origins in the 12th century, when a first castle is attested. Over the centuries, it became the seat of an influential line: the lords of La Marche, some of whom held prestigious offices as bailiffs or masters of the fairs of Chalon in the 14th century. The family of La Marche marks local history, notably with Olivier de La Marche (XV century), diplomat and columnist, son of Philippe de La Marche and Jeanne Bouton du Fay. This illustrious figure symbolizes the political and cultural climax of the estate before its decline.

In the 16th century, the seigneury passed into the hands of the Lénoncourts, then was acquired in 1636 by the Fyots, who profoundly transformed the estate. Claude Fyot, a trading abbot of Saint-Étienne de Dijon, built in 1682 a large house of classical style, characterized by a body of rectangular houses flanked by pavilions and preceded by a low courtyard. The interiors, like the living room decorated with frescoes representing the feast of the gods, reflect the aristocratic fascist of the time. The coats of arms of the Fyot (d.

The castle experienced a tragic turning point in 1861, when a fire destroyed it almost entirely under the property of Antoine-Félix de Beaurepaire, heir to the last Marquis de La Marche. Today, only the brick and stone moat, the stables, and part of the commons, visible from the road, remain. The site, still privately owned, nevertheless retains architectural and heraldic traces of its past, such as the stone bases surrounding the old gate or the coat of arms in ironwork.

The history of the castle ended with the Fyot family: Barthélemy Félix Fyot de La Marche (1766–42), the last Marquis, left the estate to his goddaughter Beaurepaire. After the fire, the ruins passed into Mr Bedoiseau's hands in modern times. The castle thus illustrates the changes of the Burgundy nobility, between medieval power, architectural Renaissance, and decline in the 19th century.

Historical sources, such as the Departmental Inventory of R. Oursel (1978), highlight the heritage importance of the site, despite its partial disappearance. The moat and remaining elements offer an overview of the spatial organization of a seigneurial residence, while the archives evoke its role in local life, from medieval fairs to diplomatic networks of the Ducal Burgundy.

External links