Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Ledavrée Castle is a 15th century castle in Clamerey, in the Côte-d'Or department of Burgundy-Franche-Comté. Its ruins, among the best preserved in the region, bear witness to a defensive architecture typical of the period: a rectangular enclosure flanked by towers, surrounded by dry ditches, and equipped with a carriageway door with traces of drawbridge. The etymology of the name, evoking a "tree hedge" (Layer d'Avree), suggests an origin related to a wooded or protected site.

The first written mentions date back to 1366, when Guillaume de Clugny, baili d'Auxois, sent a letter to the seigneury of Léa d'Avres. In 1425, the castle belonged to Guillaume de Gelans and in 1488 became a fief of Soussey-sur-Brionne. In the 16th century, he changed hands several times: in 1554, Denis de Gerlans sold part of it, and in 1564, Jean Bouton gave it to Philippe de Dio. In 1589, the Count of Tavannes hunted the Leaguers who made it a base to block the supply of Semur-en-Auxois.

Architecturally, the castle consists of two bodies of buildings separated by a courtyard, with remains of cellars, ground floor and floors pierced by crosses. A hexagonal staircase turret and gunboats at southwest and northeast angles illustrate its defensive role. The site, which was listed as a historic monument in 1928, preserves elements such as a blind courtine to the north and traces of an old blocked carriage gate. Its history reflects the political and military tensions of Burgundy in the late Middle Ages and during the wars of Religion.

The current remains make it possible to imagine the spatial organization of the castle: a rectangular enclosure surrounded by ditches, corner towers, and openings adapted to the nascent artillery (cannons). The interior façade of the now extinct western building revealed a staircase turret and superimposed levels typical of the residential fortifications of the time. The absence of detailed sources on daily life in the castle limits the knowledge of its precise use, but its strategic location near Semur-en-Auxois suggests a role in the control of communication routes.

The castle of Ledavree embodies the transformations of the castral architecture between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, marking the passage from the high castles perched to the fortified residences adapted to firearms. Its gradual abandonment, like that of many similar buildings, coincides with the end of feudal conflicts and the affirmation of royal power in Burgundy. Today, its ruins offer a material testimony of the construction techniques and political stakes of the region in the 15th and 16th centuries.

External links