Castle of Lustrac dans le Lot-et-Garonne

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Lustrac was erected at the end of the 13th century in the municipality of Trentels, Lot-et-Garonne, under the leadership of Edward I of England. He then undertook to return the Lot navigable by building eleven dams, including Lustrac, entrusted to the family of the same name. The castle, initially a fortified tower, was used to monitor the dam, the adjacent mill and collect tolls, thus ensuring the economic prosperity of the lords of Lustrac.

In 1296 Foulques de Lustrac built the dam and mill, while the castrum of Monfavès, mentioned as early as 1259, could correspond to this site, although without formal proof. The work, interrupted in 1294 when Philip the Bel seized the Agenes, resumed after 1303. An investigation of 1311, conducted by Guillaume Cazes, judge of Agen, revealed that the local lords, including Foulques, had erected fortifications to control the rights of passage and milling, sources of their enrichment.

The castle experienced several phases of transformation and conflict. In 1372 Bernard de Lustrac received 300 francs from the Duke of Anjou to strengthen his defences. In the 15th century, Antoine I of Lustrac gave it its present form, mixing medieval and Renaissance elements. The seigneury changed hands in the 17th century, passing to the families of Masparrault, then Lespinette-Le-Mairat and Garrisson. Jonathan de Garrisson, a wealthy Protestant bourgeois of Montauban, acquired the estate in 1649 and laid a stone there dated 1651.

At the time of the Revolution, the towers of the castle were unfurled, and the site fell into ruins until its acquisition in 1891 by Joseph Meynot, former mayor of Agen. A sawmill was even installed in the courtyard. Restored from 1963, the castle and its mill, classified as historical monuments in 1988, were completely rehabilitated. The site, including the lock and the banks of the Lot, received comprehensive protection in 1982, thus preserving a major testimony of the river and seigneurial history of the Agenas.

Lustrac's family, born of the nobility of the Agen, played a central role in the history of the castle. Its members, such as Arnaud Bernard (XIIIth century) or Antoine II (XVIth century), accumulated prestigious titles and alliances, notably with the Pompadours or the Caumonts. Their decline began in the seventeenth century with the sale of the seigneury, but a branch remained until the Revolution. The castle, today private, embodies almost eight centuries of history linked to the mastery of the Lot and the Franco-English rivalries in Guyenne.

Architecturally, Lustrac Castle combines an original medieval tower, marked by trilobed bays, with Renaissance additions. Its interior portal, dated 1651, and its elevated towers during modern restorations, illustrate this evolution. The mill, still present, recalls its historical economic role, while the nearby lock bears witness to medieval river developments, ranked among the oldest in southwestern France.

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