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Origin and history

Moncade Castle, located in Orthez in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, is a former castle built in the 2nd quarter of the 13th century by the Catalan family of Moncada, Viscounts of Béarn. Built on a hill overlooking the valley of the river Pau, it controlled a Pyrenean strategic road and served as a fortified residence. The pentagonal tower, the heart of the castle, dates about 1250, while texts mention a "noble castle" as early as 1256. His role was both defensive, residential (with rooms for the Viscount and his family) and symbolic, marking the transfer of the vicomtal capital from Morlaàs to Orthez under Gaston VII.

In the 14th century, the castle extends beyond the tower, including a castral village protected by palisades and masonized ditches. Gaston Fébus (1343–1391), an iconic Viscount, resides there between 1388 and 1389 and stores its safes there, guaranteeing its financial independence. Work was attested in 1368, probably carried out by the engineer Sicard de Lordat, who added two floors to the dungeon and improved the enclosures. Frossart, a columnist received by Fébus, describes a residence insufficient to accommodate the entire court, forcing some guests to stay in town. The castle remains the seat of the Vicomtal government until the 15th century.

The decline began in 1464 when Gaston IV de Foix-Béarn moved the capital to Pau. In the 16th century, the wars of Religion ravaged Orthez: in 1569, the battle between Protestants (Montgomery) and Catholics (Terride), plundering the city and damaging the castle. Despite repairs between 1588 and 1613, his condition deteriorated. In 1620, the annexation of the Béarn to France made it a royal property, then the city acquired it in 1745 before selling it in plots. The tower, classified in 1840, was bought by Orthez in 1841. Today, the dungeon, remains of the house, and three fortification lines remain.

The 33-metre-high pentagonal dungeon illustrates medieval military architecture. Its upper residential floors housed 14th-15th-century chimneys and windows added under Gaston Fébus. The shirt (circular enclosure) and the assembled ditch, partially preserved, testify to successive construction campaigns. The castral village, protected by three enclosures (including Lavignotte), included a palisade park and a barbacan (1347). Archaeological excavations reveal a land rich in remains, classified in 1992 and 1995 with moat and feudal motte.

Moncade Castle embodies the political history of Béarn, from the Moncada to the Foix-Béarn family. Its gradual abandonment reflects the changes in vicomtal power, while its protection as historical monuments (1840 for the dungeon) underscores its heritage importance. The restorations of the 19th and 20th centuries, though partial, preserved this witness of medieval rivalries between the kingdoms of Aragon, England and France, as well as the religious conflicts of the Renaissance.

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