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Origin and history

The Château de Montagu, located in Marcoussis in Essonne, is a major achievement of the late Middle Ages, built between 1400 and 1408 by Jehan de Montagu, Superintendent of Finance of Charles VI. This quadrangular castle, flanked by four round towers and surrounded by moat, inspired prestigious models such as the Bastille or the medieval Louvre. After the Hundred Years' War it became a popular residence of the kings of France, especially for hunting, before being partially destroyed during the Revolution.

Before the 15th century, the site probably housed a first castle, the Motte de Marcoussis, mentioned as early as 1312 as a manor surrounded by ditches. Confiscated in 1386 by Charles VI for debts, the estate was transferred to Jehan de Montagu, who undertook titanium works there, including a nearby monastery and the reconstruction of the local church. Arrested and executed in 1409, Montagu never saw his work completed. The castle then passed into the hands of Louis Malet de Graville, admiral of France, who modernized it in the 16th century by adding sills, a monumental staircase and comfort facilities.

In the seventeenth century, the castle was the scene of significant political events, as the imprisonment of the princes of Condé and Conti during the Fronde (1650). The legend also tells that Henry IV ran there in secret Catherine Henriette de Balsac of Entragues, in the tower that now bears his name. Delayed in the 18th century, the castle was looted during the Revolution, transformed into a farm, then dismantled between 1805 and 1806 to sell its sandstone stones. Only the Tomb tower and a barbacan tower remain today.

The ruins, rediscovered in the 1970s by Roland Payen and the Historical Association of Marcoussis, were partially restored and classified as Historic Monument in 1984. The site, integrated in the domain of the Lycée horticulture Saint-Antoine, preserves moats, remains of courtines and vaulted cellars of the 15th century. Recent excavations (2018) revealed a medieval pier and confirmed the existence of a French pond and gardens, now missing.

The Terrier of Marcoussis, a illuminated book of hours commissioned by the Admiral of Graville around 1499, offers a precious iconographic testimony of the castle and its estate at the end of the Middle Ages. Although the original has disappeared, reproductions and an illumination preserved at the Marmottan museum allow us to imagine its fascist past, between military fortress and seigneurial residence.

Today, Montagu Castle is a protected site, managed by the Auteuil Foundation and the local association. Its remains, though fragmentary, bear witness to a rich history, mixing royal power, political intrigues and architectural transformations over nearly four centuries.

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