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Origin and history

The Château des Montgommery is a 17th century old residence located in Ducey, Manche, Normandy. It replaces a 16th century medieval mansion, owned by the Montgommery family after the marriage of Claude de La Boissière with Jacques I de Montgommery. This first castle, located in the hamlet of Mortrie, coexisted with the new construction until the beginning of the seventeenth century, when Gabriel II de Montgommery, son of the famous regicide Gabriel I, undertook to build a new house around 1624.

Gabriel I of Montgomery, known for accidentally killing King Henry II in a tournament in 1559, took refuge in this mansion before being executed in 1574. His confiscated property was returned to his son Gabriel II in 1596, after his rehabilitation by Henry III. The latter, governor of Pontorson, had the current buildings built, some of which remain today. The castle, degraded in the 19th century, will even house a distillery between 1970 and 1980, before being bought and restored by the commune in 1986.

Architecturally, the castle consists of a central house body with windows surmounted by frontons, typical of the Louis XIII style, and a wing completed by a pavilion. Inside, there is a double-revolution staircase, decorated beams and armored elements. A Protestant chapel, built at the beginning of the seventeenth century by Gabriel II, was adjacent to the former Saint Germain chapel, transformed into a reformed place of worship in the sixteenth century.

Ranked a historic monument in 1923 for its castle and in 1990 for its communes, the site also retains a 17th–15th century bed trim, classified in 1999. The materials, mixing brick and stone, as well as the interior decorations, reflect the influence of the aristocratic residences of the time, such as the castle of Blois. Despite partial destruction in the 19th century, the castle remains a testimony to the Protestant and seigneurial history of Normandy.

Today, the Château des Montgommery, a property shared between the municipality and private individuals, illustrates the architectural transformations and religious upheavals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Its history, linked to the Montgomery family and the Wars of Religion, makes it an emblematic place of Norman heritage.

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