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Origin and history

The castle of Malesherbes, located in the commune of Malesherbois (Loiret, Centre-Val de Loire), has its origins in the 14th century with the shawl of Bois-Malesherbes, acquired in 1398 by Jean de Montagu, Superintendent of Finance of Charles VI. The estate then moved to the families of Graville and Balzac d'Entragues, including François Balzac, married to Marie Touchet (masteress of Charles IX), then to their daughter Catherine Henriette, mistress of Henri IV. The latter obtained a promise of marriage written by the king in 1599 in this castle, before participating in a plot to place their son, Henri de Bourbon-Verneuil, on the throne. François Balzac of Entragues, involved in the conspiracy, was sentenced to death and then pardoned, but placed under house arrest in Malesherbes.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the castle, in ruins, was bought in 1718 by Guillaume de Lamonion de Blancmesnil, attorney general at the Paris Parliament. Under the direction of architect Pierre Vigny, he closed the ditches and built a classical facade between 1720 and 1724, while preserving the medieval towers. The estate became a place of botanical experimentation under the impulse of his son, Chrétien Guillaume de Lamonion de Malesherbes, minister and defender of Louis XVI. The latter, exiled to the castle during the Maupeou government (1771–74), developed a remarkable arboretum, hailed by Thomas Jefferson and Arthur Young. After his death sentence in 1794, the castle passed to the heirs of Chateaubriand, including nephews Louis and Christian, before becoming a private property in the 19th century.

The architecture of the castle combines medieval elements (tours of the 14th–15th centuries, flamboyant Gothic chapel) and classics (corps of 18th-century houses by Pierre Vigny, collaborator of Robert de Cotte). The 100-hectare park, designed as an arboretum, houses historical outbuildings: a 14th-century tithe barn, a 1,800-hectare dovecote, a cooler, and Chateaubriand House, 18th-century pavilion. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1965 and 1988, the castle is not visited, but its park, chapel, and outbuildings are partially accessible. Archives of the estate are kept in the National Archives (subseries 399 AP).

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