Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Calonges, mentioned as early as 1286, occupied a strategic location on an ancient Roman route between Bordeaux and Agen. Originally, it was a medieval fortress controlled by several local lords, including the Cantiran family from the twelfth century. The site, probably occupied by the Romans, became a castrum in the 13th century, shared among several noble families such as the Lart, Calonges and Canteran. After the Treaty of Amiens (1279), the seigneury passed under English domination, and was gradually unified under lords such as Bernard de Lart or Amanieu de Cantiran, reflecting the feudal tensions of the Agenas.

In the 15th century, the seigneury of Calonges was owned by the family of Chaussade, which deeply marked its history. Jacques I of Chaussade, an adviser to the Bordeaux parliament, acquired the estate by exchange in 1493 and started trials with Alain d'Albret to delimit its borders. His son, James II, prosecutor of the king of Navarre, embraced the Protestant Reformation, as did his grandson Jean de Chaussade, sentenced to death in 1570 for his role in the wars of Religion. The latter transformed the castle into a Protestant bastion, welcoming military leaders like Langoiran. Religious conflicts and royal seizures (especially in 1622) punctuated this tumultuous period.

The present castle was mainly rebuilt by Jacques III de Chaussade after 1622, although some sources suggest an beginning of the works as early as the 1590s, inspired by the castle of Lasserre. Architecturally, it combines bricks and stones cut in bosses, with cross-windows and painted box ceilings. Jacques III, governor of Montpellier and officer in Holland, even set up a Protestant temple near the communes. At his death around 1649, the estate passed to his daughters, including Marie, married to Jean Le Réverend de Bougy. Their son, Jean-Jacques, Marquis de Calonges, was forced into exile in the Netherlands after refusing to abjure his Protestant faith, causing Louis XIV to seize the castle in 1686.

In the 18th century, the castle changed hands several times. Sold in 1758 to Antoine Paul Jacques de Quelen de Stuer, Count of La Vauguyon, the seigneury was raised in Duchy-Payrie in the same year. His son, Paul-François, ambassador and minister of foreign affairs under Louis XVI, emigrated during the Revolution. Confiscated as a national property in 1792, the castle was sold in 1794 to an individual, M. Grenier, who partially demolished the second floor in 1818 to make it a tobacco dryer. Ranked a historic monument in 1959, it now retains traces of its military, Protestant and seigneurial past, with an unfinished square wing and remarkable interior decorations.

The history of Calonges illustrates the political and religious upheavals of Guyenne, from the feudal conflicts of the Middle Ages to the persecution of Protestants under Louis XIV. The castle, witness to the changing alliances between local lords, kings of France and England, also embodies the architectural adaptation to defensive and then residential needs. Its integrated Protestant temple, a rare example preserved, recalls the importance of the Reformation in the region. After the Revolution, its partial transformation into an agricultural building reflects the economic changes of the 19th century, while its subsequent classification underscores its heritage value.

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