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Origin and history

The former dean of the Arques, mentioned as early as 1193 by Géraud II, abbot of Marcilhac, was a priory-dean dependent on this abbey, probably since 1182. Its land heritage grew by buying and donating for a century. At the end of the 13th century Archbishop Simon de Beaulieu stayed there, and in 1286 a controversial exchange with the bishop of Cahors was attempted, without apparent success. The priory, located on the border of the French and English territories, was looted in 1345 during the Hundred Years War by Philippe de Jean, lord of the Junies, ally of the English. Ruined and declared uninhabited, he did not return to conventual until 1408, after restorations initiated in 1486 by the Dean Antoine d'Alamand.

In the 16th century, the priory passed to the family of Gourdon-Penne, lords of Cénevières, before being the scene of a conflict (1620-1648) between the dean Germain de Journals – chaplain of the king – and the seigneurs of Pécharuria for the mastery of the seigneury. The revolts of the Fronde and the Croquants, as well as the destruction of the ramparts in 1637 by order of the Duke of Epernon, marked its decline. Purchased by a cahorsin merchant at the end of the 18th century, he became presbytery in 1826, then communal housing. Today, only its tower recalls the old castle of the dean. Enlisted for historical monuments in 1991, it bears witness to feudal and religious struggles in Quercy.

Architecturally, the house blends elements of the twelfth, fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, reflecting its successive reconstructions. Its history is closely linked to Marcilhac Abbey, Franco-English conflicts, and the evolution of local ecclesiastical power. The archives also mention its role in reviving the village in the 15th to 16th centuries, with the arrival of populations from the Haut-Quercy and the Cantal. The 19th century works, for its use as a presbytery, partially altered its medieval structure, but the tower retains its original defensive character.

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