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Origin and history

Blanquefort Castle is a medieval fortress built between the 11th and 15th centuries on a rocky island in the heart of the Blanquefort marshes in Gironde (Nouvelle-Aquitaine). Its name, Blanqua fortis ("fort white"), would come from the whiteness of its limestone walls, contrasting with the surrounding marshy areas. First cited in 1028 as property of the seigneurial family of Blanquefort, it controls the road of the Médoc, a major axis since Antiquity, and allows to raise taxes on merchants. The fortress, strategically located 1 km south of the present town, is built on a natural eminence of Mollass, the last relief emerging from a floodplain covered by the Jalle de Blanquefort.

In the 11th century, a rectangular Romanesque dungeon (18 × 11 m) was built, surrounded by a wooden palisade and probably moat. This first stone castle, rare in Gironde at the time, marks the affirmation of local seigneurial power. The family of Blanquefort, whose seigneury extends to the Atlantic Ocean, remains the owner of it until the middle of the 13th century. Their extinction around 1250 enabled the kings of England — also dukes of Aquitaine — to acquire the site: Henry III in 1254, then Edward I in 1270, transformed the fortress into a royal bastion. Six circular towers are added to the dungeon, a stone enclosure replaces the palisade, and a barbacan protects the entrance. These developments reflect the strategic importance of Blanquefort, a lock north of Bordeaux in the face of threats from the estuary.

The Hundred Years' War marked a turning point: the castle, sometimes called the Castle of the Black Prince after the stay of Edward of Woodstock, passed into the hands of the Durfort Duras, English vassals, before being ceded in 1453 to Antoine de Chabannes by Charles VII. Adapted to artillery (cannons, reinforced towers), it underwent major modifications in the 15th century. However, after the Fronde (1648–53), where his Protestant lords were involved, Mazarin ordered the razing of his crenelages. The dewatering of the marshes in the seventeenth century deprives the castle of its natural defense, making it obsolete. Abandoned after a fire, it was sold as a stone quarry at the Revolution, reducing its remains to the state of picturesque ruins, ranked among the first French historical monuments in 1862.

Archaeological excavations, initiated in 1962, revealed a human occupation from the Bronze Age (XII century BC), with protohistoric and Gallo-Roman traces (tegulae, Constantine coins). The castral site, probably occupied by a toll or a Roman guard tower, controls the ancient Bordeaux-Médoc road. Discoveries include medieval ceramics, luxurious glasses, artillery balls, and an exceptional collection of 14th century pavement tiles. These artifacts illustrate the wealth of the occupants — lords, English soldiers, or royal family — and the military transformations of the castle, from medieval archeries to Renaissance cannons.

Today, the ruins of Blanquefort offer a rare testimony of the evolution of fortifications between the Middle Ages and modern times. The primitive dungeon, the 13th century towers, and the adaptations of the 15th century coexist in a landscape marked by history. Léo Drouyn, in the 19th century, described him as "one of the most beautiful ruins" of Guienne, highlighting his past role as a stronghold. Managed by the GAHBLE association, the site is subject to 3D restorations and refunds, allowing to visualize its appearance at the peak, when twenty to thirty English soldiers were permanently stationed there.

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