Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The house of the Court, located in Moulidars in Charente, has its origins in the 10th century as the first castle of the village, then called Castelnum de Curtis. This site, the centre of a seigneurial estate, replaced a Gallo-Roman villa and became a key defensive place against the Norman invasions of the ninth century. Underground shelters, dated from that time, testify to its protective role for local peasants, bound by feudal contract to the lords of the Court, the only holders of the title of lords of Moulidars.

In the 12th century, the primitive wooden castle was rebuilt in stone, adopting a plan similar to that of the 15th century, the period of its last reconstruction after the destruction of the Hundred Years War. Excavations revealed pottery coats and pieces of glass from the 12th and 13th centuries, proving the ease of its medieval occupants. Glass, rare and expensive at the time, confirms the high social status of the local lords. The castle then depended on the castle of Châteauneuf, while the nearby castle of Ardenne, built later, was under the abbey of Saint-Cybard.

Ruined during the Wars of Religion, the house was acquired in 1620 by the family Le Musnier, already owner of the castles of Ardenne and Rouffignac. In 1633 it was transformed into a farmhouse of the castle of Ardenne, but its decline accelerated in the 17th and 18th centuries for lack of maintenance. The plans of the 15th century, comparable to those of the castle of Ardenne, describe a body of U-houses with two corner towers (including a prison) and a stair tower still visible. An engraving of 1604 and a report of 1736 specify its architecture: three floors, high gable roof, and a dovecote.

The site preserves remains of the 9th century underground shelters and a medieval bread oven (supplied), tangible traces of its feudal past. The wall of enclosure, once equipped with watchtowers, only preserves the foundations. The history of the home of the Court illustrates the evolution of the defensive and seigneurial systems in Angoumois, from the early Middle Ages to the modern era, while remaining inseparable from that of the castle of Ardenne, with which he long shared the same lords.

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