Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The House of the Bayle is an emblematic building of the bastide of Molières, founded in 1284 by the Seneschal John I of Grailly under the authority of King Edward I of England. This bastide, with a charter of freedoms in 1285, was a strategic administrative and commercial center in Périgord. The house, built around 1300, is the only surviving example of medieval civil architecture of the bastide, with its broken arches in warheads and windows geminated with trilobes.

The House of Bayle derives its name from the bayle, representative of the king in the bastides, responsible for administering justice and local affairs. Its architecture reflects the English influence in the region, with elements typical of the 13th–14th centuries such as columnettes and trilobed decorations. Ranked a historic monument in 1920, it illustrates the role of the bastides in medieval urban planning, combining defensive, commercial and residential functions.

Molières, an English bastide that became French, also preserves the ruins of Queen White Castle (XIIIth–XIVth centuries) and a 14th century church, bearing witness to its strategic past. The Bayle House, with its intact architectural details, offers a rare glimpse of daily life and local power in medieval times. Its classification protects this unique heritage, linked to the tumultuous history of the Périgord between the crowns of England and France.

External links