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Origin and history

The Blay Manor House, located in Esserts-Blay in Savoy, is an old fortified house rebuilt between the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It replaces a first castle built around the 12th-XIIIth century by Nicod d'Avalon, as evidenced by an act of division between 1388 and 1422 evoking a reconstruction "about two hundred years ago". The site, strategic on a rocky mound, dominates the Isère valley east of the village. The current manor house, with a quadrangular plan flanked by three round towers, embodies the centre of the seigneury of Blay, successively infused with the families of Avalon, Salins, and then the Verger until the 19th century.

Blay's seigneury frequently changed hands between the 14th and 17th centuries. In 1390, François de Salins obtained the inauguration of Count Amédée VII de Savoie, before the family lost her and then recovered her until 1430. In the 16th century, Jean du Châtelard (the so-called Riddes) became its owner by marriage to Jeanne de Salins, the last heiress. The mansion, partially destroyed by a fire around 1609, was never rebuilt. The du Verger, the last seigneurial line, retained the title until it was bought by the inhabitants in 1776, marking the end of his feudal role.

Architecturally, the house of 21,60 × 7 meters is divided into three levels: ground floor (kitchen and pantry), noble floor with an aula of 160 m2, and superior rooms. The four-storey towers housed latrines, a dovecote, and "plantage niche" murderers. A seigneurial barn of 38 × 10 metres, mentioned in 1677, completed the estate. The water, transported by fir "turnels" from the Bernard's nant, fed both the mansion and the neighbouring village, illustrating its central role in local life.

The oral tradition evokes a catastrophic fire on Christmas night 1599, but an inventory of 1616 suggests destruction in November 1609. As early as 1606, the seigneurs no longer resided there, as attested by a contract of acense stating "3 arrivals of 5 days a year". The decline of the mansion accelerated in the 17th century: in 1672, François du Verger rented it to Philibert Fontannaz, and in 1776, the inhabitants bought the seigneurial rights, sealing his permanent abandonment as a noble residence.

Recent excavations confirmed the absence of a fourth northwest tower and ditches, challenging some architectural assumptions. The interior walls, however, retain traces of the fire. The site, rehabilitated in the 21st century, today bears witness to the evolution of Savoyard fortified houses, between defensive function, seigneurial residence and symbol of local power. Its history also reflects tensions between noble families (Avalon, Salins, du Verger) and comtal or ecclesiastical institutions (counts of Savoie, archbishops of Tarentaise).

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