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Origin and history

Fauguernon Castle, located in Calvados in Normandy, was a strategic castle overlooking the village from a ridge near the Touques valley. Built between the 12th and 16th centuries, it belonged to one of the great vicomtes of the Duchy of Normandy, including eight fiefs and surrounding parishes like Le Pin or Norolles. Its position made it a major military place, controlling access to the plateau du Lieuvin.

In the 11th century, the fief was owned by Toustain de Bastebourg, then passed into the hands of the Bertran family in the 12th century. Robert IV Bertran (1144–194), Baron of Bricquebec, was the lord, also possessing Honfleur and lands in England. In 1147, the castle, defended by Robert Bertran, resisted three months before being taken and dismantled by Geoffroy Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. In the 13th century, another Robert Bertran participated in the Albigois Crusade alongside Simon de Montfort. In 1275 Fauguernon fell to Guillaume Bertrand after a family division.

In the 14th century, the castle changed hands by marriage, passing to the Garancières and then to the Montenays. In 1417, during the Hundred Years War, he was occupied by the English before being taken over by the French in 1449. Acquired in 1493 by Christophe de Cerisay, the chamberlain of Charles VIII, he then entered the family of Brézé via the marriage of Marie de Cerisay with Gaston de Brézé. In 1589, upon the death of Louis de Brézé, bishop of Meaux, the lands were divided among his cousins, including Françoise de Brézé, wife of Robert IV de La Marck.

In 1590, during the Wars of Religion, the castle was taken by the Duke of Montpensier and dismantled after sheltering leaguers. In the 17th century, it was sold to Nicolas de Mire, then passed to Le Conte de Nonant, which kept it until the Revolution. The Marquis de Pierrecourt, a title worn by Le Conte, exercised high justice over the surrounding parishes. Ruined since 1590, the castle was girded with a double enclosure with deep ditches, a bassyard and seven towers, including a dungeon.

The remains, listed as historical monuments in 1930, testify to its strategic importance and defensive architecture. Today, the gaps and elements of the sixteenth century remain, recalling its role in Norman history, from medieval conflicts to the wars of Religion.

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