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Origin and history

The castle of Montoire, now in ruins, is a former castle located in the commune of Montoire-sur-le-Loir, in the department of Loir-et-Cher. Built on a hill overlooking the Loir, it controlled a strategic bridge and the local passageway. Its origins probably date back to the 9th and 10th centuries, with a first fortified building against Viking attacks, although its first written mention dates from the early 11th century.

In the 11th century, the castle depended on Vendôme County. Lord Nihard received the charge in 1033, followed by Hamelain de Langeais, who erected the first stone dungeon around 1080. The latter was modified in the 12th century, with a lowering of the floor and reworked openings. The fortress, taken twice (by Richard Cœur de Lion and Philippe Auguste), became a strategic issue. At the end of the 12th century, Jean IV de Vendôme, from the lineage of Montoire-Vendôme, strengthened the dungeon with a polygonal shirt.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, under the influence of Countess Alix de Bretagne (widow of Bouchard VI de Vendôme), the castle underwent important works: the addition of two polygonal towers, a semicircular tower, and a seigneurial house with monumental chimneys. A bakery kitchen is also set up in an old ditch. These transformations may reflect Breton influences. Alix died there in 1377, and the castle then passed to the Bourbon-Vendôme after the extinction of the direct line.

In the 15th century, Louis I de Bourbon-Vendôme partially modernized the castle, notably the south court and the southwest tower, inspired by the architecture of pleasure of the Dukes of Anjou and Berry. Charles VII stayed there in 1448. However, from the 16th century onwards, the castle was abandoned by the Dukes of Vendôme, mainly as a source of income. Henry IV, then king of Navarre, briefly regained control of it in 1589 before entrusting it to Gilles de Chambray, then partially dismantled in 1593.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the castle, reduced to the state of stone quarry, fell into oblivion. In the 19th century, the fashion of the romantic ruins aroused a renewed interest: the town purchased the remains in 1847 to preserve them. Ranked a historic monument in 1862, however, the site remains poorly studied compared to other Vendômois castles. The first detailed archaeological descriptions appeared only in the 20th century, thanks in particular to the work of Édouard Gatian de Clérambault on the dungeon.

Today, the ruins preserve a rectangular dungeon with foothills, surrounded by a polygonal enclosure flanked by towers. The site, a communal property, illustrates the evolution of castral architecture from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, as well as the political stakes related to Vendôme County.

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