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Origin and history

The Château de la Garde, located in Salignac-sur-Charente in Charente-Maritime, has its origins in a vassal seigneury of Merpins since the 15th century. A confession of 1470 attests that Jacques de La Magdelaine was then the holder. At the end of the century, the land passed to Marguerite de Losme, then to her descendant Hélie de Saint-Martin, wife of Jean Green, seigneur of Saint-Marsault. These successive transmissions reveal close ties with the local noble families, although the seigneury was never dismembered from Merpins, contrary to certain claims.

Daniel Green de Saint-Marsault and his wife Marie de Blois, between 1606 and 1610, were responsible for the construction of the present castle. This couple, from a younger branch of the Green family, marked the architectural climax of the estate. However, their eldest son preferred to settle in Aunis, leading to the sale of the seigneury in 1651 to Jean-Louis de Brémond, marshal of the king's armies. The latter died shortly afterwards during the troubles of the Fronde, defending Cognac against the troops of the prince of Condé.

In the 18th century, the seigneury of La Garde returned to Charles de Brémond, Marquis d'Ars, whose line died prematurely. The castle was finally inherited by Marie-Louise-Madeleine de Brémond d After his death in 1810, the estate changed hands several times before being acquired in 1816 by Jean Girard, a local owner. The facades and roofs of the castle were classified as historical monuments in 1987, thus preserving this testimony of the seigneurial architecture of the early seventeenth century.

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