Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Crèvecœur, built in the 13th century on the left bank of the Maronne, was a royal castle and seat of the bailiage of the Auvergne Mountains. He served as a prison for criminals captured in the mountains, who were tried there and then executed on a nearby rock, nicknamed "rock of hanged men". His name appeared for the first time in 1269 in a letter from Alphonse de Poitiers, Count of Toulouse and Auvergne, under the name Castrum Crépicordis. This site was a symbol of royal authority in an area at the time marked by banditry and insecurity.

The bailliage of the Montagnes d'Auvergne, originally installed in Aurillac in 1274, was moved to Saint-Martin-Valmeroux in 1287 after tensions with the local abbot. The castle of Crèvecœur, still under construction, became the site of weekly hearings from 1295 onwards, sheltering prisoners and sergeants. It symbolized the struggle against bandits who ransomed people and looted herds in an isolated and difficult-to-control area. The financial records of the bailiffs, such as those of Jean de Trie in 1293, reveal the expenses associated with his maintenance and royal justice.

In 1564, after decades of conflict with the inhabitants of Saint-Martin-Valmeroux, the siege of the bailiff left Crèvecœur to settle in the town, and was transferred to Salers in 1580, where he remained until the Revolution. Despite its decline, the castle retained a local prestige: the position of captain-governor, although poorly paid, was coveted by the regional nobility until the end of the Ancien Régime. Figures such as Pierre de Roquemaurel (1516) or Annet de Scorailles (1750) performed this function in a building that was becoming more and more dilapidated.

Among the famous prisoners, Bernard de Saint-Mamet was banished, while Seguret de Maleyre and Falconnet de Valle were hanged. The castle thus illustrates the rigour of medieval justice, where capital punishments were carried out publicly to deter crimes. The archives also mention notable bailis, such as Guillaume des Achilloux, author of a sentence in local dialect, or Jean Chevalier, who summoned the nobility of Auvergne in 1503. These documents demonstrate the administrative and symbolic importance of Crèvecœur in the judicial history of the region.

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