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Origin and history

The castle of Madic consists of the ruins of an exceptionally luxurious medieval fortress, built between 1469 and 1480 by Gilbert de Chabannes, governor of Limousin and member of the powerful family of Chabannes. Built on the basements of an old rectangular castle, it was equipped with thick walls of more than 3 meters, flanked by circular towers and equipped with sprays for guns. The access was achieved by a drawbridge crossing a ditch, illustrating its major defensive role. The Saint-Yves tower, the vestige of the original castle, did not collapse until about thirty years before the Revolution.

The site originally belonged to the Madic family, before passing to the Chabannes through the marriage of Gaillarde de Madic with Hugues de Chabannes at the beginning of the 15th century. Gilbert de Chabannes, a wealthy governor, entrusted the reconstruction of the castle to his businessman, Blandin Bompart, lord of Auzers, who was exempted from the ban in 1470 by Louis XI as a reward. The castle housed a castral chapel dedicated to Notre-Dame de Montserat, as well as a series of nine tapestries representing the Nine Preux, symbol of prestige.

In the 18th century, the estate was sold as a national property in 1794, divided into 32 lots after the emigration of Jean-Frédéric de Chabannes. The latter purchased 31 lots on his return in 1802, but the latter, held by a man named Verneghol, escaped the family. The lots were finally sold to a merchant of goods, then acquired by Antoine Gilbert. The lineage of the Chabannes, lords of Madic since the 15th century, deeply marked the history of the place, with figures such as Joachim de Chabannes (1502–1559), governor of the children of France and close to Catherine de Medici.

The modern castle, built in the early nineteenth century near the ruins, contrasts with the old fortress. The medieval remains, despite their partial state, remain a rare testimony of the military and residential architecture of the late Middle Ages, mixing luxury and defensive function. The Chabannes family, through its alliances (Médicis, Bourbon-Vendôme, Tour d'Auvergne), integrated Madic into a network of influence covering the Auvergne, the Limousin and the Cour de France.

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