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Origin and history

The Commanderie de Sallebruneau, located at Frontenac in Gironde, was founded in 1214 by the Templars, who built a church there. In 1280, the knight Jean de Greilly, lord of Benauges and commander, transferred the jurisdiction of the site to the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem, a gift formalized in 1297 under Grand Master Guillaume de Villaret. This transfer marked the passage from the Templars to the Hospitallers, with a charter validating the possession of the estate and its outbuildings, including the lands of Buxs and the mill of Frontenac.

In the 14th century, the Hospitallers strengthened the site by building a castle adjacent to the chapel Saint John, with a square tower and fortifications. The Commanderie became a strategic centre, including a single-nave church, a cemetery and a medicinal plant garden. In 1477 it was attached to the command office of Bordeaux to protect itself from the lords of Rauzan, who were hostile to order. The Wars of Religion then devastated the estate, reducing the castle to ruins.

The church, used as a parish in the 19th century, fell into disuse for lack of maintenance and even served as a stone quarry. Ranked a historic monument in 1987, it preserves traces of painted decorations and a flat bedside illuminated by three Romanesque windows. The castle, with its cruciform arches and its vaulted jail, illustrates medieval defensive architecture. Today, restoration sites and cultural activities (spectacles, guided tours) value this heritage.

The command office extended over a vast territory, including fiefs in Frontenac, Aubèze and Saint-Léger, as well as spiritual rights over Buch and Mauriac. His organization reflected the influence of military orders: seigneurial justice, farming and care through the medicinal garden. The current excavations and works, carried out by volunteers, aim to preserve this emblematic site of the Entre-deux-Mers, 40 km from Bordeaux.

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