Champtoceaux Castle

About

The castle and the closed town of Champtoceaux are the ruins of a fortified complex located in France in Maine-et-Loire, destroyed by order of Jean V of Brittany in 1420. The place is occupied from Neolithic time and traces of Roman Empire buildings have been found there. A castrum was reported in the sixth century by Grégoire de Tours.

Located in the Marche de Bretagne, Champtoceaux, then called Châteauceaux, is in the 10th century on the border of the zones of influence of the Dukes of Brittany, the Counts of Anjou and those of Poitou. A fortress is built there that passes many times from hand to hand until the 15th century, suffering nine seats. Jean V de Bretagne was taken prisoner there in 1420 in the context of a conflict between rivalries between noble families of Brittany, on the one hand a struggle of influence between the Kingdom of France and Burgundy, and finally the Hundred Years War.

Once liberated, John V ordered the complete destruction of Champtoceaux. A new city then develops east of the ruins whose reoccupation is prohibited. Abandoned in the state, these ruins have been the subject of historical studies since the 19th century.

William Turner actually...