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Château de Courtalain 2002 History
THE GONTAUT BIRON HOUSE IN DUNOIS 1 The
House
of
GONTAUT BIRON. The
House of
GONTAUT BIRON is
one of the oldest, most illustrious families in France. They
are natives of Périgord (first barony of Périgord). The
family estate, the château de Biron, stands proudly
on this
land. The
family name is mentioned for the first time in a record of
donation to the bishop
of Carcassonne ABBON in 926. It
acquired the rank of ducal family in 1598, under the reign of
HENRI IV. Several
times the family contributed to the defense of France, receiving
in exchange several titles including that of field marshal 4
times. The
members of this family were so powerful that the King looked on
them as cousins. Marshal
Armand de BIRON was HENRI IV's godfather. He
was so close with the latter that at the battle of Epernay in 1592
the king exchanged his head gear with him. The
enemies, mistaking him from afar for HENRI IV, shot and killed him
with an harquebus. HENRI IV was
the godfather of Charles, Armand's son. When
his father died, the King took Charles under his wings. Despite
this privileged relationship, the latter tried to overthrow his
Royal protector with the help of the Spaniards. HENRI IV
reluctantly had him arrested
and executed in 1602. The
French Revolution turned this established order upside down. In
1862 the mutual love between the young Louis de GONTAUT BIRON and
the niece of the Duke of MONTMORENCY allowed Courtalain to become
part of the House of GONTAUT BIRON, the duke of MONTMORENCY having
chosen this young couple as sole legatee. Today
his direct descendant, the Count of GONTAUT BIRON, still lives
there. 2 The
region of COURTALAIN. Courtalain is
located at the border of Perche and the town of DUNOIS, 1 1/2
hours from west Paris, at the gates of the natural park of Perche
(listed European site). ·
Dunois
was
a cadet of Bretagne and companion of Joan of Arc. The
first Count of Châteaudun was nominated by Grégoire de Tours in
584. ·
A
specialty of the Perche region is the Percheron horse. Its
origins date back to the dispersal of the Arab cavalry at Poitiers
in 732. This sturdy horse, still present in our countryside, competes in draft horse pulls in Japan. Spectators bet on their favorite horses. This
region was long an area of conflict (English and French during the
100 Years War) and the wealth of its heritage shows it: Château de bois
Ruffin, Château
de Montigny le Gannelon, Château
de Saint Agil, Commanderie de
Templiers d’Arville, the Château de Châteaudun (first
of the Loire châteaus). And
other natural sites like the Foulon grottos . The
Courtalain château
has always been handed down through inheritance,
and never sold. It
dates back to the Middle Ages under the name Curtalunum. 3 The
Château
de COURTALAIN. Courtalain is
a kaleidoscope chateau, a mixture of Middle Ages, Renaissance and English
Neo-Gothic (souvenir of MONTMORENCY'S emigration to England during
the Revolution) architectures, surrounded by a superb 200
acre English garden and magnificent outbuildings dating back to
1730 (an orangery, a post house and dormitories) designed by
Gabriel de Lestrade, an associate of Gabriel, the architect of the
place de la Concorde in Paris. These imposing buildings served as administrative center to the Estate in the 18th century. The
estate also includes a glassworks and a nice 18th century
farmhouse with colonnades surrounded by 30 acres of land: the
latter was for playing farmer and farmer's wife just like the King
at Versailles with the little Trianon.
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