Come stroll with me …

… through the magnificent royal château in the city of Blois …

Blois sits on the river Loire about halfway between the cities of Tours and Orléans and some 300 kilometres upstream from St Nazaire, where the river enters the northern corner of the Bay of Biscay.  The town is the adminstrative capitol (préfecture) of the département of Loire-et-Cher.  With a population of around 50,000, it is small by British standards (the people of Leeds number about 517,000).  But it has a fascinating history, and the best way to view that is by visiting the château.

The county of Blois was originally a feudal principality with the city at the centre, but there has been habitation here since the Romans.  Around 500AD, when Clovis 1 booted out the Latin invaders, the principality first came into being.  From about 700AD, the county became a thriving and growing power in its own right.  The château and the county were managed by the successive Counts of Blois, who also took possession of Chartres and Champagne.  Their power and wealth enabled them to enhance the original medieval fortress and grounds.  That status can be seen in the Salles des États Généraux (the Court’s Room designed to handle estate business rather than a court of law for trials).  Built at the beginning of the 13th century, it is one of the oldest seigneuriale rooms in France.  Standing in the room and looking across the walls and ceiling, the vibrancy of the colours is amazing.

As we walk through the various spaces, we are following in the footsteps of dukes and kings. In 1397 the castle was ceded to Louis 1, then Duke of Orléans and brother of King Charles 6. 

When Louis was assassinated, the château was inhabited by his widow, who retired to Blois. Subsequently, the property was inherited by their son, Charles d’Orléans, the poet.

Born in 1394, he inherited the dukedoms of Valois and Orléans, the titles of Count of Blois, Beaumont-sur-Oise, Lord of Coucy and a substantial estate in Italy from his mother.  Although privileged, life for Charles didn’t quite work out as planned.

In 1415, at the battle of Agincourt, he was taken prisoner by the English and spent the next 24 years in prison.  During this time, he wrote many pieces of poetry in English and French. During his incarceration, he was moved from estate to estate and spent time in the Tower of London, Bolingbroke Castle – the seat of Henry 4, known to us and Shakespeare as Henry Bolingbroke - and Pontefract castle, which is close to where I live in Yorkshire.  As Charles was in line for the French throne, our King, Henry 5, considered him too important to ransom and return, hence the extended imprisonment.

Charles’ canon of poetic works is extensive, amounting to two books – one in English and one in French – of poems in the rondeau and ballade forms.   When Charles was eventually released in 1440, he returned to France and married Marie of Cleves in St Omer, northern France.  They had three children, the second of which was a son who became Louis 12 of France in 1498.  You can see a magnificent statue of Louis on his horse above the doorway as you enter the property.

Since Charles’ death at 71 in January 1465, his poetry has been analysed and debated and
finally accepted.  Some of his works have been set to music by Edward Elgar, Claude Debussy and the Venezuelan-born French composer and conductor Reynaldo Hahn.

Before I leave this magnificent building with its mixture of Gothic, Renaissance and Classical architecture, its counts, dukes and kings, you must see two more things.  The first is the La Chambre des Secrets.  This room once belonged to Catherine de Medici and within the panelling is a secret chamber where it is supposed that she kept her poisons!  Catherine died here in 1589 at the age of 69.

And lastly, we take a stroll out into the courtyard.  The stunning spiral staircase was part of the refurbishment of the castle when Francis 1 and his wife, Queen Claude, acceded to the throne in 1515.  Louis 12, Francis’ first cousin and father-in-law brought the Renaissance style to France.  And there is no better example of the Italianate bas-relief than here.  Others at the time concur as the staircases here became the reference point for those built at Chambord a few years later.

If you enjoyed this stroll through history, you might also be interested in a visit to Ancy-le-Franc or Tanlay  There will be more of my travels in the coming weeks and months.