The greatest châteaux of the Loire

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The Châteaux of the Loire in history

    At the end of the Middle Ages, France changed. The Medieval period had been a time of wars and conflicts when France was rather smaller than it is today. Areas of France had been fought over, notably between the French and the English (who were still French at the time), the French and the Burgundians, and other powers to the south and the east. Medieval castles needed to be fortresses, defensive positions in strategic locations, or bastions built to affirm the power of a local duke or baron. The massive royal fortress at Angers is a fine example of this.
   In the year 1475, the Hundred Years' War with England came officially to an end. Two years later, on the death of Duke Charles the Bold at the battle of Nancy, King Louis XI took over Burgundy and Picardy, and reestablished the power of the King of France over most of the area we know of today as France. An era of relative peace was ushered in.
   This coincided with the arrival in France of the Renaissance, an artistic and cultural movement that had begun in Italy a hundred years before; and as the ideas of medieval and feudal society died out, dukes, princes and kings began to convert old castles, and build new ones, that were not designed for war, but designed for peace. The 16th century châteaux, for which the Loire is justly famous, were built as Renaissance palaces where their owners could enjoy the good life and partake in their favourite sports, notably hunting in the forests of the Loire valley.
   The first of the Renaissance Loire Chateaux is said to be the Ducal Palace at Nevers (Burgundy), built between 1470 and 1490 to replace an earlier fortified castle; but the building of the greatest Loire chateaux took place between 1490 and 1550. The most intense period of activity was during the 20 years between 1514 and 1534;  the Chateau de Chenonceau was started in 1514, a year before King François 1 began renovating the château de Blois. The château at Azay-le-Rideau was started in 1518, the château de Chambord in the following year 1519, and the château de Valançay the year after. The château de Villandry was begun 12 years after that.  More châteaux were built, or rebuilt, over the ensuing century, giving the Loire valley area an exceptional heritage of Renaissance palaces, recognised today as a UNESCO world heritage site.