JUST A LITTLE HISTORY......
Before the battle of Marignan (1515), Gilles Berthelot inherited this fortified castle.
He was the son of the master of the royal public monies
and married Philippe Lesbahy who was a rich heiress
of lands in Azay.
Berthelot began a successful career in finance ;
he's the general of finance and became the paymaster
of France.
So his new castle reflected his dazzling social rising,
and he restaured the castle with his wife in the style
of the moment
that is to say the Renaissance style.
But the wonderful story didn't last very long !
Tragic events interrompted this great project.
Indeed, some families grew richer in finance by landing money to the crown.
As a consequence of the wars with Italie,
the king owed them too much money and accused them
of misappropriation of funds.
Berthelot was a friend of Semblançay, general
Governor of finance the kingdom.
This last one was accused of misappropriation of funds
by Louise of Savoie and ran away.
He was sentenced and hung up in 1527.
And Berthelot was sentenced too : in 1528, his properties were seized by François Ier.
One year later, he died in Cambrai where he took refuge
and leaving an unfinished architectural domain to
his wife.
During several years she fought to preserve the castle
but in vain ;
she definitively lost it in 1535 to the profit of
Antoine Raffin (a comrade-in-arms of the king).
The castle stayed in the same family until the Revolution.
In 1791, it was bought by the marquis Charles of Biencourt.
The Biancourt marquesses gave back the style of the
castle through several generations.
They will destroy the last remainings of the Middle
Ages and created the great romantic grounds.
After the Second Empire, the last marquis who was ruined, had to sell his lands and the furniture.
The State bought it back in 1905 and became the owner...