Royal castles of Loire Valley - bloody history of castle of Blois
2023-08-01
In last issue, Salsa took everyone to Chambord, king of castles (please see one of ancient castles in Loire Valley - a folded dream in Chambord).
Among castles of Loire Valley, Chateau Royal de Blois is a must-see. Although he is not as handsome as Chambord. But its political status and conspiracies and murders that took place here are not comparable to Chambord.
Château de Blois
The original prototype castle of Blois was built in ninth century and was originally main castle of Count of Blois. For most of time, this county was part of Duchy of Orléans. After death of King Charles VIII in fifteenth century, there was no direct heir. The Duke of Orleans, born in Château de Blois, succeeded to throne and became King Louis XII of France. Blois has since been returned to royal family and has become second capital of French royal family. Many castles have different meanings.
City of Blois
City of Blois
Castle town of Blois
Seven French kings and dozens of queens lived here in succession. In 16th century, Duke of Guise, who had been in power for some time, was assassinated here, which blew fuse of French religious civil war. In castle, I don't know how much history is hidden.
The main part of castle of Blois is a large courtyard surrounded by four wings of different eras of construction and architectural styles. Gothic style, flame style, renaissance style, classicism make it a museum of medieval architectural art. Walking through corridors and halls here, you can move from one style to another in one step. Medieval palace battles hundreds of years ago seem to be around.
Château de Blois
Château de Blois
The outer walls of entire castle are made of white stones, thickened for defensive purposes. The area in front of donjon used to be protected by outer walls. However, in late Middle Ages, when artillery was popular, city walls were no longer useful, and they were finally turned into squares. This is also main reason why none of castles in Loire Valley have massive outer walls.
Entering courtyard, inner wall turns into red brick, and white stone decoration makes entire inner wall look like a mosaic. The decoration on roof, including Gothic spiers, renaissance piazzas and Scandinavian-inspired decorative elements, is also breathtaking.
Fore wing of Château de Blois
The flaming gothic building opposite gate is wing of Louis XII, and rider above main entrance is Louis XII. It is now Royal Museum of Fine Arts. The royal suite on second floor was built for Louis XII and Princess Anne. There are ten rooms in total, which display exquisite paintings and sculptures from sixteenth to nineteenth century.
Equestrian statue of Louis XII
Other wings of castle, one of which is named after Queen Louis XII of Brittany. The Queen of Brittany is widow of previous king, Charles VIII, and sole heiress of Duke of Brittany. Louis XII reached pinnacle of his life in one step. In fact, according to Tekli's succession law, marrying a former king's widow may be best way to gain inheritance rights. This is reflected in American TV series Game of Thrones. "Littlefinger" Petyr married widow of Duke of Arryn and became guardian of Duke of River Valley.
Game of Thrones
By way, marriage between Louis XII and Queen of Brittany also unified territory of Kingdom of France, because Principality of Brittany was originally included in France due to marriage. After all, Brittany is still his niece and daughter-in-law, and relations between royal families in Europe are also very difficult.
Brittany (the peninsula in upper left corner) was an independent principality at time [images taken from Internet, captured and deleted]
The wing on right is named after his son-in-law, François I, mentioned above. Louis XII had no children after his death, so throne could only be cheaper for his son-in-law. In wing on right side of courtyard, a staircase is visible, which at first glance is somewhat similar to Chambord, building on this side is wing of Francis I. The building of wing directly in front of building is called Orleans wing, which was built in seventeenth century. This is also last part of castle to be completed.
At Château de Blois, you can't escape Francis I's salamander emblem, which, by way, is emblem of his father-in-law, Louis XII, hedgehog. This is a symbol of his being Duke of Orléans before he took throne. Crowned hedgehogs in castle are also an important decoration.
François I salamander logo
Crown hedgehog, symbol of Louis XII
The oldest part of castle is Great Hall, built in 13th century. This is most important conference room of third level in castle.
Third level conference room
At arched dome is a ceiling of golden iris flowers against a blue background. This pattern and color has become exclusive symbol of French royal family since time of Louis VI. The chandeliers and hollowed-out window grilles in room are also very recognizable - these are flower disks consisting of several perfect circles, light bulbs are installed on them, and in center there is still a logo with golden irises.
Golden iris on a blue background
Golden iris on a blue background
As we said in previous article, iris is still national flower of French Republic. However, Europeans do not distinguish between irises and lilies too clearly, so many consider lily to be national flower of France. Be that as it may, iris and lily are plants from different families of same genus of lilies, so it will not be a mistake to say that lily is not mistaken.
Iris
Lily
During French Dynasty, three-tiered conference, consisting of first-tier priests, second-tier nobles, and third-tier civilians, was theoretically place where king consulted opinions of all levels. It was first used by King Philip III to fight Pope and win over public opinion, but in most cases it is king who wants to levy new taxes. Please let us know about it. The last three-level meeting in Paris in 1789 finally provoked French Revolution and gave inventor unexpected royal rule of Bourbon dynasty.
French Revolution
The three-level conference room at Château de Blois is of particular importance. France in second half of 16th century was at epicenter of a fierce civil war between Protestants and Catholics. Relatively neutral King Henry III, representing Catholic Henry, Duc de Guise (well, also Henry), representing Protestant Henry of Bourbon family (well, still Henry). The civil war was too fierce, and king was expelled from Paris. There was nothing left but to convene a three-level meeting in castle of Blois to agree on positions of great nobility. It is believed that Henry, Duke of Guise was too strong, so he was killed by guards of King Henry III in corridor leading to king's bedroom. King Henry III, who tore apart a hornet's nest, was killed by Catholic priests following year. The remaining Henry of Bourbon family finally came to power and became first king of Bourbon dynasty, Henry IV, and Valois dynasty ended.
Henry III is also a "beautiful work" or tragedy in French history. Although he and his two older brothers successively became kings of France, power was always in hands of his mother, Catherine (we can talk about this legendary woman in detail when we talk about women's castle in next chapter - Shennonsau). ). But Henry can only live in debauchery all day, indulging in wine and sex. After she finally survived until her mother died, she wanted to be pampered, so she died in a fight with two other Heinrichs and died in national mourning.
Henry III was once King of Poland
The "War of Three Henrys" ended with "one Henry killing another Henry, and King Henry's brother-in-law Henry robbed throne of their family." Henry IV lay down and won. But he put out flames of war in France with tolerance, which is why he was called "Good King Henry." Since then, status of Loire Valley as main territory of kingdom has come to an end.
Henry IV of Bourbons finally became king and created last dynasty in France - Bourbon dynasty
In wing of Francis I there is an exhibition hall dedicated to displaying dilapidated reliefs that were replaced during renovation of castle. There are hedgehogs, salamanders, golden irises, and of course statues of kings themselves. Each reconstruction is actually an opportunity for king to strengthen his power and symbolize cult of personality. The royal family has tried all sorts of marriages and quarrels to make blood last forever, but time has proven that any eternity is too much thinking. A proud statue of past can only lie quietly in it, bearing traces of many years of ruin.
There are many old houses around castle of Blois with beautiful roofs of same color as castle itself. Not far from castle are withered aquatic plants by river and a graceful stone arched bridge. The quiet city still looks like it was hundreds of years ago. The surface of river rippled with wind, and gray and white houses were reflected in river like a small bridge in south of Yangtze River.
Sunset is like a naughty child who sprinkles paints of different colors into sky, temporarily pink, temporarily gold, temporarily blue... Then pour water into a basin, mix and mix colors, and finally condense them into pure black ...
Night fell, and already quiet town became even quieter.
In next issue, we will introduce you to most feminine castle - Shen Nong Suo.
Stay at home with peace of mind, salsa will show you another world with words and old pictures.