Château de Chenaux – Wikipedia

The chateau de channel is located in Estavayer-le-Lac in the canton of Friborg in Switzerland.

The castle of Chenaux, Castrum de Canalibus, takes its name from the large ditches which protected it. It was built in 1284 by Pierre d’Estavayer and his brother Guillaume on the model of the “Savoyard square”. In 1432, the castle was acquired by Humbert, the bastard of Savoie, who completed the defensive structure there. During the Burgundy War, the castle was burned. It was thanks to the reconstruction work carried out after 1476 that the castle obtained its current profile. Today, the castle serves as a seat for the prefecture of the Broye district.

Origins and medieval period [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

^{[ first ]} The origins of the lords of Estavayer, who counted among the most powerful noble families in the country of Vaud, remain obscure. The lordship was notably attested in 1156, in the cartulary of the Abbey of Hauterive, by an act which mentions Renaud Lord of Estavayer and his son Conon. On the death of the latter, his two sons Guillaume and Renaud II shared the lordship. The elder branch, from Guillaume, kept the primitive castle, on the Motte-Châtel, while the younger branch establishes residence in a strong house outside the walls, in the vicinity of the current Tour de Savoie. Around 1290, two members of this branch, Pierre and Guillaume d’Estavayer, undertook the construction of a third castle northeast of the old town, known as “Château des Chenaux”.

In 1402, Humbert Le Bastard, half-brother of the Duke Amédée VIII, received the share of the younger branch and bought in 1432 the lordship of Chelaux. From the castle, which already falls in ruins for lack of maintenance, he will make a powerful fortress, the braid flanker (1433-1436), then supplementing him with symmetrical lake towers and a barbacane-châtelet at the entrance (1433 -1441), prestigious brick architecture, work of carroniers Piedmontese or Lombards.

In 1454, Jacques d’Estavayer bought the castle from the Duke of Savoy, recovering at the same time the lordship. In 1475, when the city took by the Confederates, the Friborgers seized it, because it has since been engaged in a mortgage in favor of the Friborg hospital. The castle of Savoy and its fief echoed in Friborg in 1536. The House Strong, in ruins, was abandoned and the site with its last vestiges was ceded to the Dominicans in 1687. As for the “old castle” of Motte-Châtel, the elder branch From the Estavayer family, rather than repairing it, preferred to move during the 15th century, it seems, in a house in the Place de Moudon. It was there that the last descendant of the family died in 1632, Laurent d’Estavayer.

A 3 -phase construction [ modifier | Modifier and code ]

Before 1300

1. Hourds at the top of the dungeon
2. Wooden slabs above the door
3. Well
4. Dungeon cut, wall thickness: 2m50m
5. Pont-Levis on the ditch

In 1450

1. In 1450, construction of a molasse jaquemart, first without the bin
2. Lateral entrance with Pont-Levis
3. Formerly lateral entrance
4. Murderous in lock hole, still in place today
5. Entrance rebuilt in 1450, with bonfit

Since 1500

1. Annexes
2. In 1503, construction of the 2 round brick laps to replace the cantilevered turrets
3. Dependencies first in wood then in stone from 1750
4. Gateway from the Rounder Round Still in place
5. In 1503: addition of annexes to the jaquemart and a brick coronation with bonfitis

external links [ modifier | Modifier and code ]