History of Château de Coucy

The origins of a medieval fortress

Château de Coucy is the legacy of the Enguerrand dynasty, commonly known as the "Sires de Coucy", whose two most emblematic figures are Enguerrand III and Enguerrand VII. They reigned over the fortress from the 11th to the 14th century.

The château was built in the early 13th century by Lord Enguerrand III de Coucy.

His seigneury had a major natural advantage: its strategic position high up on a rocky spur that towers over the Ailette valley by more than 60 meters. As a result, the site is difficult to access and offersan unobstructed view of the region and any incoming enemy troops.

Behind the walls of this fortified castle nestles a seigniorial chapel, famous for the beauty of its stained glass windows. The other masterpiece of the château de Coucy is the grand salle des Preux, which under Enguerrand VII was adorned with flamboyant refinement and luxury.

Château de Coucy vu du ciel
© Christian Gluckman / Centre des monuments nationaux

The Sire of Coucy

Enguerrand III strengthened Coucy's defenses by building a ring of ramparts around the town. He added 33 towers and 3 fortified gates. He also completely rebuilt the current château, which he built against an older structure.

Under his baronial rule, the site was structured in three parts (town / lower courtyard / upper courtyard) to create three successive defenses to stop or at least delay the enemy. This is known as defense in depth.

Like all great lords of the time, Enguerrand III sought to enhance his lineage, which earned him some complications with royalty, especially with Louis IX and his mother Blanche of Castile.

Enguerrand III was an important figure of his time, a cousin of King Philippe Auguste, and took part alongside him in the battle of Bouvines in 1214 and in the crusade against the Cathars.

It has to be said that the construction and embellishment of this gigantic fortress was a real thumbing of the nose at royal power . Enguerrand's pride made the castle bigger, more majestic and more imposing than that of the King of France.

La salle des Preux au château de Coucy
© Christian Gluckman / Centre des monuments nationaux

A dungeon out of the ordinary

The particularity of the Château de Coucy is undoubtedly linked to its considerable dimensions, with its 54-meter-high keep, 31-meter-diameter tower and walls up to 7.50 meters thick. It is taller than the keep at the Château du Louvre in Paris, the home of the King of France.

With no foundations, the keep consists of three storeys and a defensive terrace. Like the Terrasse tower, the keep has almost no openings.

Afree-standing structure within the enclosure, its entrance is protected by a drawbridge.

The keep must be able to withstand a siege. The lower room is reserved for food and weapons storage. A well dug into the rock provides water from the valley. A circular opening in the roof allows provisions and ammunition to be brought up to the terrace.

The two upper floors are reserved for the reception of the population. The third floor leads to a tribune built into the thickness of the wall, creating an additional space overlooking the hall.

Did you know thatEnguerrand VII died in the Holy Land during the Crusades? His eldest daughter, Marie, inherited the château, but soon parted with it in exchange for a handsome check (a very heavy bag of gold) from Louis d'Orléans, Duke of Valois. He became the new owner of Château de Coucy.

Donjon de Coucy avant sa destruction
© Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine

The kitchens of Louis d'Orléans

When Louis d'Orléans, brother of King Charles VI, became the owner of Coucy in 1400, the château's kitchens were unable to meet the prince's needs. As the space available in the upper courtyard was limited, the Duc d'Orléans decided to build the new complex in the lower courtyard, near the château's drawbridge.

The only known mention of these kitchens - and the only evidence of their existence until the 2018 survey - is a toisé (a kind of plan and estimate) dating back to December 1403.

This survey, followed by a programmedarchaeological dig, uncovered part of the remains of Louis d'Orléans' kitchens, work that is essential to understanding the evolution of aristocratic and princely kitchens in the late Middle Ages.

Did you know that since Louis XII, grandson of Louis d'Orléans, the château has belonged to the royal domain? Yet in 1652, the governor of Coucy still refused to return the fortress to Louis XIV. As a result, Mazarin had the château dismantled.

Cuisines de Louis d'Orléans — Vestiges des cuisines de Louis d'Orléans
© S.Leleu / Centre des monuments nationaux

Restoration by Viollet-le-Duc

From the Second Empire onwards, a succession of architects, including Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, worked to preserve the ruins.

Viollet-Le-Duc's work, in parallel with the Pierrefonds restoration project, essentially involved fretting the master tower with two impressive iron circles at the brackets, cover its interior void with a metal and wood framework and remodel it. cracks.

Imagine that, thanks to the railroad, the château was considered one of France's most visited monuments until 1914!

Tourisme belle époque au château de Coucy
© Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine

A tragic destiny

In December 1916, the German army adopted a new strategy, consolidating its defensive lines around the Hindenburg Line, which stretched over 160 km from Lens to Reims. From February 1917, troops were withdrawn to the Aisne.

This was a scorched earth policy: telephone lines and electrical machinery were dismantled and transported behind the new lines. On the Oise-Aisne canal, bridges, footbridges and locks were destroyed. The Coucy region was evacuated.

At the end of February, after the inhabitants had been forced to leave, the town of Coucy was pillaged. On the orders of General Ludendorff, the château was dynamited on March 20: 28 tonnes of cheddite were placed in the keep and 10 tonnes in each of the four corner towers.

In 1919, Paul Clemen, charged by the German government with the protection of artistic property in occupied regions, defended the necessary destruction of Château de Coucy, an observation post far too favorable to the enemy .

He recalls that the highest authorities - the Kaiser himself - had come to verify the decision, which merely completed what Mazarin had begun on Louis XIV's orders in 1652.

Château de Coucy was listed as a historic monument in 1962. Today, it is managed by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux and welcomes some 17,000 visitors a year.

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