Château d'Amboise

The next day of the weekend, which started out particularly foggy, we went to the Château d'Amboise. Amboise is a real castle.  Before the French got to it, Amboise was a Gaelic oppidum, a large defensive settlement. It was a favorite place of many kings, from when Charles VII confiscated it from a plotting Duc, up until the tragic events with king François II in 1560. After that month the château fell into disfavor with the court, and was since abandoned. 

It stands a top a large hill (its bigger than the ski hill that we have in my hometown, yet they still call it a hill). It over looks the Loire River, the longest river in France. It also looks over the city of Amboise that grew up around the large fortress.

 The first thing we saw was the Chapelle Saint Hubert. It was made as the personal chapel for the royals living at Amboise. In the flamboyant Gothic style during the reign of Louis XI from 1461 to 1483. But it was added upon by his son, Charles VIII.

The stone that makes up the chapel and also the most of the other buildings in the Loire Valley is called "tuffeau" or freestone in English. It is very similar to limestone made from calcite. Also it is very easy to mold and carve into therefore it was the preferred stone for making the flamboyant castles and chapels of the Valley.

 The saint who the chapel is named for it Saint Hubert, a French royal turned saint. He was the son of the Duke of Aquitaine, but when Hubert's wife died in childbirth he retreated into a life of hunting. On the morning of Good Friday around 670 C.E. he went out for to hunt a hart. When he was about to corner the incredible beast, it turned and had a crucifix in its antlers. A voice then told him that if he didnt turn from his capricious ways he would go to hell. He immediately went to become a holy man giving up his title to his younger brother Odo.

But probably the most interesting thing about the chapel is that it is the final resting place of Leonardo da Vinci. He was a great friend of the king François I, and spent the last years of his life at the manor that François granted him free of charge, Clos-Lucé. He was the first painter, architect and engineer of the king. Although he didn't paint much while he was there, he did organize grand parties and festivals for the King, and designed some of parts of his castle.

The inside of the castle was relatively pretty. It fell into a state of disrepair after the Kings abandoned it, but a family has been working slowly to repair the years of neglect. Its the ceilings and beautiful designs were still impressive. The ceilings were so tall that more than two levels could fit into each floor. The fireplaces were also ornately designed.

"Les murs ont des oreilles." A popular French proverb artfully decorated one corner. In the king's court there was a lot of intrigue, as always, with plots and affairs and the occasional assassination. The architect here tried to keep the court honest by reminding them that their secrets might be found out because the walls have ears. But those ears heard very little after 1560 until the French Revolution

After the French Revolution Louis-Philippe, the constitutional monarch of France owned the castle. He, and his family were highly involved in the triangle trade in the new world. Louis-Philippe spent many years in the United States, teaching French and being a very productive politician  meeting George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and George Clinton (fourth vice president of the United States.)

At the top of the castle there is a pretty good view of the surrounding Amboise. There was an auction going on that day, and it was rather foggy, so the video above is not spectacular.

Surrounding the castle on the backside are gardens. Since it's January the gardens were mostly dead, but it still gave a pretty view. There is the large Terrasse de Naples which is full of beautifully sculpted tree. Behind that there is the remains of the old wall protecting the castle. Between the wall and the terrace there are grape vines so that the castle can make its own wine. In the wall there is the original port cullis, the Porte des Lions, which was large enough for horse and rider to go through.

Unless however you are Charles VIII, who on his way to watch a tennis match, hit his head on the top of the gate. He fell into a coma and died nine hours later. But he deserved it. He forced Anne of Brittany to marry him while she was trying to secure the freedom of the Briton people in Brittany, after invading her country with his army, and preventing her from marrying Maximillian, of the Habsburgs, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire. This was most unfavorable to Charles because if Anne were to marry Max, that would make Max's claim on two borders of France. So he disrupted it. Anne, who was fourteen at the time, was not pleased, so she went to live in Clos-Lucé instead of with her husband. Anne is far more interesting than that. But she shall be the subject of a different post.

I found it interesting that during our guided tour, the pleasant guide said nothing about the events of 1560. During the Wars of Religion, a plot was discovered. The house of Bourbon was plotting against the powerful Guise family. The Guise family were ruling through the young François II (Son of Catherine de Medici, and husband of Mary Stuart). To protect themselves, which they did a little over zealously, they hung the plotters. These hangings lasted a month and at the end 1,200 protestants were hanged, their bodies strung up on the walls of the castle for all to see. 

It was after that when the court left Amboise, and it fell into disrepair. The picture above shows Amboise with all its glory in red. The black however is all that remains of the once glorious castle.

Like all the other castles there were emblems all over Amboise. But these were a little different. First we have the fleur de lis, the symbol of France. Next to it is the ermine, the symbol of Britany. I like this symbol a lot. The ermine, or stoat, is a small animal with a brown coat in the summer and a white one in the winter. Some believe it  morns its dead, and many regions feared the creature (they thought it was bad luck). The ermine, and Britany, both fight for survival, as ermines were known to take on creatures twice its size. Unfortunately for Britany, it could not win against the large state of France.