Pouancé Castle

The medieval castle of Pouancé is located in Pouancé, Maine-et-Loire, France, at the western border of the old province of Anjou, facing Britanny. Along with the remains of the city walls, it covers a surface of three hectares. It is nicknamed the "second castle of Anjou" because of its size, which is just below that of the castle of Angers. It belongs to the Breton march, facing the Breton castle of Châteaubriant.

On a location fortified since the 11th century, the castle was built during the 12th and 15th centuries. Besieged several time during the Hundred Years' War, it became a strategic fortress at the end of the 15th century, during the Mad War. Ruined during the 16th century and completely abandoned since the 18th, it was preserved from destruction when Louis Bessière, a inhabitant of Pouancé, decided to save the building in the 1960s. The castle is now ownd by the town of Pouancé and is open to visitors during summer.

The castle has been listed as a monument historique since 7 July 1926. Despite volunteers and mainly amateur excavations over 40 years, little is known about the organisation of the castle, due to a lack of deep archaeological researches.

The first times of the castle
Since the end of the early middle ages, the location of Pouancé, at the boundaries of the Breton march and the province of Anjou, was probably fortified to oppose the Breton castle of Châteaubriant. The first mention of the castle date back to 1049-1060, inside the cartulary of Carbay: the count of Anjou maintained troops and a vicarius named Landri or Landry. Fragments of Merovingian sarcophagus were found in the walls of Saint-Aubin church, proving the existence of a human settlement in Pouancé before the construction of the castle.

After the death of Landri, the castle was given with complete confidence by the count of Anjou to a close relation of Landri, Hervé de Martigné, vassal of the count of Rennes. Hervé already possessed the "honor" of Lourzais, a territory close to Pouancé. In 1066, the Duke of Brittany, Conan II took the castle, maybe with the help of Hervé. At Hervé's death, around 1084, his son Gautier Hay succeed him. Emma, Gautier's heir, married around 1130 Guillaume Ist of La Guerche, uniting the seigneury of Pouancé-Martigné with La Guerche.

The lord of Pouancé then enter in rebellion against the Plantagenet. Geoffroy Ist, grand-son of Emma, took part with others Breton lords to the revolt of 1173–74 against Henry Plantagenet. They were defeated, and their castles destroyed. The son of Geoffroy revolted against the count of Anjou with some Breton lords in 1196, and defeated the army of the seneschal of Anjou. At the beginning of the 13th century, the castle is the center of a vast seigneury located in Anjou and Brittany consisting in the seigneuries of Pouancé, Martigné, La Guerche and Segré. It is around this time that the actual castle was erected, with the first towers and ramparts. Guillaume III, lord of Pouancé, established a levee on the Verzée river, thereby forming the pond of Pouancé, protecting the western front of the castle, facing Brittany.

The 13th century saw the beginning of the decline of the Pouancé House. The son of Guillaume III, Geoffroy II, died around 1244. His own son, Geoffroy III, died in 1263, leaving his daughter Jeanne only heir. She married Jean of Beaumont. Their grand-son, Jean II of Beaumont, after a sterile union with his first wife Isabeau of Harcourt, married Marguerite of Poitiers. Their only son Louis of Beaumont died in 1364 during the battle of Cocherel. This is Marie Chamaillard, the grand-daughter of Isabeau the first wife of Jean II, who got back the seigneury of Pouancé, adding it to the fiefs already owned by her husband, Pierre II of Alençon.

The Hundred Years' War
Between 1371 and 1379, Pierre II probably built the "Big tower" and the machicolation on the castle. Some towers are altered by adding some spirals staircase, notably the Saint-Antoine tower. Between the 14th and 15th centuries were built the Grand dwelling and the ice-house.

The castle was attacked by the Breton army led by John V, Duke of Brittany in 1379. The castle was maybe taken by betrayal. Pierre II then exchanged the seigneury to Bertrand du Guesclin against some lands in Normandy. John V gave back the fortress to Bertrand's brother Olivier du Guesclin in 1381. Olivier sold back Pouancé to John V in 1389. When John V married his daughter Marie to Jean I, Duke of Alençon, Jean I was given the seigneury of Pouancé for dowry.

The son of Jean I, Jean II of Alençon, was captured by the English during the battle of Verneuil. Ruined by the ransom after his release, he decided to put the pressure on his uncle John VI, Duke of Brittany to pay the remaining part of the dowry of his mother. He kidnapped Jean of Malestroit, bishop of Nantes and chancellor of Brittany, to force the duke of Brittany to pay. Refusing to be blackmailed, John VI gathered his army and launched the siege of the castle around January 6, 1432. The castle of Pouancé is besieged during 5 weeks by the 6000 men of the duke's army and his English allies, and bombed by 7 cannons. After 5 weeks of siege, despite the ongoing resistance of the castle, Jean II decided to negotiate and the siege was lifted on February 19.

Eleven years after this siege, in 1443, an English army, led by John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, besieged the castle. Despite the warning of Arthur III of Brittany, Jean II of Alençon counter-attacked with his men without waiting for reinforcements. His army was surprised by the English at night, and the counter-attack failed. The castle and the town however manage to resist the 7000 men strong army of the English who lifted the siege after two or three weeks, leaving the faubourgs of the town destroyed.