Louvre castle

The Louvre Castle was a castle built by King Philip II of France to reinforce the walls he had built around Paris and further protect the city. It was later demolished in stages to make way for the Louvre Palace. Its main location was on the right bank of the Seine river.

The fortress


Before his departure for the Third Crusade in 1190, King Philip II wanted to protect Paris, the capital of his Kingdom, against invasions. In particular, he wanted to defend Paris against English soldiers based in Normandy. Additionally, he wanted a safekeeping place for his treasure as well as his archives that was lost during the Battle of Fréteval in 1194 against Richard the Lionheart, but that he had since reconstructed.

He built the enclosure, which bears his name, around Paris between 1190 and 1209 for the right bank portion and between 1200 and 1215 for the left bank which was less exposed. The Louvre castle stands west, the most exposed side, as English soldiers were occupying Normandy less than 100 km away. This decision was also motivated by a previous Norman invasion in 845 that almost captured the city.

The castle is composed of a squared fortress (78 m by 72 m), surrounded by a 10 m wide moat fed by the water of the nearby Seine river. The wall on the west side, which overlooks the countryside, is thicker and doorless as it was judged the most exposed side. The perimeter is reinforced by ten defensive towers, with emphasis on the corners. The space between towers never exceeds 25 m, the distance corresponding to the effective range of a bow. They are pierced with arrowslits to defend the ramparts. The castle has two entrances with the main one facing south and the Seine, while a secondary smaller one faces east and the city. These doors are protected by drawbridges and are framed between two twin towers. Two additional buildings housing the garrisons and the arsenals are located outside of the surrounding wall, to the west and south of the central courtyard, respectively.

The set of curtains and walls are at a slight downward angle to hamper sapping attempts and to facilitate the rebound of projectiles thrown from the top against attacking soldiers.

A dungeon named the Grosse Tour (Big Tower in french) was built in 1200 in the center of the courtyard. It is a circular dungeon with a diameter of 15.6 m and is enclosed by a 30 m tall wall that is 4.25 m thick at its base. It is surrounded by a 9 m wide ditch that is 6 m deep. This ditch is dry (i.e. not flooded) and paved with large irregular stones. It is crossed by a drawbridge. The interior arch was built in stone to limit the risk of fire. The dungeon has a conical roof slate over the machicolation. It features a well and a large tank for supporting long sieges, as well as a chapel.

Philippe Auguste chose a round dungeon, instead of a squared or rectangular one, for military reasons. Indeed, enemy pioneers could more easily sap the wall at the angles of squared towers compared to circular towers.

The dungeon had initially a military function as the refuge of the king. However, it essentially housed the royal treasure and archives, at least until Philippe le Bel. It was also used as a prison until the 14th century. Notable prisoners included Ferdinand, Count of Flanders, which was defeated and captured at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214 and that spent thirteen years imprisoned in this dungeon.

This castle is a typical example of the philipian architecture. (fr)

The royal residence


Under King Louis IX of France, the castle was enlarged and new rooms were built without any real defensive purpose, like the Salle Saint-Louis (Room Saint-Louis in french) in 1230-1240.

At the time of the King Charles V of France, which reigned from 1364 to 1380, Paris extended widely beyond the walls of Philippe-Auguste. The king built a new enclosure, which encompasses these new quarters, as well as the Louvre castle: The Wall of Charles V. The King decided to sacrifice some military devices to make it more habitable as a safe royal residence. He was especially worried about his safety after the riot of February 22, 1358 led by Étienne Marcel, the merchants' provost, that threatened the king inside the Palais de la Cité. This gradual changes meant the castle lost much of its original military purpose in favor of a safe royal residence.

His architect Raymond du Temple added turrets, statues and habitable surfaces, created gardens and pierced wider openings. King Charles V repurposed the northwest tower (tower of the Falconry) into the First Royal Library which contained nine hundred manuscripts.

The miniature illustrations of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry in french) show the Louvre castle during that time. They give a general idea of the layout of the fortress, although at that time aesthetic or comfort adjustments were made to the detriment of military concerns.

During the Hundred Years' War, English soldiers commanded by Henry V of England allied to the Burgundian, who controlled Paris, entered the city on December 1, 1420 and occupied the Louvre castle without a fight. They found the city ruined by civil war and scarcity and stayed there until 1436.

Progressive demolition to give place to the Cour Carrée


In 1525, King Francis I of France was defeated and held prisoner in Pavia. During his captivity, the Court interfered with the King decisions using its droit de remontrance (right of remonstrance in french). In addition, the faculty of theology and the Parliament of Paris started to showed some independence. The king held a lit de justice on July 24, 26 and 27, 1526 during which he demonstrated his authority and decided to take back his kingdom and make the Louvre castle his main residence in Paris. As a symbol of his authority, he ordered the demolition of the dungeon in 1528 in order to build an Italian style palace. In 1546, he charged the architect Pierre Lescot to build a modern palace in the spirit of the Renaissance architecture, with a large hôtel particulier and ceremonial rooms. After the death of Francis I in 1547, his son Henry II of France continued the work by Pierre Lescot. Between December 1546 and March 1549, he had the west wall destroyed to build a ballroom and the south wall to erect the royal pavilion (1553-1556), which housed the royal apartments and the small gallery.

After the death of Henry II, his widow Catherine de' Medici continued the development of the south wing for her apartments. From 1564 onwards, she prioritised the construction of the new Tuileries Palace and the establishment of a large Renaissance garden.

Under Henri III of France, the Louvre became a space for the royalty, a place of entertainment and the theater of historical events such as the marriage of the future King Henri IV of France with Margaret of Valois which led to the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572.

During his reign,Henri IV of France destroyed the remaining elements on the south side, including the moat, in order to build the Grande galerie (Great Gallery in french) connecting the Louvre and the Tuileries. This was completed in 1610. He also began the construction of the Cour Carrée on the base of the existing Lescot wing. The surface was four times the size of the original medieval court. Some buildings between the two palaces were also destroyed. This project, named le Grand Dessein (the Grand Design in french), also had a military function by establishing a covered walkway between the Louvre and the Tuileries outside the city walls. Henry IV created this walkway in case he needed to flee on horseback during a riot.

In order to establish his power, on April 24 1617, the young King Louis XIII of France murdered Concino Concini, the favorite of his mother Marie de' Medici, at the entrance gate connecting the castle to the city.

Louis XIII demolished the northern part of the medieval enclosure in order to extend the Lescot wing in this direction, providing symmetry. The eastern part was demolished by Louis XIV of France to allow for the construction of the Perrault's Colonnade.

The medieval Louvre remains


During the 19th century, it was found that the keep and two of the four walls were not completely demolished but only taken down to fill the ditches with stones to prepare for the construction of the Louvre Palace.

During the construction of the Grand Louvre, the bases of the keep and the two walls were cleared. A major excavation campaign resulted in the discovery of hundreds of everyday life objects. They are now accessible to the public in a collection named Medieval Louvre which features the lower room (today known as the Salle Saint-Louis) and the objects found during the excavations (small games, jugs, flasks, ...).