Editing Château d'Angers (section)

==History==
Originally, the Château d'Angers was built as a fortress at a site inhabited by the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] because of its strategic defensive location.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hotel-france-hotels.com/pays-de-la-loire/angers/chateau/ |title=Chateau d'Angers in Pays de la Loire - the Loire Valley |publisher=Hotel-france-hotels.com |access-date=2015-09-25 |archive-date=2020-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128075721/http://www.hotel-france-hotels.com/pays-de-la-loire/angers/chateau/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the 9th century, the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Angers|Bishop of Angers]] gave the [[list of Counts and Dukes of Anjou|Counts of Anjou]] permission to build a castle in Angers.<ref name=Delbos33>Delbos (2010), p.&nbsp;33</ref> The construction of the first castle begun under Count [[Fulk III, Count of Anjou|Fulk III]] (970–1040), celebrated for his construction of dozens of castles, who built it to protect [[County of Anjou|Anjou]] from the [[Duchy of Normandy|Normans]].<ref name="routledge">{{cite journal|last1=Stoddard|first1=Whitney S.|title=Angers|journal= Routledge Revivals: Medieval France: An Encyclopedia|date=1995|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781351665667|pages=33–34|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XEQrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA33|access-date=10 April 2018|language=en}}</ref> It became part of the [[Angevin Empire]] of the [[Plantagenet]] Kings of England during the 12th century. In 1204, the region was conquered by [[Philip II of France|Philip II]] and the new castle was constructed during the minority of his grandson, [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]] ("Saint Louis") in the early part of the 13th century. Louis IX rebuilt the castle in whitestone and black slate, with 17 semicircular towers.<ref name="routledge"/> The construction undertaken in 1234 cost 4,422&nbsp;[[French livre|livres]], roughly one per cent of the estimated royal revenue at the time.<ref>Prestwich (1980), p.&nbsp;42</ref> Louis gave the castle to his brother, [[Charles I of Naples|Charles]] in 1246.<ref name=Delbos34>Delbos (2010), p.&nbsp;34</ref>

In 1352, King [[John II of France|John II]], gave the castle to his second son, [[Louis I, Duke of Anjou|Louis]] who later became count of Anjou. Married to the daughter of the wealthy [[Charles, Duke of Brittany]], Louis had the castle modified, and in 1373 commissioned the famous ''[[Apocalypse Tapestry]]'' from the painter [[Hennequin de Bruges]] and the Parisian tapestry-weaver [[Nicolas Bataille]]. [[Louis II of Naples|Louis II]] (Louis I's son) and [[Yolande d'Aragon]] added a chapel (1405–12) and royal apartments to the complex. The chapel is a ''sainte chapelle'', the name given to churches which enshrined a relic of the [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion]]. The relic at Angers was a splinter of the fragment of the [[True Cross]] which had been acquired by [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]].<ref name="routledge"/>

In the early 15th century, the hapless [[Dauphin of France|dauphin]] who, with the assistance of [[Joan of Arc]] would become King [[Charles VII of France|Charles VII]], had to flee Paris and was given sanctuary at the Château d'Angers.

[[File:Angers - Château - Le logis royal, la chapelle et le châtelet - 20080921.jpg|thumb|left|400px|The 15th-century chapel]]
In 1562, [[Catherine de' Medici]] had the castle restored as a powerful fortress, but, her son, [[Henry III of France|Henry III]], reduced the height of the towers and had the towers and walls stripped of their embattlements; Henry III used the castle stones to build streets and develop the village of Angers. Nonetheless, under threat of attacks from the [[Huguenots]], the king maintained the castle's defensive capabilities by making it a military outpost and by installing artillery on the château's upper terraces.  At the end of the 18th century, as a military garrison, it showed its worth when its thick walls withstood a massive bombardment by cannons from the [[Revolt in the Vendée|Vendean]] army. Unable to do anything else, the rebels simply gave up.

A military academy was established in the castle to train young officers in the strategies of war. [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington]], best known for defeating [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] at the [[Battle of Waterloo]], was trained at the Military Academy of Angers.{{sfnp|EB|1878}} The academy was moved to [[Saumur]] and the castle was used for the rest of the 19th century as a [[prison]], [[gunpowder|powder]] [[magazine (artillery)|magazine]], and [[barracks]].{{sfnp|EB|1878}}