Editing Château d'Amboise (section)

===Origins===
[[File:Amboise castle, aerial view.jpg|thumb|left|The château seen from the south]]
The Château d'Amboise was built on a spur above the river [[Loire]]. The strategic qualities of the site were recognised before the medieval construction of the castle, and a [[Gaul|Gallic]] [[oppidum]] was built there.<ref>{{harvnb|Garrett|2010|p=97}}</ref> In the late 9th&nbsp;century [[Ingelger]] was made viscount of Orléans and through his mother was related to [[Hugh the Abbot]], tutors to the French kings. Ingelgarius married [[Adelais of Amboise]], a member of a prominent family (a bishop and archbishop were her uncles) who controlled Château d'Amboise. He was later made [[Count of Anjou]] and his rise can be attributed to his political connections and reputation as a soldier. The Château d'Amboise would pass through Ingelger and Adelais' heirs, and he was succeeded by their son, [[Fulk I, Count of Anjou|Fulk the Red]]. As Fulk the Red expanded his territory, Amboise, [[Loches]], and [[Villentrois]] formed the core of his possessions.<ref>{{harvnb|Bachrach|1993|pp=4–5}}</ref> Amboise lay on the eastern frontier of the Angevins holdings.<ref>{{harvnb|Bachrach|1993|pp=15–16}}</ref>

Amboise and its castle descended through the family to [[Fulk III, Count of Anjou|Fulke Nerra]] in 987. Fulk had to contend with the ambitions of [[Odo&nbsp;I, Count of Blois]] who wanted to expand his own territory into Anjou. Odo&nbsp;I could call on the support of many followers and instructed [[Conan I of Rennes|Conan, Count of Rennes]], [[Gelduin of Saumur]], and Abbot Robert of Saint-Florent de Saumur to harass Fulk's properties. While Conan was busy on Anjou's western border, Gelduin and Robert attempted to isolate the easternmost castles of Amboise and [[Château de Loches|Loches]] by raiding the Saumurois and disrupting communications.<ref>{{harvnb|Bachrach|1993|pp=27–28}}</ref> To further threaten Amboise, fortifications were erected at [[Château de Chaumont|Chaumont]] and [[Château de Montsoreau|Montsoreau]], while [[Saint-Aignan, Loir-et-Cher|Saint-Aignan]] was garrisoned.<ref>{{harvnb|Bachrach|1993|pp=36–37}}</ref>

There is a 12th-century ''[[Liber de compositione castri Ambaziae et ipsius dominorum gesta|Book of the Construction of the Castle of Amboise and the Deeds of Its Lords]]''.