Editing Château de Chenonceau (section)

== History ==

===The Marques family===
In the 13th century, the [[fief]] of Chenonceau belonged to the Marques family. The original château was torched in 1412 to punish the owner, Jean Marques, for an act of [[sedition]]. He rebuilt a [[château]] and fortified [[watermill|mill]] on the site in the 1430s. Jean Marques' indebted heir Pierre Marques found it necessary to sell.
[[File:ChenonceauLogisPlanDuCerceau2.jpg|thumb|left|Plan of the main block, engraved by [[Jacques I Androuet du Cerceau|Du Cerceau]] (1579)]]

===Thomas Bohier===
{{Interlanguage link multi|Thomas Bohier|fr}}, [[Chamberlain (office)|Chamberlain]] to King [[Charles VIII of France]], purchased the castle from Pierre Marques in 1513 and demolished most of it (resulting in 2013 being considered the 500th anniversary of the castle: [[Roman numerals|MDXIII]]–MMXIII), though its 15th-century keep was left standing. Bohier built an entirely new residence between 1515 and 1521. The work was overseen by his wife [[Katherine Briçonnet]],{{sfn|Garrett|2010|p=107}} who delighted in hosting French nobility, including [[Francis I of France|King Francis I]] on two occasions.

===Diane de Poitiers===
[[File:ChenonceauduCerceau01.jpg|thumb|The château with de l'Orme's bridge, before the addition of the [[Long gallery|gallery]]: views from the west (top) and east (bottom), drawn by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau {{Circa|1570}}]]

In 1535 the château was seized from {{ill|Antoine II Bohier|fr|lt=Bohier's son}} by King [[Francis I of France]] for unpaid debts to the Crown. After Francis' death in 1547, [[Henry II of France|Henry II]] offered the château as a gift to his mistress, [[Diane de Poitiers]], who became fervently attached to the château along the river.{{sfn|Garrett|2010|p=108}} In 1555 she commissioned [[Philibert de l'Orme]] to build the arched bridge joining the château to its opposite bank.<ref name=MoC>{{Base Mérimée|PA00097654|PA00097654, "Domaine de Chenonceaux"}}</ref> Diane then oversaw the planting of extensive flower and vegetable gardens along with a variety of fruit trees. Set along the banks of the river, but buttressed from flooding by stone terraces, the exquisite gardens were laid out in four triangles.

Diane de Poitiers was the unquestioned mistress of the castle, but ownership remained with the crown until 1555 when years of delicate legal manoeuvres finally yielded possession to her.

===Catherine de' Medici===
After King Henry II died in 1559, his strong-willed widow and regent [[Catherine de' Medici]] forced Diane to exchange it for the [[Château Chaumont]].{{Sfn |Garrett|2010|p=93}}  Queen Catherine then made Chenonceau her own favourite residence, adding a new series of gardens.

[[File:Chateau de Chenonceau..jpg|thumb|left|View from the northeast showing the chapel and the library]]

As [[Regent]] of France, Catherine spent a fortune on the château and on spectacular nighttime parties.  In 1560, the first-ever fireworks display seen in France took place during the celebrations marking the ascension to the throne of Catherine's son [[Francis II of France|Francis II]].  The grand [[Long gallery|gallery]], which extended along the existing bridge to cross the entire river, was dedicated in 1577. Catherine also added rooms between the chapel and the library on the east side of the ''[[corps de logis]]'', as well as a service wing on the west side of the entry courtyard.{{sfn|Hanser|2006|p=61}}

[[File:SchlossChenonceauPlanvonKatharinavonMedici.png|thumb|Project for the expansion of the château from  [[Jacques Androuet du Cerceau|Du Cerceau]]'s 1579 book]]
[[File:Chateau de Chenonceau,vue d'avion..JPG|thumb|Aerial view of the château and its gardens]]

Catherine considered an even greater expansion of the château, shown in an engraving published by [[Jacques Androuet du Cerceau]] in the second (1579) volume of his book ''Les plus excellents bastiments de France''. If this project had been executed, the current château would have been only a small portion of an enormous manor laid out "like pincers around the existing buildings."{{sfn|Hanser|2006|p=61}}

===Louise de Lorraine===
[[File:Louise de Lorraine.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.5|Louise de Lorraine]]

On Catherine's death, in January 1589, the château went to her daughter-in-law, [[Louise of Lorraine]], wife of King [[Henry III of France|Henry III]].  Louise was at Chenonceau when she learned of her husband's assassination, in August 1589, and she fell into a state of depression. Louise spent the next 11 years, until her death in January 1601, wandering aimlessly along the château's corridors dressed in mourning clothes, amidst sombre black [[Tapestry|tapestries]] stitched with skulls and crossbones.

===Duc de Vendôme===
[[Henri IV of France|Henry IV]] obtained Chenonceau for his mistress [[Gabrielle d'Estrées]] by paying the debts of Catherine de' Medici, which had been inherited by Louise and were threatening to ruin her. In return, Louise left the château to her niece [[Françoise de Lorraine]], at that time six years old and betrothed to the four-year-old [[César, Duke of Vendôme]], the natural son of Gabrielle d'Estrées and Henry IV. The château belonged to the Duke of Vendôme and his descendants for more than a hundred years.{{sfn|Wheeler|1979|p=67}} The [[House of Bourbon|Bourbons]] had little interest in the château, except for hunting. In 1650, [[Louis XIV]] was the last king of the ''[[ancien régime]]'' to visit.{{sfn|Gaigneron|1993|p=17}}

The Château de Chenonceau was bought by the [[Duke of Bourbon]] in 1720.  Little by little, he sold off all of the castle's contents.  Many of the fine statues ended up at [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]].<ref name=Novak164/>

===Louise Dupin===
[[File:Louise Marie Madeleine Fontaine by Jean-Marc Nattier, ca 1733.jpg|thumb|[[Louise Dupin]] by [[Jean-Marc Nattier|Nattier]]]]

In 1733 the estate was sold for 130,000&nbsp;[[French livre|livres]] to a wealthy squire named {{Interlanguage link multi|Claude Dupin|fr}}.{{sfn|Garrett|2010|p=108}} His wife, [[Louise Dupin]], was the natural daughter of the financier [[Samuel Bernard (financier)|Samuel Bernard]] and the actress {{Interlanguage link multi|Manon Dancourt|fr}}, whose mother was also an actress who had joined the [[Comédie Française]] in 1684. Louise Dupin was "an intelligent, beautiful, and highly cultivated woman who had the theatre in her blood."{{sfn|Gaigneron|1993|p=20}} Claude Dupin, a widower, had a son, Louis Claude, from his first wife [[Marie-Aurore de Saxe]], who was the grandmother of [[George Sand]] (born Aurore Dupin).<ref>The confusions of father and son and of Marie Aurore and Louise Dupin have been clarified by the George Sand scholar, Georges Lubin {{harv|Gaigneron|1993|p=20}}</ref>

Louise Dupin's literary salon at Chenonceau attracted such  leaders of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] as the writers [[Voltaire]], [[Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu|Montesquieu]], and  [[Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle|Fontenelle]], the naturalist [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon|Buffon]], the playwright [[Pierre de Marivaux|Marivaux]], the philosopher [[Étienne Bonnot de Condillac|Condillac]], as well as the [[Claudine Guérin de Tencin|Marquise de Tencin]] and the [[Marquise du Deffand]].{{sfnm|Garrett|2010|1p=108|Gaigneron|1993|2p=20}} [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] was Dupin's secretary and tutored her son. Rousseau, who worked on ''Émile'' at Chenonceau, wrote in his ''Confessions'': "We played music there and staged comedies. I wrote a play in verse entitled ''Sylvie's Path'', after the name of a path in the park along the Cher."<ref>Translated and quoted in {{harvnb|Gaigneron|1993|p=20}}.</ref>

The widowed Louise Dupin saved the château from destruction during the [[French Revolution]], preserving it from being destroyed by the Revolutionaries because "it was essential to travel and commerce, being the only bridge across the river for many miles."<ref name=Beck454>Beck 2011, p. 454.</ref> <!-- The following is likely misinformation: "She is said to be the one who changed the spelling of the Château (from Chenonceaux to Chenonceau) to please the villagers during the French Revolution. She dropped the "x" at the end of the château's name to differentiate what was a symbol of royalty from the Republic. Although no official sources have been found to support this legend, the château has been since referred to and accepted as Chenonceau." Du Cerceau spelt the name without the "x" in 1579, and many modern sources use the "x". See also Hanser 2006, p. 61. -->

===Marguerite Pelouze===
[[File:ChenonceauN1851.jpg|thumb|The entrance façade in 1851, before Roguet's interventions]]
[[File:ChenonceauLogisNordseite-2 (adjusted).jpg|thumb|Entrance façade in 2007]]

In 1864 {{Interlanguage link multi|Marguerite Pelouze|fr |3=Marguerite Wilson}}, a rich heiress, acquired the château. Around 1875 she commissioned the architect Félix Roguet to restore it. He almost completely renewed the interior and removed several of Catherine de' Medici's additions, including the rooms between the library and the chapel and her alterations to the north façade, among which were figures of [[Hercules]], [[Pallas (Giant)|Pallas]], [[Apollo]], and [[Cybele]] that were moved to the park. With the money Marguerite spent on these projects and elaborate parties, her finances were depleted, and the château was seized and sold.{{sfnm|Babelon|1989|1pp=600–601|Hanser|2006|2p=61|3a1=Draper|3a2=Papet|3y=2014|3pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xys_AwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA226  226–227]}}

===Recent history===
José-Emilio Terry, a [[Cuba]]n millionaire, acquired Chenonceau from Madame Pelouze in 1891. Terry sold it in 1896 to a family member, Francisco Terry.<ref name=Beck454/> In 1913, the château was acquired by [[Henri Menier]], a member of the [[Menier family]], famous for [[Menier Chocolate|their chocolates]], who still own it to this day.{{sfn|Gaigneron|1993|p=22}}

During [[World War I]], [[Gaston Menier]] set up the [[Long gallery|gallery]] to be used as a hospital ward.<ref name=Beck454/> During the [[World War II|Second World War]], the château was bombed by the Germans in June 1940.{{sfn|Hanser|2006|pp=61–62}} It was also a means of escaping from the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]]-[[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|occupied zone]] on one side of the River Cher to the "free" zone on the opposite bank.<ref name=Beck454/> Occupied by the Germans, the château was bombed by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] on 7 June 1944, when the chapel was hit and its windows destroyed.{{sfn|Hanser|2006|p=62}}

In 1951, the Menier family entrusted the château's restoration to [[Bernard Voisin]], who brought the dilapidated structure and the gardens (ravaged in the [[Cher (river)|Cher]] flood in 1940) back to a reflection of its former glory.{{sfn|Voisin|1993}} {{Clear}}