Editing Château de Montsoreau (section)

== History ==
=== Middle Ages ===
The first written source describing the site under the name ''Restis'' dates back to the 6th century.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Congrès Archéologique de France|last=Prigent|first=Dominique|publisher=Société Française d'Archéologie|year=2003|location=Paris|pages=255}}</ref> It was transformed into a fortified castle by [[Counts of Blois|Eudes, the First count of Blois]], in 990. In 1001, it was taken by the Anjou realm,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Le comte d'Anjou et son entourage au XIe siècle|last=Guillot |first=Olivier |year=1972|location=Paris |pages=310}}</ref> and [[Fulk III, Count of Anjou|Foulques Nerra]] gave it to Gautier I of Montsoreau. Gautier I belonged to one of the most pre-eminent families of Anjou.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Le comte d'Anjou et son entourage au XIe siècle|last=Guillot |first=Olivier |year=1972|location=Paris |pages=32}}</ref> Thus, the ''Castrum Monsorelli'' became one of the forty fortified castles in Anjou and one of the few to be given the title of lordship at the turn of the year 1000. A town developed quickly near the castle, and in the ''narratio de commendatione Turonice provincie'', edited by Salmon in 1854, the site was mentioned as one of ''oppidis munitissimi et populosis'' by the second half of the 11th century<ref>{{Cite book|title=Le comté d'Anjou sous Henri Plantagenêt et ses fils|last=Boussard |first=Jean |year=1938|location=Paris |pages=11}}</ref> Written sources from the 12th century attested to a right to raise taxes<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Montsoreau : un château, un port|last=Manase|first=Victor|journal=Bull. Soc. Des Amis du Pays Lochois|location=Loches|pages=87–99}}</ref>

When the [[order of Fontevraud]] was settled in 1101, [[Fontevraud Abbey]] was supervised by Gautier de Montsoreau, who took direct orders from the Count of Anjou.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Notice historique sur le château et la commune de Montsoreau|last=Raimbault|publisher=Arch. Départementales du Maine-et-Loire|year=1965|location=Angers|pages=304–314}}</ref> Gautier's stepmother, [[Hersende of Champagne|Hersende de Champagne]], was the first prior and co-founder of the Abbey with [[Robert of Arbrissel|Robert d'Arbrissel]].

Guillaume IV de Montsoreau was on Geoffrey Plantagenet's side against his brother [[Henri II Plantagenet]], the future King of England, and [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]]'s husband. The latter besieged the ''castrum'' and took it at the end of August 1152, despite its fortification.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Les anciens seigneurs de Montsoreau|last=Desme de Chavigny|first=Olivier|year=1888|location=Tours|pages=18}}</ref> He captured Guillaume and his defenders. Guillaume IV, however, was restored to the castle later. An order of King Henry II of England (about 1068) concerning the landscape project of the Loire was signed by Guillaume de Montsoreau and his son Guillaume. In 1171, Guillaume's son gave the Turpenay monks the right to build tax-free houses inside the ''castrum''. Gauthier, his eldest son, had no sons and so the lordship passed to the Savary de Montbazon family, on the marriage of his daughter Ferrie in 1213<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://daniel.derigal.free.fr/Oxygene%202014/n90883.htm|title=Pierre II de Montbazon|last=Derigal|first=Daniel|date=2017|website=daniel.derigal.free.fr|access-date=11 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803161837/http://daniel.derigal.free.fr/Oxygene%202014/n90883.htm|archive-date=3 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> to Pierre II Savary de Montbazon, lord of [[Montbazon]].

After his victory at Bouvines, Philippe-Auguste chose him in 1214, with Guy Turpin, archdeacon of Tours, to negotiate peace with King John. The second house of Montsoreau disappeared in 1362, with the wedding of the only daughter of Renaud VII and Guillaume II de Craon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thierryhelene.bianco.free.fr/drupal/?q=node/88|title=Les sires de Montsoreau|last=Bianco|first=Thierry and Hélène|date=2000|website=thierryhelene.bianco.free.fr}}</ref> The fourth house, one of the Chabot family, lasted only a few decades.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Histoire de la maison royale de France|last=de Sainte-Marie|first=Anselme|publisher=La compagnie des libraires|year=1728|location=Paris|pages=563}}</ref>

In 1450, to pay off debts, Louis II Chabot sold his domains of Montsoreau and Coutancière to his brother-in-law Jean II de Chambes,<ref>Jean II de Chambes épouse Jeanne Chabot, première dame d'honneur de la reine, le 17 mars 1445</ref> who undertook to rebuild the castle at Montsoreau.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=UNESCO|date=22 May 2017|title=Charles VII et Louis XI|url=http://www.valdeloire.org/Connaitre/Au-fil-de-l-histoire/Le-Val-de-Loire-siege-du-pouvoir-royal/Charles-VII-et-Louis-XI|website=valdeloire.org}}</ref> A descendant of Angoumois old noble family (near the city of Angoulême), Jean II de Chambes began in [[Charles VII of France|Charles VII]] service as an esquire in 1426,<ref name="bachelier.free.fr">{{Cite web|url=http://g.bachelier.free.fr/chambes.htm|title=Chambes|last=Bachelier|date=2000|website=bachelier.free.fr}}</ref> the years before the interview between the King and [[Joan of Arc|Jeanne d'Arc]] in the [[Château de Chinon|Castle of Chinon]]. Baker in chief, Councillor and Chamberlain, he became in 1444 "first master of ostel" of the King;<ref name="bachelier.free.fr" /> at the same time he associated with [[Jacques Cœur|Jacques Coeur]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Les affaires de Jacques Coeur, journal du procureur Dauvet|last=Mollat|first=M.|year=1952|location=Paris|pages=483, 618}}</ref> Jean II de Chambes received a considerable amount of money that was owed to him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://racineshistoire.free.fr/LGN/PDF/Craon.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://racineshistoire.free.fr/LGN/PDF/Craon.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Jean II de Chambes|date=2001|website=geneanet}}</ref> He performed diplomatic missions as an ambassador to [[Venice]] in 1459 to prepare a new crusade.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Dictionnaire de biographie française|last=du Romant d'Amat|first=Prévost|year=1959|location=Paris|pages=243}}</ref> His lordships of Montsoreau and Argenton, but also his governorship of La Rochelle and Lord Provost and Captain of Niort, Talmont-sur-Gironde and Aigues-Mortes assured him revenues.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://g.bachelier.free.fr/chambes.htm|title=De Chambes|last=Bachelier|date=12 February 2005|website=bachelier.free.fr}}</ref>

=== Modern times ===
[[File:© Dominique Drouet-Montsoreau .jpg|thumb|The Château de Montsoreau along the Loire river]]
From 1450 to 1460, {{Ill|Jean II de Chambes|fr|Jean II de Chambes}} played a role as ambassador, and was called out of Anjou, while the castle was being built. His political and financial influence rose during these years including his closeness to Charles VII. Closer to [[Charles VII of France|Charles VII]] than [[Louis XI]], Jean II de Chambes gradually withdrew from politics from 1461.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Congrès Archéologique de France|last=Prigent|first=Dominique|publisher=Société d'Archéologie Française|year=2003|location=Paris|pages=256}}</ref>

Jean III de Chambes succeeded his father, who died in 1473 and married Marie de Chateaubriant, who founded in 1519 the Holy Cross Collegiate Church across<ref>{{Cite book|title=Congrès Archéologique de France|last=Litoux|first=Emmanuel|publisher=Société Française d'Archéologie|year=2003|location=Paris|pages=256}}</ref> the moat surrounding the castle. In 1530, Philippe de Chambes, who lived in Montsoreau, married Anne de Laval-Montmorency. His eldest son, {{Ill|Jean VI de Chambes|fr|Jean VI de Chambes}} inherited the field of Coutancière and saw his lands made up into a barony in 1560.

Montsoreau was sacked by the Protestants in 1568. The Holy Cross Collegiate and the fortifications of the city were destroyed. Four years later, Jean VI de Chambes acquitted himself in the organisation of the "[[St. Bartholomew's Day massacre|Saint Bartholomew]] Angevine<ref name="thierryhelene.bianco.free.fr">{{Cite web|url=http://thierryhelene.bianco.free.fr/drupal/?q=node/88|title=Les sires de Montsoreau|last=Bianco|first=Thierry et Hélène|date=2000|publisher=thierryhelene.bianco.free.fr}}</ref>" in Saumur and Angers. His Barony was confirmed by Letters Patent in 1573 and 1575.<ref name="thierryhelene.bianco.free.fr" />

After his death in 1575, his brother Charles de Chambes became Count of Montsoreau and the following year he married [[Françoise de Maridor]], whose name was attached to the murder of [[Louis de Bussy d'Amboise]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=La véritable histoire de la dame de Montsoreau|last=Levron|first=J.|publisher=Chapelon|year=1938|location=Paris}}</ref>

Garrisons of seventy warriors lived in the castle in the course of the last decade of the 16th century.<ref>{{Cite book|title=La garnison du château de Montsoreau|last=Seignan|first=M.|publisher=Bull. Soc. Lettres, Sci. et Arts du Saumurois|year=1922|location=Saumur|pages=15–19}}</ref> This ceased to exist during the reign of [[Louis XIII]], and René de Chambes sought a garrison of royal troops but was refused by [[Cardinal Richelieu|Richelieu]]. As a counterfeiter, he was sentenced to death and had to flee to England and was never able to return. After the death of his successor Bernard de Chambes, the castle of Montsoreau was rarely occupied by its various owners. The eldest daughter of Bernard de Chambes married Louis Francis Bouchet, who died in 1716,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Dictionnaire Géographique, Historique et Politique des Gaules et de la France|last=L'abbé Expilly|publisher=Edition scientifiques Royales|year=1770|location=Paris|pages=867}}</ref> leaving 400,000 ''livres'' of debts. His eldest son Louis I de Bouchet, married Jeanne Pocholle Hamel<ref name=":0" /> who brought a 200,000 ''livres'' dowry.

=== Contemporary period ===
[[File:Chateau de Montsoreau Museum of contemporary art.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of the castle]]The widow of Louis Francois II de Bouchet Sourches, Marquis of Tourzel, sold the château and what remained of the domain of Montsoreau after 1804. Following the sale of the property, the building was occupied by 19 different homeowners who reshaped the site. The external condition of the main building is known through various representations and descriptions made in the second half of the nineteenth century, which reflect the disrepair of the property.<ref>Significant views of the château before restoration : A.D. Maine-et-Loire, Coll. Icon. Célestin Port, Carton 27</ref> By 1910, the château had deteriorated and this moved the members of the French Archaeological Society ({{Ill|French Archaeological Society|lt=Société Française d'Archéologie|fr|Société française d'archéologie}}). Senator Geoffre asked the [[Maine et Loire]] department General Council to intervene. The department gradually acquired each property after 1913, Restoration works were undertaken in 1923 and continued until the [[Second World War]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.maine-et-loire.fr/conseil-departemental/grands-projets/soutien-des-sites-patrimoniaux-majeurs/montsoreau/|title=Le château de Montsoreau|date=2016|website=Conseil départemental du Maine-et-Loire|access-date=12 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728211415/http://www.maine-et-loire.fr/conseil-departemental/grands-projets/soutien-des-sites-patrimoniaux-majeurs/montsoreau/|archive-date=28 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After a new programme of restoration between 1997 and 2001, the château opened to visitors on 6 July 2001 with a ''[[Son et lumière (show)|son-et-lumiere]]'' entitled "The Imaginaries of Loire" which attracted about 35,000 visitors a year.

In June 2015, the Maine and Loire council leased the Château to [[Philippe Méaille]], to create the [[Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art]] which opened to the public in April 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mutualart.com/Article/Combining-Past--Present-and-Future--The-/DCC6DC54DE5810EF|title=Combining Past, Present and Future: The Contemporary Art Museum at Château de Montsoreau|website=Mutual Art}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-collector-turned-15th-century-french-castle-contemporary-art-destination|title=The Collector Who Turned a 15th-Century French Castle into a Contemporary Art Destination|last=Chernick|first=Karen|date=20 September 2019|website=Artsy|language=en|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref> Its collection holds artworks by the [[Art & Language]] group, and organizes temporary shows, conferences and symposia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=de Montjoie|first=Daisy|date=25 June 2016|title=Philippe Méaille installe sa collection au Château de Montsoreau|url=https://www.connaissancedesarts.com/art-contemporain/philippe-meaille-installe-sa-collection-au-chateau-de-montsoreau-1126444/|journal=Connaissance des Arts}}<br/>- {{Cite journal|last=Gleadell|first=Colin|date=23 June 2015|title=Largest Collection of Radical Conceptualists Art & Language Finds a Home in a French Château|url=https://news.artnet.com/market/art-language-philippe-meaille-french-chateau-310458|journal=Artnet News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hyperallergic.com/522074/chateau-de-montsoreau-museum-of-contemporary-art-art-and-language/|title=A Historic Conceptual Art Group Has Taken Over a French Château|date=14 October 2019|website=Hyperallergic|language=en-US|access-date=23 October 2019}}</ref>