The Château d'Harcourt is a stately home dating from the 17th and 18th century, now in ruins, located in the village of Thury-Harcourt, in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. It was the seat of the dukes of Harcourt and the Hartcourt family. Since World War II, only the façades, two entrance pavilions and a chapel remain. The ruins are listed as a historic monument.
Location
The ruins of the château are situated on the bank of the Orne, which traverses its park, 350 meters northwest of the Saint-Sauveur church in the village of Thury-Harcourt.
History
The Middle Ages: the barony of Thury
Since the Middle Ages, Thury had a castle, likely dating back to the 11th century when the Norman baron Raoul II Tesson du Cinglas was Lord of Thury. In 1046, he becomes involved in a plot to assassinate the young Duke of Normandy, the future William the Conqueror, before switching allegiances.
The Tesson family is succeeded by the Crespin family, when Jeanne Tesson married Jean Crespin. Their granddaughter, Blanche Crespin inherits the barony and marries Pierre de Préaux. Around 1367, their daughter marries Jacques de Bourbon-Préaux, who is the ‘grand bouteiller de France’, which is one of the Great Officers of the Crown of France. As they have no children, the barony of Thury returns to the Préaux family. They are again succeeded by the Ferrières and Amount families.
In 1522, the Montmorency family becomes owner when Anne d’Aumont married Claude de Montmorency, lord of Fosseux. The barony is elevated to a marquisate for their son, Pierre I, in 1578. Succession continues through Pierre I's son, Anne, who passes in 1592, followed by his grandson, Pierre II, who passes in 1615, and great-grandson, François (1614-1686).
The Harcourt family: construction of the current Château
In the 17th century, the Hartcourt family enters the history of Thury, when in 1635, Odet d'Harcourt acquires the marquisate of Thury. He constructs the oldest part of the current château.
Odet’s grandson, Henri d’Harcourt sells Thury to another Henri d’Harcourt (1654-1718), then marques of Beuvron. He was a successful military commander, who was appointed extraordinary ambassador to Spain in 1697. It were turbulent times as king Charles II of Spain (1661-1700) had no children and died without a direct heir. It is unknown which role Harcourt played in the intrigues following Charles’s death, but it resulted in a French Bourbon on the throne: Philip V. When he returned to France, the grateful king Louis XIV created him the first duke of Harcourt in 1700 and Marshal of France in 1703.
The first duke undertook the expansion of the château by adding a long wing overlooking the Orne river. The wing was covered by a mansard roof. Also, a chapel was added on the courtyard side of this wing. Interrupted by the death of the duke, the works were completed by his widows, Marie Anne Claude Brulart de Genlis, who installed her apartments at the north end of this new wing.
18th century: a royal visit
In the 18th century, the Duchy of Harcourt remained in their descendants' line until the 5th duke, François-Henri d'Harcourt (1726-1802), who only had one daughter, who was married to duke of Mortemart.
On the night of 21 June 22 June 1786, king Louis XVI and his entourage stayed at château in Thury-Harcourt during their journey to Cherbourg. Coming from Falaise, they were received by the duke and duchess of Harcourt, dined there, and then resumed their journey in the morning to Caen.
During the French Revolution, François Henri d'Harcourt emigrated, and his château and duchy of Harcourt were confiscated. His grandchildren managed to regain possession of the domain in the early 19th century.
Upon the death of the daughter of the Duchess of Mortemart, the Princess of Beauvau, in 1854, her children sold the château and the family treasues it contained in 1856 to their cousin, Eugène d'Harcourt (1786-1865), the 8th duke of Harcourt, whose descendants have retained it since.
World War II
At the beginning of 1940, about fifty objects from the château, already classified as historical monuments, furniture, artworks, and family souvenirs, were transferred to the Château de Carrouges as a precaution.
On 12 August 1944, the British 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division reached the outskirts of Thury-Harcourt.[1] At the same moment, soldiers from the retreating 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich set the château afire.[1] The castle and its treasures vanished amidst the inferno, along with over 150 paintings and a library containing over 15,000 books.[1] Also, a significant part of the archive of the Harcourt family was lost.
The Harcourt family decided not to reconstruct the château, except for the chapel. Besides this, only the ruins of the main façade (17th century) remain including the courtyard, accessed by a drawbridge flanked by two pavilions, overlooking dry moats.
Architecture
Interior (before 1944)
Inside the château, there were the following rooms and halls:
- The vast entrance vestibule with its sculpted décor and marble flooring. In the 18th century, the dining room was on its north side. On its south side, it was occupied by the main staircase, made of stone with a Louis XIV style wrought iron railing. Facing the entrance door, a niche contained a statue of King Louis XIV.
- The "Marshal's Hall," in the south wing, a long and spacious room panelled with natural wood, adorned with large equestrian portraits of various Marshals of France from the Harcourt lineage.
- The salon known as the "Ladies of Harcourt," also adorned with natural wood panelling, with a series of portraits representing different women of the Harcourt family under the French ceiling cornice.
- A boudoir adorned with white lacquered wood panelling, displaying, among other things, two portraits by Fragonard of the 5th Duke of Harcourt and his brother, the Duke of Beuvron.
- The "Governors' Salon," adorned with natural wood Louis XIV style panelling, displaying portraits of several prominent figures from the Harcourt lineage.
- The dining room, adorned with paintings above the doorways depicting the estate from various perspectives in the 18th century.
- The "red salon," adorned with several family portraits.
- The staircase leading to the first floor, decorated with eight large paintings depicting the story of Joseph, painted under Louis XIV.
- The room where King Louis XVI spent the night on his way to Cherbourg in 1786, furnished with Jouy fabric adorned with island birds.
- The boudoir adorned with white lacquered wood panelling, displaying eight arched-shaped paintings depicting scenes from the 18th century. Each of these eight paintings was topped by a medallion painting depicting a bouquet of flowers. These eight arched-shaped paintings survived the 1944 fire and were exhibited in the 1970s at the Château du Champ de Bataille.
Park
The château of Thury-Harcourt is surrounded by a vast park, redesigned around 1760 according to the ideas of François-Henri d'Harcourt, 5th Duke of Harcourt, Lieutenant-General of the King's Armies, Governor of Normandy, member of the French Academy, and author of a "Treatise on the Decoration of the Exterior, Gardens, and Parks" around 1774, advocating English landscape style.
The park of Harcourt Castle was famous in Europe, especially for the arrangement of a hill located facing it, on the left bank of the Orne river. It rivalled in charm and fame with the park of the château in Ermenonville. The writer Jean Baptiste Claude Delisle de Sales dedicated a poem to it. On 23 August 1788, the British agronomist Arthur Young visited the park, which he then described as "the most beautiful English garden in France."
The hill's amenities included groves of rare trees, antique-style garden structures, and paths, all providing artistic viewpoints. This part of the park was accessible from the castle by boat and by a specially built footbridge over the Orne.
From the Revolution onwards, the park was left without maintenance. In 1831, groves of trees and "a beautiful Lebanese cedar" were still visible on the hill.
The 18th-century park arrangements are now difficult to perceive.
Damaged by the 1944 battles, which partly destroyed the nearby town of Thury-Harcourt, the park was redesigned after the war by the 11th Duke of Harcourt. Near the "fantasy pavilion", flower gardens were created on three successive terraces in the vast park descending to the Orne.
References
- ^ a b c "Château d'Harcourt". www.normandie-tourisme.fr/ (in French). Retrieved 21 April 2024.
Literature
- Soulange-Bodin, Henri (1928). Châteaux de Normandie (in French). Vol. 1. Paris & Bruxelles: G. van Oest. pp. 46 à 58 & planches XXV à XXXVI.