2005-06-16
The Longest Lunch...
 
The word "logis" just means "residence" in general French usage, but the Logis of Vendée is one of the unique features of this part of France.  In fact, this is a Renaissance castle, in time like some we will soon see further up the Loire Valley (and we are in that valley today, as well).  The "logis" was a castle that was intimately integrated into the life of those who prospered and those who worked for that prosperity.  Here, peasants and nobles lived in relative intimacy, each depending on and respecting the other. 

Renaissance castles were born in the years after the Hundred Years War.  The Middle Ages were over and there was a real sense that peace and prosperity were the order of the day.  This new castle replace the dungeons and moats with emblems of those military functions of the castle and they focused on function and leasure.  Here is the main tower of the Chabotterie with the sun dial (always ask the lord of the castle for the time of day), the out-watch which now looked out for no enemies at all, and the arms of the family that held the privilege of arms and castle.

Unfortunately, almost as soon as it was finished, this new castle was rocked by the new wars that changed our modern world:  they call them in France the Wars of Religion.  Quite simply they were the civil wars between those of the new religion (Protestants) and those of the old (Catholics).  Soon after its construction, this castle was right in the middle of this bloody fray.

 

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This page last updated on 2005-06-16 12:38:42 PM.