Les Baux de Provence: the Castle
The castle is very interesting in part because the French Historical Monuments Commission has done a great job of producing an excellent multilingual audio guide and explanatory panels, including several that show images of what the place might have looked like when it was a fully functioning castle in the Middle Ages (as depicted here).
There is evidence that the hill on which the castle is situated was occupied as early as 6000 BC, but most of what is there today goes back only to the Middle Ages. The castle was built during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries as a feudal fortress headed by a family of princes who exercised absolute power over some 79 towns and villages that included most of the populations of Provence, Comtat Venaissin and the Dauphiné, and even parts of northern Italy. This family constituted the House of Baux and maintained its control over this vast region until 1426 when the domain was taken over by the Counts of Provence and then by the French Crown. Interestingly, in 1642, King Louis XIII gave the seigneury of Baux to the Grimaldi Family of the Principality of Monaco whose princes (currently Albert II) still bear the title of Marquis de Baux. There is an exhibit in the town museum that recounts the official visit to the city by Princess Grace of Monaco with her son Albert, Marquis de Baux, only a few months before her death in 1982 in a car accident. It is quite obvious that the town remembers that visit with great fondness and pride.
The castle was destroyed at least twice during its history, once in 1483 under the authority of King Louis XI, and again in 1631 following orders from Cardinal Richelieu, the Prime Minister of Louis XIII. It was rebuilt after the first of these episodes, but not after the second. The result of the second phase of destruction is what we see today although some restoration work has been carried out in recent years.
Les Baux de Provence: the Castle
The castle is very interesting in part because the French Historical Monuments Commission has done a great job of producing an excellent multilingual audio guide and explanatory panels, including several that show images of what the place might have looked like when it was a fully functioning castle in the Middle Ages (as depicted here).
There is evidence that the hill on which the castle is situated was occupied as early as 6000 BC, but most of what is there today goes back only to the Middle Ages. The castle was built during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries as a feudal fortress headed by a family of princes who exercised absolute power over some 79 towns and villages that included most of the populations of Provence, Comtat Venaissin and the Dauphiné, and even parts of northern Italy. This family constituted the House of Baux and maintained its control over this vast region until 1426 when the domain was taken over by the Counts of Provence and then by the French Crown. Interestingly, in 1642, King Louis XIII gave the seigneury of Baux to the Grimaldi Family of the Principality of Monaco whose princes (currently Albert II) still bear the title of Marquis de Baux. There is an exhibit in the town museum that recounts the official visit to the city by Princess Grace of Monaco with her son Albert, Marquis de Baux, only a few months before her death in 1982 in a car accident. It is quite obvious that the town remembers that visit with great fondness and pride.
The castle was destroyed at least twice during its history, once in 1483 under the authority of King Louis XI, and again in 1631 following orders from Cardinal Richelieu, the Prime Minister of Louis XIII. It was rebuilt after the first of these episodes, but not after the second. The result of the second phase of destruction is what we see today although some restoration work has been carried out in recent years.