Information from the Caumartin site http://www.chateaudecormatin.com/TestPages/history-cormatin.html The existing building was started in 1605. It used the foundations of a fortified castle built by Henri du Ble in 1280. The medieval fortress took advantage from the protection of the river , which flowed at the foot of its walls. The "great tower", or keep, would have occupied the site of the north-east Pavilion, where we will shortly see the marquise's apartments. Although of a very ancient lineage (already noble in the year 1000) the du Ble family for long remained only of local importance. It was not until 1560 that the family acquired by marriage the barony of Huxelles(some 2 kms away, between Cormatin and Chapaize) considered to be one of the grandest estates in Burgundy. At the end of the 16th Century, during the wars of religion, Antoine du Ble, Baron of Huxelles, was one of the principal military leaders of the Catholic Ligue in Burgundy. He added considerably to his fortune by extensive pillage. In 1595 he suddenly deserted the Catholic side in order to support the new king, Henri IV. He captured the town of Tournus from his former allies, a strategic crossing on the Soane. This rallying to the cause, although belated, brought him a considerable reward. Furthermore, in 1601 he was appointed Military Governor of Chalon, a position of trust in opposition to the Franche Comte. In 1605 Antoine du Blé started to rebuild Cormatin, the most ancient of the family properties. This building is very characteristic of the period. The first decades of the 17th Century saw the rebuilding of a great number of chateaux. The wars of religion occasioned the development of a new social order. The leading citizens wanted to affirm their new status. The building of a castle was an essential component of social recognition. A castle was not built in order to have a beautiful country house: it was built to make a statement about the owner, "to seat one's nobility". It was said at the time that " it is the chateau that makes the nobleman". Everything should combine to boost the building's prestige and symbolic value: the medieval site is retained to affirm the family's antiquity. The du Ble family could boast of belonging to the oldest nobility in the kingdom. They were already named as the nobility in the chateau in the charters of the Abbey of Cluny in the year 1000. These noble origins in time immemorial (they have no identifiable commoner ancestor) was an important element of prestige, which must be emphasised. It explains why the cradle of the family is "magnified" (made grand), rather than the castle at Uxelles, an otherwise more prestigious estate, but in the family for too short a time. The feudal ground plan is retained: a square with 4 towers at the corners. This design had both a practical motive (reusing the foundations) and a defensive motive (protection against brigands). At the outset, a rampart enclosed the side with the main entrance, and access was only possible across a drawbridge over the 26 m wide moat. Gun-ports cover all the walls in crossfire to reach any possible attackers. The enclosed plan had above all a political motive. With moat and drawbridge, the chateau could effectively withstand a small army, and therefore possibly the king's soldiers. Until the wars of La Fronde (1648-53), the nobility remained turbulent, continuing to haggle bitterly over their obedience to the crown. A military base allowed one to be feared and thus to be a more credible negotiator. The ramparts were demolished before the end of the 16th Century, as in many French chateaux. Even if there were practical aesthetic reasons (a courtyard open to the outside was less dreary and stuffy), the demolition was above all a political act. It testified to Louis XIV that the nobility accepted his authority and set aside all ideas of revolt. Around 1815 the moat was filled in with 12000 cu m of earth taken from the gardens. At the same time the facade were covered in ivy. In this way the image of a castle was obliterated to make way for that of a large bourgeois house. The moat was re-excavated in 1988-89 and the earth used to restore the levels in the gardens. R