Hautefort castle's lion legend
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Primitive lords were the Lastours: the first lord was Guy le Noir (“Guy the Black”).
He get this naughty nickname from another lord who laughed at his burnt skin, calling him “blacksmith’s face”! (seen in the book Le tyrtée du Moyen-Age ou Histoire de Bertrand de Born by V. Laurens)
In 1096, Gouffier, Guy’s grand-grandson went, with all nobles from Limousin, to the first Crusade: poets would praise his bravery for centuries…
And a strange legend spread: they said that, on the Holy Land, Gouffier saved a lion from a big snake. The big cat, grateful, followed him like a dog, after that.
And when Gouffier had to come back in France, nobody wanted to embark the lion. So the big animal followed the boat and swam, broken-hearted. The poor creature died, dead tired, in the way...
Meanwhile, the castle had been put in Itier de Born’s care: the father of the most famous troubadour, Bertran de Born…
His brother Constantin would marry Gouffier’s grand-granddaughter in 1160: Agnès de Lastours. And a war between the two brothers began, in Hautefort…