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Kidnapping in Brousse castle

One of the towers | Christophe.Finot / CC-BY-SA
Castle Abduction Brousse castle

Brousse mood

In 935, we find the first mention of Brousse as Brucia, with lord Gilbert, count of Rouergue. Then, the fief fell to counts of Rodez in 1112, then in the next century to Bernard d’Arpajon.

Located on an important commercial crossroads, Brousse saw plenty of merchants passed by here, full of merchandise.

Lords of Brousse collected taxes from them, so they became very rich! Then they were appointed to important posts: one of them, Hugues, served king John the Good in the 14th c. Another one, Guy, was king Charles VIII’s chamberlain at the end of the 15th c…

Kidnapping!

Come here! The surrounding wall flanks by towers had a square tower, known as “the princess’ tower”.

In 1344, Jean d’Arpajon kidnapped the daughter of a local lord, Hélène de Castelnau, to marry her. And above all, the poor girl was only… 6 years-old!

Jean locked her in this dark tower, where we still can see her little bedroom… The king of France and Hélène’s parents, absolutely furious, besieged the castle.

Jean finally married Hélène, years after. The icing of the cake? Hélène’s mother married… Jean’s father!

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!