Joux castle and its terrible well
And also
The tops
In the beginning of Joux story, we found cruel lords, like Amaury III of Joux. Maybe he forced his serfs to dig the dark well ? It was in this well (about 140 metres deep) he put his own wife...
Waiting
The story took place during the first Crusade: Amaury quickly went to the Holy Land, leaving his wife, Berthe d’Auxonne and their son alone in the castle.
She waited him 7 years. 7 long years, and one day, gossips said Amaury had died at war! Berthe was a widow, but she had to live. With another man, why not…
Her best friend (and cousin) came to see her. He was Amé de Montfaucon, a handsome and courtly knight.
He was wounded and asked for his cousin’s help. Soon, they fell in love… and started to share the same bed, in the fortress of Joux… hey, Amaury was dead, after all!
Real madness
Because one fine day, Amaury came back out of the blue in the lovers’ bedroom, HIS bedroom: he wasn’t dead at all and came back from the Crusade!
Bushy, stinking like a goat, but alive. He didn’t wait: he hung Amé and put Berthe in the well. “Confess your fault, you traitress”, yelled Amaury. Berthe confessed everything…
So Amaury locked her in the tiniest and most sinister jail of the castle (we still can see it): in front of the small loophole, Amaury put Amé’s cadaver, completely rotten…
She stayed here 12 years, until Amaury’s death. When her son set her free, it was too late: she had lost her mind…