The castle | ©Calips / CC-BY-SAAn exile? Why?
Did you know Saint-Saturnin castle belonged to Catherine of Medici’s family? Catherine was from Florence (Italy) on her dad’s side, and French on her mum’s one! A mother whose name was Madeleine de La Tour-d’Auvergne, born in Auvergne, daughter of a Bourbon countess and a count of Auvergne.
But the last owner of the castle was Catherine’s daughter: queen Margot. After a sojourn in Nérac and Pau castle (where she chatted up a lot), she was exiled in Auvergne in Saint-Saturnin, few days. Exiled by her mum, in league with her brother, king of France Henri III.
A brother who hated her, and hated her husband, future Henri IV of France. Because the naughty sister plotted! To put their young brother d’Alençon on the throne, instead of Henri! And Margot was impossible: her inappropriate behaviour chocked the court...
Auvergne tour
And yet, they married off her to the future Henri IV in 1572, to bring together again Catholics and Protestants after the 3d war of Religion. Well, the opposite happened, with Saint Bartholomew Day’s Massacre few days after their wedding, in Paris.
They divorced in 1599. Meanwhile, Margot was exiled in Auvergne, 20 years: Besse, Issoire, Saint-Saturnin, Usson... Margot gave then Saint-Saturnin castle to her ex-husband’s son, the future king Louis XIII. To patch things up!
