Abstract EN:

In the late middle ages the barony of montmorillon covered an area of about 1000 square kilometers and its economy (consisting mostly in breeding) was an average one in spite of the difficulties of the time. It was composed of a hundred and ten fiefs. There stood twenty seven castles. Montmorillon has got an archpriest. Fifteen castles are still standing in perfect or poor condition. Four of them were built in the xivth century, such as la ferrandiere and pruniers. The others were erected in the xvth century ; we can underline the interest of forges, bourg-archambault and champeau. Created because the people of that time were afraid, and the symbol of a social class, the castle in the montmorillon area was financed by the gentry, with the warrant of the king or without it ; built by local masters, who were themselves influenced by the ones in poitiers, it was kept by the population around. It could protect only against gangs of armed men. Standing on various sites, it has got a plan organized around a dwelling or a keep. It is a model counterpart of the great castle : an enceinte, towers, a chapel, a dwelling or a keep are to be found there ; its decoration, which is rather rich, obviously improved in the second half of the xvth century. When considered in the context of its time, the little castle can be looked upon as a building devoided of any major archeological originality in comparaison with the other countries except for one : the square keep flanked with four turrets projecting out, a type the pattern of which is the keep of vincennes and the "tour maubergeon" in poitiers. It must be neatly differentiated from the fortified house. In each of its elements (its architecture, its decoration), it is a modest duplicate of the great constructions of the late middle ages.