The saga of the Bourbons
Le Bourbonnais, cradle of the history of France
For history enthusiasts, lovers of old buildings or just for pleasure, explore the Bourbonnais area with friends and family and learn about the history of the Bourbons.
Henri IV, the first Bourbon king
Charles de Montpensier, Connétable de Bourbon, valiantly served King François I, then rebelled against him. His death in 1527 marked the annexation of Bourbon, up to then a major feudal entity, to France. But this did not stop the Bourbons from bouncing back. Royally ! Henry IV, son of Duke Antoine de Bourbon and Jeanne, Queen of Navarre, acceded to the throne of France.
And lots of Louis...
Henry was followed by Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, Charles X and Louis-Philippe. The Bourbons also exercised royal power in Spain through a very active constitutional monarchy, in the Duchy of Luxembourg, where descendants of the family still reign today, and in the Duchy of Parma under the father of Zita, the short-lived Empress of Austria at the tragic dawn of the First World War.
So it was in this peaceful wooded countryside with thick hedges spared by land consolidation, where white cattle graze under shady oaks that the incessant rise to power began through generations from Aymar to Agnès, from Archambault to Mathilde. In addition to these memories, the fortress where the Quiquengrogne Tower used to shout out at its enemies of yesteryear can still be seen.
The saga of the Bourbons from Souvigny to Moulins
The Barons Bourbon became dukes in the service of the king. After having conquered lands and expanded the family territory, Louis the First forsook the family seat to spend a short time in Souvigny.
In this other famous village, which has retained its period atmosphere, the first lords had given the Monks of Cluny the means to construct the magnificent abbey which became the final home of their lineage and whose tragic beauty still enchants us today. Around 1340 the Dukes of Bourbon had a castle built in Moulins, to the detriment of Souvigny, burial site of the Bourbons.
Moulins became the capital of the Duchy of Bourbon after the marriage of Anne of France, daughter of Louis XI, and Peter II, Duke of Bourbon, in 1488. After being guardians of Charles VIII and governing France during the Italian Wars, the family settled in Moulins with their court which was more lavish than that of François I, to whom Anne and her son-in-law, the Connétable de Bourbon had to give over their Duchy once and for all. An impressive array of buildings dating from this period can be seen in the town today. All that remains of the great castle in the centre of the charming medieval town is the tower known as « la mal coiffée » and the charming, first little Renaissance-style construction in France.
The collegiate church contains a major work dating from this era, the Triptych ‘du Maître de Moulins’.
The Bourbonnais area bears the hallmark of the Bourbons
The whole of the region bears the hallmark of the Bourbons, enriched over the course of the centuries by a myriad of castles, churches and fine houses, more than 500 – one for every 600 inhabitants ! Two places worthy of note are the Château de Montluçon overlooking the River Cher and Chantelle, a delightful village on a meander of the River Bouble, where an orange tree known as the « Grand Bourbon » blossomed for the first time in France. The tree, a gift to Anne de Beaujeu was handed down to one of her descendants, Louis XIV.
Louis XIV left it to Colbert to restore the famous Forêt de Tronçais, the former property of the Connétable, to its original mysterious splendour. All the countryside is steeped in history : mighty oaks and sturdy cattle still reign over the meadows and Tressallier vines continue to mount an assault on the hillsides before becoming the wine which was a longtime favourite of kings and popes.
