The Montgommery family
When a small story meets a great …
Jacques I of Montgommery was born around 1486, probably in Blois, where the family court of Orleans is held. He then befriends François d'Angoulême who will become François I, king of the French, in 1515. Jacques I, friend of the king's youth, becomes knight of Honor.
His son Gabriel I of Montgommery is following in the footsteps of his father since he becomes friends with Henry II, son of King François I of France. Henry II was crowned King of France in 1547 and made Gabriel I, the captain of his Scottish Guard.
Gabriel 1er de Montgommery
June 30, 1559, Gabriel I accidentally kills King Henry II at a tournament in Paris.
"Celuy qui tua à jouster le roy Henri second"
Following the tournament, Gabriel exiled to the court of England and converted to Protestantism. He was executed in France in 1574 by order of Catherine de Medici, widow of Henry II, who never forgave him the accident of the tournament.
Gabriel II, son of Gabriel I, will begin the construction of his castle on his land, Ducey, in the early seventeenth century.
The castle Montgommery
Built in the early 1600s, the castle reflects the architecture of its time, that said Louis XVIII style. Gabriel II is the instigator of his ambitious project.
Originally, the plan of the castle was classic U-shaped, turning towards the river and surrounded by moats. It had dimensions as ambitious as the lifestyle led by Gabriel II de Montgommery.
However, at the beginning of the 18th century, Ducey Castle and its lands no longer belong to the Montgommery. Several families will succeed each other and will only occasionally occupy the castle.
The castle will suffer the ravages of time and men. The north gable and the central body will eventually disappear over the centuries. In the twentieth century, a distillery moved into the castle, which does not help its condition.
The castle is listed as a historic monument on January 20, 1923 and is finally bought by the town hall in 1984. Restoration work took place for the exterior and for part of the interior of the castle.
