CHINON

The town and castle of Chinon (Indre-et-Loire), located in Touraine, was the site of a truce concluded in 1214 between Philip II Augustus and John Lackland of England following the French victories of that summer.

Chinon’s major claim to fame, however, arises from events that occurred during Charles VII’s residence there in 1428-29. Charles concluded a treaty with James I of Scotland that arranged for the marriage of James’s daughter Margaret to the five-year-old heir to the French throne, the future Louis XI. In September, Charles convened the Estates General at Chinon in a rare gathering that included representatives from nearly all parts of France then under his control and granted him a substantial tax without demanding ratification by regional estates. In the ensuing months, the English besieged Orleans, and there was every prospect that they would take this critical city. Charles VII was still at Chinon during late February 1429, when Jeanne d’Arc arrived at his court and launched her brief but spectacular public career by persuading him to let her accompany the troops who would make a final effort to relieve Orleans.

One of the largest castles in western Europe, Chinon is in actuality the ruins of three separate fortifications, divided by deep moats: the 13th-century Fort-Saint-Georges, built by Henry II Plantagenet and named for the patron of England, with its principal fortifications to the east; the 12th - and 14th-century Middle Castle, with its well-preserved clock tower; and the Chateau de Coudray, constructed by Philip Augustus in the 13th century. Within the town are the medieval churches of Saint-Maurice (12th-16th c.), Saint-Etienne (15th c.), and Saint-Mexme (10th, 11th, and 15th c.).

John Bell Henneman, Jr.