Château de Pézènes
French castle
The Château de Pézènes is a castle in the commune of Pézènes-les-Mines in the Hérault département of France.
History
The castle was built on a promontory within a meander of the Peyne river, in a mountainous wild landscape on the trade route from Faugères to Gabian in the 11th and 12th centuries. Many remains from this period are still visible.
In 1539, Guinot de Lauzières, squire, paid homage for his properties, including the castle at Pézènes, to François I.
While never as important as some other sites in the region, it was besieged and taken by Protestant forces in 1569.
In 1885, M. Vernazobres, Mayor of Bedarieux owned the castle.
The castle was restored during the 17th century, and again more recently.
Description
The castle is located on the higher part of the village, surrounded by a fortified enceinte that follows the irregular land surface. Two doorways were opened in this wall during the 17th century. The castle is made up of four buildings closing off a rectangular interior courtyard. The entrance is by two doorways, each with arrowslits, and previously protected by a drawbridge.
The public source identifies “Château de Pézènes” as french castle. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Château, Pézènes and French.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Château de Pézènes”, the useful work is to connect “french castle” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 4, 2023. The linked authority identifier is Q22954052. Authority coordinates are 43.589, 3.252. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1539, 1569 and 1885.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Château de Pézènes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.