It is believed
construction was completed on Château Andelot
around 1158 by the first Seigneur
d'Andelot, Humbert III, grandson to Gueric
who was Seigneur de Coligny and the Revermont.
The Coligny family were descendants of
Count MANASSES of Burgundy, the first Sire
(i.e. Lord) of Coligny in 974.
The most
notable of the many Coligny ancestors to
live in Château Andelot was François
de Coligny (1521-1569), first Marquis
d'Andelot and the brother of Admiral
Gaspard de Coligny (1519-1572). The
Admiral was a Huguenot (i.e. French Protestant)
who was martyred for his religious beliefs
in the Saint-Bartholomew's night massacre.
It was during this time also that Château
Andelot was confiscated from François de
Coligny by the King of France and was not
returned to the Coligny family until 1617.
Joachim
de Coligny was the last male Coligny
to live at the Château. The Château was
then passed on to his daughter Anne-Louise.
In 1702, she sold Château Andelot to
Joachim Guyénard a counselor to the
French King and at this point the Château
left the Coligny family. When the last
Marquis d'Andelot died in 1804 his
younger brother and heir chanced to be
living in Philadelphia. This brother had
been known since 1793 as “M. d'Andelot”
and was a French refugee of the Terror.
As fate would have it, a marriage occurred
between a son of M. Belin (likewise a French
refugee) and a daughter of M. d'Andelot,
whereby the Belins claim lineage from the
house (and Château) of Guyénard d'Andelot.
Château Andelot
circa 1827
In 1827,
a daughter of the GUYENARD family sold
the property to Mr. Voit who in
turn sold it to the Buisson family.
And finally,
in December 1924, Ferdinand Lammot Belin
and his cousin Pierre duPont de
Nemours (married to Alice Belin, a
sister of Ferdinand's) bought Château Andelot.
Originally
Château Andelot was much larger and positioned
on an outcropping of cliffside which presented
vertical walls on three sides. There were
three successive gates, two bounded by
towers on either side each with a drawbridge.
On the West side, the most vulnerable,
there were two deep ditches and a wall
more than 3 meters (i.e. 10 feet) thick.
It is believed that today's Presbytère
is built on the old donjon foundations
and that the West tower was the old prison
accessible only from the top from which
prisoners were let down by rope and most
often forgotten. In 1477 all but the present-day
Donjon and one set of towered gates were
destroyed by the troops of Louis XI and
thanks only to the Guyénard family did
restoration begin which continues to the
present day. The French government
has designated the Château a historic building.
The Belin
family is proud to be a partner with the
French in the on-going preservation of
our shared heritage.
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