Saint-Jean Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Saint-Jean Castle stood at Beaumont-le-Roger, in the Risle valley (Eure). It was the seat of the lords of Beaumont, a powerful Anglo-Norman family descended from Roger de Beaumont, who gave his name to the town in the 11th century, and whose members became Earls of Meulan and of Leicester. Built on the spur overlooking the town, the castle commanded the valley and protected the borough as well as the Priory of the Holy Trinity founded by the same family. In the 14th century, Beaumont-le-Roger belonged to the possessions of the Kings of Navarre of the House of Évreux; during the Hundred Years' War, the fortress was besieged and destroyed in 1378 by the troops of Bertrand Du Guesclin, in the service of Charles V. It was never rebuilt. Only ruins remain, on a site that is not the subject of any specific tourist development.