page_title: Castellane
section_title: Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: Castellane / Middle Ages
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Castellane - Château d'Éoulx - Façade nord et fontaine-lavoir
context_page_description: Castellane is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. With about 1,600 inhabitants, Castellane has the distinction of being the least-populated sub-prefecture of France.
  Its inhabitants are referred to as Castellanais.
context_section_description: In the early ninth century, the area around the current town of Castellane was inhabited by only 84 people. In 812 the area was invaded by Moors, also sometimes called Saracens; they destroyed Salines, the early settlement near the salt marshes. The inhabitants of Salines took refuge on the summit of the Roc and built a stronghold there, building the first Notre-Dame there, inaugurated in 852, in thanks for the refuge. Some vestiges of this site, which was named Sinaca in 813 and Petra Castellana in 965, are still visible at the place now known as Le Signal. People later also settled at the foot of the Roc in the valley bottom.
  In 852 a lord of Castellane, possibly named Guillaume won a victory against the Moors and put together a barony of 46 village communities stretching from Cotignac in Var to the south, to Thorame-Haute in the north, and from Soleilhas to Esparron-de-Verdon. The Barony was considered a small sovereign state ruled by hereditary sovereign barons.  Over time Castellane came to have three co-existing sites:
  the Rupes, on top of the Rock, was soon entirely occupied by the castle built in 977 by Pons-Arbaud and Aldebert
  the Castrum, halfway up, on a larger site but easy to defend;
  the Burgum, current site of Castellane, easily accessible, facilitating trade.
  In 1189, Baron de Castellane Boniface III was attacked by Alfonso I of Provence. He had refused to do homage, explaining that he was a vassal of the Holy Roman Empire. But in the face of brute force he was forced to bend the knee. Another war broke out in 1227 between the Provence and Boniface of Castellane, presumably the son. In 1257 Charles II—then still just prince of Salernes, gave the castle to the Austinian monks. In 1262, Charles I of Anjou defeated Boniface of Castellane and made Castelle the seat of a baile. In the thirteenth century, the family of Castellane lost possession of the city to the Counts of Provence. To protect themselves from attack, in addition to the protections for the city, Castellane built a series of fortified outposts at Demandolx, La Garde, Chasteuil, Rougon, and perhaps Taloire. In 1300 a small Jewish community of eight households was established in the area.
  The Black Death reached Castellane in 1348, and was followed by a devastating flood of the Verdon River. The capture and death of Queen Joanna I of Naples created a succession issue in the county of Provence, the cities of the Union of Aix (1382–1387) supporting Charles de Duras against Louis I of Anjou.
  Lord of Castellane Louis d'Anduse, also often known as Lord of La Voulte, sided with the Duke of Anjou from the spring of 1382, supporting him on condition he participate in an expedition to rescue the queen. Castellane itself initially also backed the Duke, but changed allegiance in February 1386 after the Duke died, and rallied to the cause of the queen-regent, Marie de Blois. She negotiated with them, hoping to set off a chain of similar declarations of support. Guillaume de Forcalquier and his son Jean Raynaut, lords of Eoulx, submitted to the Duchess in July 1386. In 1390, Raymond de Turenne ravaged the surrounding territory and the village of Taulanne and failed to take the city, but did destroy the wooden bridge over the Verdon River.
  The wooden bridge over the Verdon was rebuilt in stone in the 15th century. A monastery took care of its maintenance. The bridge on the Place Castellane put Castellane on the frequently travelled routes between the  Mediterranean and the bridge over the Durance river at Sisteron. The bridge toll for the Verdon and the fair began at the end of the Middle Ages. The fair continued until the end of the Ancien Régime, assuring the town relative prosperity.
  In the fifteenth century, a community settled on the present site of Taloire. In the middle of the fifteenth century, the upper village was completely abandoned in favor of the lowland site.
caption: Château_d'Éoulx
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