Château de Brie - Comte - Robert The Château de Brie - Comte - Robert is a castle in the town of Brie - Comte - Robert in the Seine - et - Marne " département " of France . History . 12th - 13th centuries . The castle of Brie - Comte - Robert was built at the end of the 12th century , when Robert I of Dreux , brother of the king Louis VII , was lord of Brie . Archaeological clues , elements of decoration and the choice of construction techniques , suggest the architecture of this turning point in history . 14th century . The castle remained in the Dreux family until 1254 , then passed to the family of Châtillon . Through successive dowries and inheritances , it came to Marguerite d ' Artois and then her daughter , Jeanne d ' Évreux . Jeanne d ' Évreux , who held the manor of Brie - Count - Robert by inheritance , became the wife of the last Capetian king , Charles IV the Fair . After his death in 1328 , she profited from comfortable revenues ( a royal dower of many fiefdoms in Brie and Champagne ) , which enabled her to devote important sums to the maintenance and the improvement of her own possessions , including Brie - Comte - Robert . She did important work to the castle , as her accounts preserved at the " Archives Nationales " ( national archives ) attest . The castle became a prestigious residence which the large lords of the kingdom , in particular the dukes of Burgundy , did not hesitate to visit . It was also the site , in 1349 , of the marriage of Philip VI of Valois and Blanche d ' Évreux , niece of queen Jeanne . The lady of Brie made the siegneurial residence luxurious , particularly in the area located against the south - western and south - eastern curtains and , above all , in the north - east . She had a chapel built dedicated to Saint - Denis , joined to the " Tour Saint - Jean " ( St John Tower ) , and laid out vast pleasure gardens . Jeanne d ' Évreux died in the castle in 1371 , aged 69 . At the end of the 14th century , the castle returned into the royal domain , then later to the Orléans family . 15th century . Louis I de Valois , Duke of Orléans led a sparkling life at the castle of Brie - Count - Robert ( tournaments , receptions of great nobles ) , but , faced with growing insecurity , he strengthened the castle from 1405 . Following his assassination by John the Fearless , duke of Burgundy , and the founding of the Armagnac Party in 1407 , the castle passed under the control of the Burgundian Party , thus securing it as a safe stage on the road from Paris towards Burgundy . In 1420 , the passage of the English army , " en route " to Troyes , and the siege of Melun which followed , brought some disorder to the town , but did not affect the castle . It is from 1429 that the city was , " « par quatre diverses fois en trois ans » " , ( " four separate times in three years " ) , taken and retaken by the French and the English . The major event remains however the siege begun in September 1430 by the Humphrey Stafford , 1st Duke of Buckingham , who caused immense damage , in the town as well as to the castle . The place was repurchased by the French in 1434 and was returned to its rightful owner , Charles of Orléans . His son , the future king Louis XII , placed the castle in the royal domain . 16th century . Starting from the reign of Francis I , the castle and its grounds were entrusted by the king to some of his close associates , either by way of favour ( " « don pour un temps » " - " gift for a time " ) , or by conditional sale with option of repurchase ( " « l ' engagement » " ) . Among them were , notably : Louis Poncher , Philippe de Chabot , the marshal Jean Caraccioli , Balthazar Goblin and Claude de Bullion , superintendent of the finances of Louis XIII . In the middle of the century , various families of Italian lords , close to Catherine de ' Medici ( Aquaviva , Pierrevive , Gondi ) , held the castle , but allowed the building to deteriorate , even causing the burning of the floors and some frames . A 1567 law passed by the Parliament was needed to put an end to this damage . At the end of the century , Balthazar Goblin , follower of Henri IV , made repairs to the castle . The castle was still in a position to receive the young Louis XIII twice , in 1609 and 1611 . 17th century . In 1649 , at the time of the Fronde disorders , the town and the castle of Brie - Comte - Robert , were taken by the royal troops commanded by the count de Grancey . The castle was cannonaded by a battery for more than five hours , losing its south - eastern tower . Later repairs had to be very modest : in 1681 , the castle was regarded as " . . . uninhabitable , the ditches full of rubbish , the garden fallow . . . " ( " « inhabitable , les fossés comblés d ' immondices , le jardin en friche . . . » " ) . Jean - Antoine de Mesmes , first President of the " parlement " of Paris carried out various maintenance works on the roofs and repairs to the access bridges . Legal documents from this period describe some internal developments . The castle was then inhabited by private individuals . 18th century . In 1750 , Germain - Louis de Chauvelin , lord since 1734 , asserting the dilapidation of the building , obtained authorisation to reduce the towers and the curtains to the level of the first floor , excepting however the Saint - Jean tower , the manorial symbol . Repurchased by the king Louis XV in 1766 , the manor of Brie - Count - Robert , including the castle , was the subject of an exchange between Louis and his cousin , Louis Charles de Bourbon , Count of Eu . His heirs , the duke of Penthièvre , and then his daughter , the duchess of Orléans , were the last lords . During the French Revolution , the building was used to imprison the baron de Besenval , colonel of the Swiss Guard s and military commander of the Île - de - France . The building was later sold as national property . 19th and 20th centuries . Repurchased by the town in 1803 , the castle was sold again in 1813 . In 1879 , one of the successive private owners during this period unfortunately razed what remained of the " Tour Saint - Jean " , to build a modern house . Massive topsoil deposits transformed the court and the jousting yard into a vast vegetable garden . The commune repurchased the castle in 1923 and it was classified as a " monument historique " in 1925 . From 1982 , the municipality undertook a programme to repair the site , including archaeological works . These have guided the later restoration programme of the castle ' s remains . Today . 2003 saw the beginning of a grand programme of restoration of the castle , with the rebuilding of curtains to a height more than six metres , the restoration of the " Tour de Brie " , and the demolition of the 19th century house in the courtyard , allowing the partial rebuilding of the " Tour Saint - Jean " , according to archaeological documents . Inside the enclosure , the construction of a modern building , the " Centre d ' Interprétation du Patrimoine " ( Heritage Interpretation Centre ) , allows the " Association des Amis du Vieux Château " ( Friends of the Old Château Association ) to design and present a permanent exhibition of the site and to undertake teaching activities . See also . List of castles in France