
From the 13th century...
The history of the castle of Saint Jean du Gard

The construction of the castle began during the reign of Philippe le Bel at the end of the 13th century. The first mentions of the castle date from 1314.
In the fifteenth century,Jean III de Mirolsacquires the castle and the title ofBaron de Moissac, Villeneuve and Saint Jean.
Under François I, in 1546, Saint Jean was annexed to the Royal domain and the castle became thefief of the seigneury of the Cévennes.Antoine de Saint Bonnet du Caylar, lord of Toirasis its first lord.
In October 1560, during a punitive expedition, Honorat II of Savoy, Count of Villars and Trende, Lieutenant General of Languedoc marched on Saint Jean and burned down the castle.In 1565, the castle was rebuilt in the Renaissance style, four years later a temple was built against the north facade of the castle.
Jean du Caylar d'Anduze de Saint-Bonnet, lord of Toiraswas born in the castle of Saint Jean in March 1585, his qualities as a strategist, his courage and his loyalty will make him distinguish by his peers and by the king (he is rewarded in 1630 by the titles of ambassador of the king and by the supreme dignity ofMarshal of France).



In 1617, Jean de Saint Bonnet, first cousin of the Marshal, son of Louis de Saint Bonnet and grandson of Antoine de Saint Bonnet approached theDuke Henry of Rohan, leader of the Protestants whom he receives regularly at the castle. On the death of Jean de Saint Bonnet, the results of the war are disastrous for the family, his son Henri inherits heavy debts. In 1652, his property was seized and sold at auction.
It was Edouard Carlot, from a wealthy family involved in the textile trades in Nîmes, who became the new owner. He obtained letters of nobility from Louis XIV and enlarged the castle by having a wing built as an extension of the main body, thus creating a main facade to the south 40 meters long.
Having no heir, Edouard de Carlot gives the usufruct of his property to his brotherPierre de Carlot, lord of Caylar,adviser to the parliament of Toulouse, husband ofMarie de Toulouse-Lautrecand begs them to transfer his property to the male child of their daughter's marriageIsabeau de Carlot, Baroness of Cestayrolsand Antoine de Vignolles Montvaillant. When Edouard de Carlot died in 1679, Jacques de Vignolles (the son of Isabeau de Carlot and Antoine de Vignolles) and his wife Yolande de Clauzel de Fontfroide took over the castle.

Eighty-seven years after the signing of the Edict of Nantes by Henri IV, his grandson Louis XIV revoked in October 1685 the religious aspect of the Edict of Nantes en signing the Edict of Fontainebleau. Protestantism therefore becomes prohibited on the
French territory. Louis XIV orders the destruction of all the temples and at the end year the temple behind the castle is razed.
The castle is used by authority as a royal garrison and hosts prestigious figures sent by Louis XIV to "pacify" the Cévennes: theMarquis de Lamoignon de Basville(intendant of Languedoc) et laMarquise Anne Louise, theCount de Broglie, theDuke of Noailles, theMarshal de Montrevel and theMarshal de Villars.
After a war as unjust as it was barbaric, at the time of the pacification in 1711, Saint John plays an essential role in the establishment of a new order. Jacques de Vignole and Yolande de Clauzel de Fontfroide who were married before la war in 1676 have only daughters. She is the eldest, Anne de Vignolles married in 1727 withDaniel Hostalier de Veirac, advisers to the Court of Auditors, aids and finances of Montpellier which inherits the castle.
Daniel Hostalier becomes baron of Saint Jean. He died at the age of 88 in 1791, his heirs kept the castle until December 1816, when it was sold to Louis Dupuy de Montbrun d'Aubignac de Nozières, former captain in the
burgundy regimentwho will be mayor of Saint Jean from 1818 to 1826.


The descendants of Louis Dupuy de Montbrun and his wife Jeanne Clarice Fraissinet will sell the castle in December 1995 to Marie Françoise and Bernard André (former operations manager of the Shell refinery located in the town of Berre-l'Etang in the Bouches-du-Rhône).
The new owners Alice and Maxime Rigaud arrive at the Château de Saint Jean du Gard in October 2022.
Staying at the castle means discovering a place steeped in history in a village too charming and welcoming….
