Corroirie - Knowledge

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of the building was significantly modified. It was transformed into a gatehouse, and access to La Corroirie was gained through a fortified gateway with a portcullis. It may have seemed simpler to the builders to take advantage of existing buildings to create this gateway, rather than constructing it from scratch on the south side of the enclosure, where the abbey gate had stood until then. Before the French Revolution, this building underwent a major modification: it was raised slightly and floors were added, dividing it into several stories, which were later partitioned into rooms.

5136:, 5 m diameter and 7 m high, covered by a stone dome, isolated in the northern part of the building enclosure, is considered to be a former prison due to its particular layout, even if later alterations render it more difficult to understand. Two interconnected cells, one on top of the other, measure approximately 2.70 m in diameter and 2.90 m (first floor) and 3.65 m (upper floor) in interior height. A single door on the upper floor can only be closed from the outside – only this door remains original; the opening at the base of the building is a late addition – 639: 533: 5234: 501: 720: 409: 301: 4904: 5218: 708:

servants who had been living at La Corroirie were moved to the upper house itself, presumably as early as mid-1600. The servants, nonetheless, continued to reside on-site. This arrangement seems to anticipate a decision taken by the Order's General Chapter in 1678, which applied to all Carthusian monasteries. La Corroirie thus refocused on agricultural activities, to the detriment of its original religious vocation.

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according to the use to which they might have been put during the 18th century before the French Revolution, even if this use remains hypothetical for some of them. However, the fact that La Corroirie has been continuously occupied since the Middle Ages helps to keep the buildings in good condition, as total destruction is rare and only affects buildings that were built at a late date and demolished fairly quickly.

5125: 5210:, the abbey's enclosure was extended to the north and east, where it encompassed part of the hillside. However, its defensive capacity was limited, especially as the security of La Corroirie on its flank was guaranteed by the presence of the steep hillside, which had to be reinforced by a wall with buttresses. This feature is still clearly visible to the north of the preserved buildings, near the prison. 630:, in addition to its usefulness in La Corroirie's defensive system, also had a more symbolic role: it oriented the Corroirie's opening westwards in the direction of the Carthusian monastery's upper house, reinforcing the ties between the two groups of buildings. It may also have been intended to shorten the distance between the two places, making it easier to take refuge in the event of an attack. 4921: 5087:, located below this wall, would probably not support the weight of a masonry wall. The apse is not affected by this remodeling. The function of this floor is unknown, but it may have been used as a dormitory to house the growing number of staff working at La Corroirie. Externally, the restoration work is clearly visible on the southern gutter wall: the original masonry is dressed in 319:, at the mouth of Ruisseau du Liget's secondary valley. To the south-west of the latter, are the buildings of the upper house -so named because the prayer activities carried out there bring it symbolically closer to Heaven- of the chartreuse du Liget, 1.1 km from La Corroiere, and 2 km away from the Saint-Jean du Liget chapel. All these distances are expressed as " 52: 744:. Ownership changed several times, and the estate was even divided up at times. In 1899, it passed into the hands of the Marsay family. Since then, La Corroirie has remained the property of this family, either directly or by marriage, and is still inhabited in 2018, preserving the buildings from deterioration; part of its premises were converted into 740:, the conversion of La Corroirie into a farm, a process already well underway, came to an end. In 1789, La Corroirie was administered by just two lay brothers, who lived in the upper house. The Carthusian monks left the monastery in early 1791, and on June 1 of the same year, the buildings were sold as 711:

The quality of life within the buildings was improved (more efficient heating, better access to upper floors, new or extended bays), but this phase has not been dated, and it is not possible to determine whether it corresponds to the extensive remodeling of the upper house buildings as part of a vast

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in the west building to secure access to the courtyard; it replaced the access from the south, which had been sealed off. Once the war was over and the monks had returned, work began on a major project to backfill the entire site, both inside and outside the buildings, up to a height of around 1.5 m,

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La Corroirie, but the monks of the upper house who had initially taken refuge there, using an underground passage, were able to successfully escape the siege and flee to Loches. Another assault took place in 1392, and it was only later that the monks left Loches to return to the Carthusian monastery.

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were built on its eastern side, and were still in operation as late as 1835. Around 1740, the millstones were moved upstairs and, to compensate for this transfer of loads to the building, the diameter of the pillars occupying the center of the first floor was greatly increased. The driving wheels of

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were built in 1671 and subsequently renovated on several occasions; the presence of La Corroirie's pond ensured regular operation of the two bottom-fed wheels, which were initially installed one directly behind the other. The church was closed to worshipers towards the end of 1674, and the religious

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for the brothers or as a court, but there's no conclusive information. Altered several times, it may have been partially converted into a garrison dwelling when La Corroirie was fortified. It was at this time that the western façade was fitted with buttresses. In the 14th century, the northern part

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To cope with this increased activity, substantial improvements were made to the buildings at La Corroirie. The existing buildings were enlarged or heightened to accommodate a greater number of lay brothers (whose numbers were not specified); a large hall was built to the west, perhaps to serve as a

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The monastery truly flourished between the mid-13th and mid-14th centuries. Over a hundred donations during this period – most from local seigneurs, though some came from the royalty- enriched the estate. According to a seventeenth-century inventory, the domain managed by the Corroirie on behalf of

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This is the building that has undergone the most alterations since it was first built, but also the one that has been the most extensively studied. The construction and development of this building took place in five main phases, clearly recognizable from the view of the church from the south, the

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Further to the north, perpendicular to the previous building, stands a two-story structure, the role of which has not been confirmed. This may have been the abbey's outbuildings, topped by the abbot's dwelling. Its construction dates back to the first half of the 15th century, when the church was

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Above the doors, the first story houses the machinery for the drawbridges, while the second story, which controls the machicolations, has been converted into a lookout room equipped with the necessary equipment for people – perhaps soldiers from the garrison commissioned to protect the Carthusian

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who came from Tours, where they operated from April to July, or by bands of looters operating independently. The monks temporarily withdrew. In 1584, new raids were carried out on the lower house and surrounding farms. From March 4 to 7, 1589, the "preneurs de Barbetz" attacked La Corroirie, with

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Many buildings have been constructed at La Corroirie. Some have changed function as they have been remodeled; others have been partially destroyed, making it difficult to trace the evolution of the buildings on a single plan. The buildings that remain in place in the 21st century are listed here

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Third Phase: A new alteration takes place in the second half of the 15th century. The apse was heightened and, like the nave, was transformed into a bastion. The most striking features of this period are the exclamation-point-shaped arrowslits in the apse floor and the south gutter wall, with a

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An underground passage, dug into the hillside and perhaps connected to the east gable of the cellar, has a large room and several passageways, one of which leads to the open air on the northern side of the buildings. It was explored by the Spéléo-club de Touraine in 2009. However, there is no

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of an earlier wall. It was redesigned and enlarged -its entrances were moved upstairs, first to the west, then to the east, on the same level as the hillside-, raised several times and attached to the upper floor of the church. In the second half of the 17th century, two

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Two towers remain from the period when La Corroirie was transformed into a fortified house. The tower to the north of the outbuildings has been reduced to ruins, but was still standing in 1897; the tower to the south of the west hall has held up considerably better.

342:. Nevertheless, by 1897, the pond was poorly maintained and partially sunken. The small area designated for construction, with no possibility of expansion, may explain the architectural decision, over the centuries, to raise the buildings to increase their capacity. 541:

the Carthusian monastery covered almost 1,480 hectares of arable land, meadows, vineyards, woods and ponds, grouped around it. Several other fiefs and tenant farms, within a radius of more than 15 km, also came under the jurisdiction of the Liget, such as the

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were fed by a canal originating from the Corroirie pond, which runs along the foot of the hillside to the east of the site; in modern times, it was filled in. The building's upper floors, probably unstable or weakened by successive alterations, have disappeared.

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Fourth Phase: Another undated alteration, presumably dating from before 1570, involved the construction of a building perpendicular to the previous ones, connecting the cellar floor to the church floor on the western gable, which had previously been demolished.

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does not stand up well to analysis: the layout of the rooms does not suggest such a purpose. The possibility of a prison built in the second half of the 16th century remains the most plausible. However, it's not unlikely that the building also served as a

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Suzanne Périnet, "Heurs et malheurs de la Touraine (vers 1250-vers vers 1498)", in Claude Croubois dir, L'Indre-et-Loire : la Touraine des origines à nos jours, Saint-Jean-d'Angély, Bordessoules, coll. "L'histoire par les documents", 1986, 470 p.

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had serious consequences for the Chartreuse du Liget. In 1562, the Prior was murdered and the abbey was completely devastated. Due to a lack of reliable sources, it is difficult to determine whether this attack was carried out by "organized"

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in 1206, it seems that the first structures were built in the last decade of the 12th century and the first two decades of the 13th century. From this first phase of construction, two structures with an unknown function were built, perhaps a

5057:, and this first phase of construction can be dated to the late-11th or early 13th century. According to Gérard Fleury, the 1206 dedication is a valuable reference, but does not rule out that the work was completed around 1220. Inside, the 5099:

was built up against this wall up to the base of the windows, where it altered the tufa facing, certainly to counteract the thrust of the church's upper stories. The exact dates of its installation and removal have not been established.

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In the late 2000s, as part of the building's restoration work undertaken by the owners, a multi-disciplinary working group undertook a historical and archaeological study of the entire Corroirie site. The results were published in the

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The spatial layout of such an ensemble of buildings requires an enclosure to materialize its unity. It is therefore likely that the lower house had a courtyard enclosed by the existing buildings and additional walls, with a monumental

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who lived there left to take up residence in the upper residence, and the church was closed to worshipers: the lower residence lost its religious role and became a farm. One of the particularities of La Corroirie is that it was also a

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probably to protect the Corroirie from the risk of flooding. The buildings were again expanded. A floor was added to the church, perhaps to house dormitories. Around the mid-15th century, the church's attic was transformed into a

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After the signing of the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, English and Gascon soldiers no longer intervened in the name of their country's army, but formed autonomous bands of raiders. They were joined by local adventurers and

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In the northern extension of the gatehouse, a building considered to be the monks' refectory was one of the first to be constructed. It was later extensively rebuilt and raised, presumably to accommodate visiting guests.

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In 2000, Gérard Fleury carried out a detailed architectural study of the church and cellars at La Corrioirie, providing a more precise chronology for the construction of these buildings. The study was published in the

383:, designating all that relates to the material life of a monk, but this term may have been used by other monastic orders before the foundation of the Charterhouses. This proposal is more plausible than a reference to 757:; in 2015, the listing was extended to the entire site via a ministerial decree published on April 22, 2016. On July 31, 1947, La Corroirie, along with the upper house and the surrounding land, became part of a new 6379:

Marc de Vulson de La Colombière, La science héroïque : traitant de la noblesse, de l'origine des armes, de leurs blasons et symboles , Paris, Sébastien et Gabriel Cramoisy, 1644, 992 p. (read online ), p.

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Fifth Phase: when La Corroirie was transformed into a fortified house in the late 16th century, the only modifications made to the church were the addition of a few arrowslits in the apse to cover the shooting

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The fortified gateway was probably built around 1575, during a peaceful period of the Wars of Religion; its style suggests that it dates from the last quarter of the 16th century, as confirmed by the

5308:. In 2007, Christophe Meunier published a book devoted to the Chartreuse du Liget. In a chronological presentation of the monastery's history, several passages deal specifically with the Corroirie. 5168:

North of the church, a vast building serves as a cellar. Initially built at the same time as, or shortly after, the church, it consists of two five-bay aisles. On its west façade, it reuses the

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The exact date and circumstances of the foundation of the Corroirie are difficult to determine, due to the absence of reliable sources and convincing architectural leads. However, from a

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in 1926; the listing was extended to the entire site in 2015. As from 1947, La Corroirie, along with the buildings of the upper house and their surroundings, are part of a listed site.

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On this occasion, the farmers burned some of the property deeds in the hope of freeing themselves from their debts to the Carthusian monastery. They then headed for Villeloin Abbey.

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The territory administered by La Corroirie includes the original monastic enclosure, or "desert", generally demarcated by a moat, as well as the surrounding fiefs and tenant farms.

448:. It is a fief that, around 1200 B.C., Lord Foulques de Craçay gave to the monks of Liget. The donation, although disputed by the heirs of Foulques after his death, was confirmed. 475:

The foundation of the chartreuse, in which Henri II took an active part, but, above all, that of Corroirie on the road between Loches and Montrésor, whose donjons were built by

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was dug. It was no doubt at this time that La Corroirie's pond was built along the course of the Aubigny River to provide a regular supply of water for the moat, thanks to its

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indicates "La Couroirie". The low houses of the monasteries, dedicated to manual and agricultural activities, close to the land and dedicated to the accommodation of the

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sculpture, common in the Western Gothic style, is underlined by a still discernible colored decoration, and the intrados of the vaults also features a black-and-white

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is available from 1497. Numerous deeds testify to the sometimes difficult, even conflictual, relations between the judicial officers of La Corroirie and those of the

44: 5293:(SAT) to the Lochois region; he devotes a few pages of this publication to a brief evocation of the history and description of the Corroirie's main buildings. 244:

region). Its buildings were gradually expanded over the following centuries, with periods of expansion alternating with phases of fortification following the

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Charles d'Hozier, Armorial général de France, dressé, en vertu de l'édit de 1696, par Charles D'HOZIER, vol. XXXIV, t. II, 1701–1800 (read online ), p. 1077.

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Samuel Riou and Flore Marteaux, "Une motte castrale dans le contexte des recompositions politiques au tournant de l'an mil (Région Centre, Indre-et-Loire)",

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evidence to suggest that this was the underground passageway used by the monks of the Carthusian monastery to take refuge at La Corroirie in 1361.

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A large building was erected to the west of the site towards the end of the 13th century. North-south oriented, it may initially have served as a

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commune, around 3 km southwest of the main town. Its buildings back onto the righthand bank of the hill, in the Ruisseau d'Aubigny valley, a

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between the periods in which it was occupied by prisoners, or at a later date, as hemp production is well documented in this part of Touraine.

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which now had three solid positions in the same territory. It is the Corroirie, and not the upper house itself, which is the seat of Liget's

5591:"Site classé – La chartreuse du Liget, la Corroirie et leurs abords" , on DREAL région Centre Val-de-Loire (accessed February 3rd, 2018). 5104:

vertical sight slit above a round hole for the barrel of a firearm; these murder holes are opened close to the floor of the first story.

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of Loches between the mid-14th century and the late 17th century, but the rights of justice granted to La Corroirie were renewed by each

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opening to the south towards the Loches-Montrésor road. In the absence of any vestige, this assumption remains at the hypothesis stage.

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To the south of the buildings is the Corroirie pond, established on the Aubigny by the Carthusian monks. At this point, the D 760 from

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blocks placed at the corners, with the exception of the west façade above the doors, where the only material used is tufa. The double-

695:-shaped prison was built inside the enclosure, away from other buildings to the north. This work lasted until the early 17th century. 338:

of the pond, separating it from the buildings, whereas previously, it ran around the pond to the west and then south, as shown on the

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monastery in early 1791, the Corroirie buildings suffered little damage and are still maintained and inhabited into the 21st century.

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Bruno Dufaÿ, "La Corroirie de la Chartreuse du Liget à Chemillé-sur-Indrois (Indre-et-Loire). Étude historique et architecturale",

5041:, must have been continuous from the nave to the apse. These elements were lost during subsequent alterations. While the exterior 472:, as well as the church which could have been started a shortly before the other buildings, and consecrated prior its completion. 436:

and the first buildings of the upper house were built. Before the Carthusians settled there, the location of Corroirie was called

737: 731: 5314: 379:, the prosecutor responsible for managing the property of a bishop or an abbot. This word would itself be formed from the Latin 5918:

Albert Philippon, " La Chartreuse du Liget ", bulletin de la Société archéologique de Touraine, t. XXV, 1933, p. 213-232 (ISSN

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were responsible for managing the monastery's extensive agricultural estate (nearly 1,500 hectares at Le Liget, as well as

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in the 21st century. Nevertheless, the general appearance of the house remains much as it was in the late Middle Ages.

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In 2015, La Corroirie was the setting for several scenes – including the burning at the stake – in the American film

256:, with the construction of a monumental fortified gate at the entrance. In the second half of the 17th century, the 7042: 487:, thus consecrating the extremely distinct separation of the charterhouses between the temporal and the spiritual. 88: 7005: