Béduer made its first authenticated appearance in history in 1098 when the Seigneur of Béduer, Deodat de Barasc, left for the first Crusade.
The Barascs of Béduer were one of the most powerful families in Quercy, feudal lords with a penchant for taking and holding by force what they believed was rightly theirs: not hesitating, for example, to usurp the revenues from churches rightly belonging to the Abbey of Marcilhac. They held sway over a large part of the surrounding country with lands extending from north of the River Célé to the River Lot in the south and 40 km west as far as Cabrerets.
During the Hundred Years War the parliament of Quercy met three times in the Salle des Etats, and it was from here that the successful siege of the English garrison at Saint Cirq Lalopie was planned under the leadership of Déodat IV.
Déodat VIII, the last of the Barascs, died fighting the Protestants in the Wars of religion in 1552.
History - The Lostanges
After a brief period in the hands of the Protestants, the Château and seigneurie of Béduer was acquired by the Lostanges, a noble military family who held it until the second half of the 19th century.
In the 17th century, the Marquis Louis de Lostanges became the Seneschal of Quercy (the King’s representative). Just before the revolution he called a meeting of the Etats Generaux in Cahors in an attempt to settle differences with the increasingly restless citizenry. He made concessions on behalf of the King, but to no avail. Nevertheless, Lostanges was a popular figure and a fair-minded landlord. He managed to retain not only his head but all his possessions after the revolution. Only the tower was decapitated because it could have been used to harbour counter-revolutionaries. The Lostanges finally relinquished the chateau in 1874 when they let it to a religious order from Villefranche and finally sold it to the Colrat family from Aveyron in 1886.
When the Lostanges acquired the Château in 1608 they transformed the castle from a fortress to the country seat that it remains to this day.
History - The Modern Era
Mr Colrat sold the chateau to his son-in-law, Maurice Fenaille in 1911. Fenaille restored the Salle des Etats to something approaching its former glory and provided many of the tapestries and fine furniture we see today. Fenaille was an art lover and philanthropist who also restored the beautiful Renaissance chateau of Montal near St Céré.
When Fenaille died in 1937, his widow sold the chateau to a young writer, known by her pen-name Jean Voilier “who saw it by moonlight and fell in love”. For a period during the Second World War, Mme Voilier let the castle to the Lazards, the Jewish banking family, but we know that the Vichy prime minister Laval was also a visitor here.
Mme Voilier became the mistress and muse of the poet Paul Valéry, who was a frequent visitor here. According to his wife, Valéry died of a broken heart when Mme Voilier left him. Mme Voilier has been described as the “last great courtesan”. Among her other conquests were the Minister of Finance, the writer St John Perse, and the Japanese Ambassador.
Mme Volier sold the Château to the present owners in 1985.
History - The Buildings
The Château is built on a rocky promontory overlooking the valley of the Célé. It is surrounded by high walls on three sides, and originally had a dry moat on the south side spanned by a drawbridge. The buildings we see today date from the 12th to the 17th centuries. Of the earlier castle, only the outline remains: a "U" shape, open to the north where there would originally have been stables. Below the north end of the courtyard are tunnels leading to loopholes from where the castle could be defended.
To the east of the courtyard is La Salle des Etats, a two-storey galleried room, with thick walls demonstrating its medieval origins. It has a beautiful 15th century chimney and 17th century ceiling paintings. The shields above the fireplace commemorate the marriage in 1465 of Deodat de Béduer to Jeanne de Balzac, a young women from Montal.
To the west of the courtyard are workshops below a terrace where the chapel stood until the Second World War. It was allegedly demolished at the request of the then owner, Mme Voilier, by German soldiers quartered in the castle at the time. A beautiful 16th century embossed entrance door decorates the southern frontage; the shields and emblems around the door are 19th century.
