The A château ( French for castle; plural châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of gentry, usually French, with or without fortifications. ...Château d’Oiron, in the Deux_Sèvres is a French département. ...Deux_Sèvres The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ...département, of western France _ Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...France has its origins rooted in the 15th century war with the English for control of France when a victorious Charles VII the Victorious, a. ...Charles VII of France gave the domain and great forest of Oiron to Guillaume Gouffier who would become governor of Touraine was a province of France. ...Touraine.

Today, Oiron is only a short drive from the royal châteaux in the Loire Valley (French Vallée de la Loire) is known as the Garden of France and the Cradle of the French Language. ...Val de Loire, but in the 15th century it was considered far removed from the seat of power at the royal domains. Nonetheless, Guillaume Gouffier built a magnificent castle and his offspring would update and improve it. In Events Treaty of Nagyvarad. ...1538, his daughter_in_law, Helene de Hengest, was responsible for the construction of a collegiate church adjacent to the castle. In Events Russia, Reforming Synod of the metropolite Macaire, Orthodoxy: introduction of a calendar of the saints and an ecclesiastical law code ( Stoglav ) Major outbreak of the sweating sickness in England. ...1551, Henry II of France Henry II (French: Henri II) (March 31, 1519 _ July 10, 1559), a member of the Valois Dynasty, was King of France from 1547 until his death. ...King Henri II and his entire court were guests of Claude Gouffier who had been granted the title Marquis de Caravaz. Claude Gouffier served as the model for Charles Perrault, 1665 Charles Perrault (January 12, 1628 - May 16, 1703) was a French author. ...Charles Perrault’s Marquis de Carabas in his story, “Puss_in_Boots”.

Two generations later, another Gouffier would be exiled from the king’s court by Cardinal Richelieu was the French chief minister from 1624 until his death. ...Cardinal Richelieu in Events September 6 _ English emigrants on the Mayflower depart from Plymouth, England for the future New England and arrive at the end of the year. ...1620. In the mid Centuries: 16th century _ 17th century _ 18th century Decades: 1550s 1560s 1570s 1580s 1590s _ 1600s _ 1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s Years: 1600 1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1607 1608 1609 Events and Trends November 5, 1605 _ The Gunpowder Plot to blow up the British Parliament. ...1600s, Charlotte Gouffier became enamored with the renowned intellect, Blaise Pascal (June 19, 1623 – August 19, 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. ...Blaise Pascal (1623_1662), who spent considerable time at the Château d’Oiron. After Pascal died, Charlotte Gouffier married Francois d'Aubusson, the Duc de La Feuillade, who enhanced the castle with his wealth and connections to Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) Louis XIV (Louis_Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ...King Louis XIV. With the renovations, the castle would end up with a main building and two long projecting wings, one of which is a By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance _French Renaissance _German Renaissance _English Renaissance The Renaissance was a great cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ...Renaissance structure built over a cloister. One of the galleries contains one of the most prestigious works of art from the French Renaissance period.

The Duc de La Feuillade’s son sold the castle to Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) Louis XIV (Louis_Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ...King Louis XIV’s mistress, Françoise_Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Mme de Montespan Françoise_Athénaïs of Rochechouart, marquise of Montespan (October 5, 1641 _ May 27, 1707) was a mistress of Louis XIV. Born at the chateau of Tonnay_Charente, in todays Charente_Maritime, France, the daughter of Gabriel de...Madame de Montespan who lived there for the rest of her life. Her son had little interest in the property as he preferred to be much closer to the royal court so in Events January 26 _ Stanislaus I of Poland abdicates his throne. ...1736 he sold the castle to the Duc de Villeroi. After that, the castle went into severe decline and in 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...1793 was ransacked by The period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ...Revolutionaries. For many years the castle lay abandoned until the government of France took possession just before World War II eventually converting it to a museum.

Recognized world wide, the museum is dedicated to contemporary art. In 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993_2003) Events January January 1 _ Czechoslovakia divides. ...1993 The Year Of Solar Burns was commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture for permanent installation in the Château d'Oiron.