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Last modified: 2022-02-28 by ivan sache
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Flag of Châteauneuf - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 8 June 2021
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The municipality of Châteauneuf (79 inhabitants in 2019; 1,006 ha; municipal website; castle website) is located 40 km west of Dijon.
Châteauneuf was first mentioned in 696 in church documents, as Tavignaco. Around 1175, Jean de Chaudenay erected a "novum castrum" (Latin, "new castle"), as opposed to his old castle located in the nearby village of Chaudenay. He granted the new castle and the domain that surrounded it to his son, Jean I de Châteauneuf. Located on a spur dominating river Vandenesse and in an area controlled by Jean's relatives, Châteauneuf was a very safe place to build a village, protected by a thick wall with only three gates. Watching the commercial road connecting Dijon and Autun, Châteauneuf thrived; in April 1267, Jean III de Châteauneuf granted franchises to the village; the francs-bourgeois (free burgers) of Châteauneuf were exempted from all taxes but property tax. Duke of Burgundy Odo IV granted in 1347 two yearly fairs to Guyot de Châteauneuf, while another two were granted by Philip the Good to Philippe Pot in 1459.
Catherine de Châteauneuf, accused of the poisoning of her husband, was sentenced to death while the castle was confiscated by the Duke of Burgundy and granted in 1460 to Philippe Pot, whose godfather was none but the Duke himself. Pot died in 1493 and was buried in the abbey of Cîteaux; his funeral monument is now shown in the Louvre Museum, while its only known replica is kept in Châteauneuf.
The castle was subsequently owned by the Montmorency, and; from 1627 to 1769, by the de Vienne family, lords of Commarin. In 1802, Châteauneuf was acquired by marriage in 1802 by the Vogüé family. Arthur de Vogüé obtained in 1894 the registration of the castle as an historical monument. The architect in charge of the national monuments, Charles de Suisse, initiated restoration works in 1902. The castle was eventually offered to the Regional Council of Burgundy in 2008.
In the late 18th century, six fairs were organized in Châteauneuf every year, on 2 January, 28 February, 9 April, 8 June, 23 August and 8 November, as was an ordinary market every Monday. Châteauneuf was a busy place of trade of wines from the Beaune area, wood and charcoal from the mountains, and wheat and cattle from Auxois. The town was also a safe stepping place on the Way of Saint James. Short before the French Revolution the population of the village peaked at 500, 85% of them being merchants and craftsmen. The building of the Canal of Burgundy between 1822 and 1828, and, two decades later, of railway line,s caused the decline of Châteauneuf, which was located too far from the new ways of trade.
Ivan Sache, 25 September 2021
The flag of Châteauneuf, hoisted over the castle (photo), is a square abnner of the municipal arms, "Or a fess sable three escallops of the same in
chief".
Although Châteauneuf was located on the Way of Saint-James, the scallops are not related with St. James. The arms were those of Jean II de Chaudenay, who used his father's arms with the three scallops in base removed; his brother is said to have drooped the three scallops in chief.
[Municipal website]
Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 25 September 2021
