Ghost Stories and Haunted Places: The Chateau De Saumur and the .

The Chateau De Saumur and the Shade of the Marquess de Sade

The Chateau De Saumur is a hauntingly beautiful and very haunted castled nestled in the historic Loire Valley of France. The Chateau De Saumur was reinforced in the tenth century by Thibault le Tricheur the Comte de Blois. The palace was totally destroyed in combat in 1076.

Henry II Of England rebuilt the palace in twelfth century. Phillip II of France retook the palace as part of France in the thirteenth century. The castle seems to be tightly tied to France's turbulent history. It witnessed the wars between England in France and changed hands many times. In 1589 the castle fell into the men of King Henry de Navarre, a vital design in the Gallic wars of faith and thefirst Protestant queen of France. In 1621 the palace was turned intoan army barracks and subsequently into a prison.It would house many notourious figures. The most notorious figure to be in The Chateau De Saumur was the Marquess de Sade. The Marquess de Sade is about known for his writings in which he wrote around the connection between sexual gratification, torture,and pain. His list is the source of the word sadism. The Marquis spent most of his biography in prison. He was inprisoned for his disturbing writings, but continued to publish in prison. He was inprisoned in many asylums and prisons throughout France during the 32 yrs he was incarcerated but his ghost is thought to hover at Chateau De Saumur. I have been unable to detect any actual data on the nature of the haunting at the Chateau, but I was intrigued by any haunting that involves De Sade, a man whose cruelty is legendary. The Chateau itself is quite lovely. It is one of many beautiful castles in the Loire Valley and has been turned into a museum dedicated to horses. I lost this lovely castle in my spell of the Loire Valley, but I will wait for it next time. De Sade's ghost isn't something I would need to miss.