Château de Navarre

The Château de Navarre was a château near Évreux in Normandy. It was built for Queen Joan II of Navarre and later came into the possession of the House of La Tour d'Auvergne.

The Chateau was built in 1750 and the two towers dated to the seventeenth century. The Chateau was burned down in 1834 and the remains were torn down two years later.^[1] The chateau was surrounded by the forest of Everux. The Chateau or Palace of Navarre was located in the French part of the country. It was the principality of Bearn.
Joan and Antoine lived here during their rule. From there it passed on to other families and later became the home of Napoleon’s ex-wife Josephine. Comte Roy, minister of Finance, gained the property after Josephine. It also became the residences of the Duke of Bouillon and then later the Duke of Leuchtenberg, his grandson, authorized by an Act, sold this area, in 1834 to the Marquis de Dauvet, for the sum of 1.2 million francs. The castle fell in 1836, and on the land a factory was built and the land and meadows were sold. As for the forest of Évreux, depending formerly the domain of Navarre, it was not part of the prerogative of the Empress Josephine. This forest was sold at around the same time as the castle, by the princes of Rohan, heirs of the last duke of Bouillon. It did not become the property of the City of Évreux until 1981.^[2] On the location of the castle is now a racecourse and the area became known as the "neighborhood of Navarre."

The building was in the shape of a cube. It was fenced in on four sides by balustrades and had four granite stairways leading to four entrances. The chateau was topped with a dome that was covered in lead.^[1]

Jeanne of Navarre

Queen Joan ruled with her husband Antoine for many years, during this time they were called to the King of France and it proposed that Joan and Antoine give up their lands to the Kingdom of France in exchange for territory in France. The Kingdom of Navarre would have passed into French control and they royalty of Navarre would become princelings. Joan refused this offer and the Kingdom of Navarre stayed as it was until her death.^[3] Henry IV was the son of Jeanne and Antoine and would gain the title King of France and Navarre when he became king.

Josephine

During the First Empire it was granted to Napoleon's ex-wife Joséphine, who was created Duchess of Navarre.When Josephine arrived at the Chateau she was not pleased with the state that the Chateau had fallen into. She was not very impressed with the small rooms, the worn out woodwork, and the amount of water that surrounded the Chateau. As a result she wrote to Napoleon telling him that she was going to repair all of the ruins and embellish the estate with the bounty assigned to her.^[4] While doing these repairs she spent a considerable amount of money returning the chateau to its previous state. She made the water that pooled around the chateau, into a flowing waterway instead of stagnant one.^[5] The surrounding marsh area was used to expand the stables.^[6] As a result the surrounding area benefitted. She did this by raising plantations, caused the marshes to be drained, public buildings were erected, and she provided the peasants with work opportunities. She also improved the roads leading to and from the forest of Évreux. Comte Roy acquired the property after Josephine and he let the property fall back into ruin.^[7]

Property Owners

• Jeanne d’Albret and Antoine de Bourbon - Was built for Jeanne and was their home for many years until she was dethroned
• Duke of Bouillon - had it rebuilt for him in 1689^[2]
• Empress Josephine - lived in Navarre and Malmaison for 2 years spending a couple of months at a time in both places.
• Comte Roy - acquired the property after Josephine.

References