The Royal City of Loches: a history marked by illustrious men and women
A prime stronghold throughout the Middle Ages, fought over by the crowns of France and England, the Château de Loches was originally the outcome of the struggle between the Count of Anjou and the Count of Blois. Foulques Nerra, the Count of Anjou, built the main tower – the keep – between 1013 and 1035.
Then Richard the Lionheart, Philip II, King of France, and John Lackland, King of England, battled against each other there in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Saint Louis gave Loches royal city status in 1249. This would alter its royal destiny for the end of the Middle Ages.
In the 15th century, the City became a royal residence and played host to Charles VI, Joan of Arc, Agnès Sorel, Louis XI, Anne of Brittany (and her two husbands Charles VIII and Louis XII) and François I (who received the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V there in 1539). It was also one of the favourite residences of the Valois from 1418 up until the mid-16th century.