HOUSES WITH A HISTORY 
THE CHATEAU DE BRISSAC 
By V. Hussey Wai.sh 
A I A 11E Chateau de Brissac has been the 
^ scene of some of the most stirring and 
eventful episodes in the history of France. 
Originally one of the strongholds of those 
Counts of An)ou from whom sprung our 
King Henry II., it subsequently became the 
residence of the illustrious family of Cosse 
Brissac, who supplied no less than four Field 
Marshals to France. Situated as it is on the 
main road from Angers to Doue, and at the 
junction of other important routes, it has 
seen many an encounter between the sup¬ 
porters of the rival houses of Plantagenet 
and Valois as their respective heads con¬ 
tended for the mastery of France. It was 
forfeited to the Crown by King Philip Augus¬ 
tus and Louis XL, both of whom razed its 
fortifications to the ground, and it was 
taken and retaken by Leaguers and Hugue¬ 
nots when Catholic and Protestant were 
tearing France asunder in the cause of 
religious ascendency. By giving hospitality 
to a king and to his mother, it cemented 
their reconciliation within its walls, and it 
remains now a living witness to the heroism 
of some and the folly of other proprietors 
who, great and small, helped in their several 
times to raise the dignity of the feudal lord 
and adorn the court of the Roi Soleil who 
declared that he alone was the State. 
The Dukes of Brissac have won renown 
both on the field of battle and in the Council 
Chamber, though others of them have been 
handed down to us by the scandal-mongers 
THE DINING-ROOM 
