fortress was destroyed by Pepin the Short in 742 but was soon rebuilt. It came through
marriage into the possession of Count Foulques I le Roux (ca. 888–941) and was
reinforced by Foulques III Nerra (r. 987–1040) in the 11th century. When their
descendant Henry II Plantagenêt became king of England in 1152, he added three large
semi-circular corner towers to the fortifications. The castle was captured from Richard I
the Lionhearted by Philip II Augustus after a year’s siege and used as a state prison. In
the 15th century, Loches became the official residence of Agnès Sorel (ca. 1422–1450),
Charles VII’s favorite. The 11th-century tower, a rectangle 82 feet long by 43 feet wide
with walls 9 feet thick, is one of the earliest and finest examples of a stone keep; it was
here that the chronicler Philippe de Commynes, among many others, was incarcerated. Of
the original double curtain walls and broad moat (35–40 feet), only one wall still stands.
In the 14th century, the Governor’s Tower was built, and the entrance was reinforced
with a moat and drawbridge. In the 15th century, the curtain walls were joined to the keep
by the Tour Neuve. Like the Tour du Prisonnier at Gisors, it has two stone-vaulted levels
and a third, timbered story.
William W.Kibler
[See also: GISORS]
Finó, J.-F. Forteresses de la France médiévale. Paris: Picard, 1970, pp. 399–403.
LODÈVE
. The former cathedral of Saint-Fulcran in Lodève (Hérault) was dedicated to a bishop
who died in 1066. The present building dates from the 13th and 14th centuries, but the
presence of Gallo-Roman materials in the substructure attests to its antiquity and to the
probability of a Carolingian origin. With a length of 165 feet, the interior includes a nave
of three bays with ribbed vaulting, bordered by aisles that join chapels from the 14th and
15th centuries. The choir, the most remarkable feature of this building, forms a large,
impressive space composed of two bays and a polygonal chevet in nine sections with an
abundance of tall windows. The western façade features a superb Gothic rose window
and two turrets displaying corbeling and machicolations. Some 188 feet tall, the
enormous belfry has doubled bays, which in the upper story are adorned with statues of
SS.Fulcran, George, Flour, and Amans and the bishop of Lodève.
E.Kay Harris
Bonnet, E. “Antiquités et monuments du department de l’Hérault.” In Géographie générale du
départment de l’Hérault. 3 vols. Montpellier: Ricard, 1905.
Rey, Raymond. L’art gothique du Midi de la France. Paris, 1934.
——. “Lodève.” Congrès archéologique (Montpellier) 108 (1950):247–52.
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