Chinon

Chinon lies beneath a long fortress on a rocky ridge above the Vienne. The castle was a principal seat of the Plantagenet kings, and Henry II died here in 1189. Philip Augustus captured it for the French crown in 1205 after a long siege, adding the Coudray Tower to its defences.

In 1308 Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was held in the fortress during the proceedings against the order. In 1429 Joan of Arc came to Chinon to meet Charles VII, whose claim to the French throne was then contested by the English. From this encounter began the campaign that led to the relief of Orléans. The fortress later served as a residence for Charles’s queen, Marie of Anjou.