Fougères

Fougères guards the eastern marches of Brittany, its great castle rising above the River Nançon and the town below. Towers and walls enclosed a fortress commanding routes from Normandy and Maine into the duchy. The town's position made it a place of commerce as well as a target for armies crossing the frontier.

In March 1449 François de Surienne, a captain in English service, seized Fougères by surprise during a truce. The attack helped bring the Hundred Years' War back to Brittany and Normandy, and the castle was subsequently repaired. In 1488 a French royal army under La Trémoille besieged and took the town during the war against Duke Francis II. Its formidable defences had once again stood at the centre of a struggle over the duchy's future.