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Built at the beginning of the 14th century to protect the Guyenne Anglaise border from the incursions of the Kingdom of France, the " Château de Monsac" became, as so any other castles, witness to a period of history of many battles lasting into modern times.
( Just like in the 15een century )
 Claude Marin, Lord of Monsac and the Vigerie, several times invited his lord and friend, Henri de Navarre and Count of Périgord, future Henri IV to hunt all sorts of game on his land.  But the religious wars which cast a cloud over the region during the second half of the 16th century had fatal consequences for the castle: it was once again assaulted, pillaged and burnt down, and the successors would take many years to give the castle back its manorial appearance.  The last Lord of the castle, Marquis Malet de Lagarde, future Peer of the realm, left France during the revolution to join the King's brother. The retaliation of the conventionnels was horrific: destruction of the castle, more pillaging, then sold as national property.  ( The castle in 1900 ) ( contempary painting ) Having become the center of a spacious agricultural domain, progressively all the fortifications and the ornamentation vanished and it fell into oblivion. Restaured in 1999 it is now a place which combines modern comfort with a feeling for tradition.
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Destroyed for the first time during the Hundred Year's War by Derby, the head of the English armies ("Froissard Chronicles"), for some time it belonged to Dunois, the bastard of Orléans, who fought alongside Jeanne d'Arc. After peace was restaured at the end of 15th century, the castle was rebuilt and embellished: mullion windows, ornamented doors, gargoyles, monumental chimnies and most of all a spiral staircase… The castle, at this time, was at the height of it's fame and it's defence capabilities: 7 towers, connected by a ring wall protected it and a double-arched bridge spanned the moasts. But it's position in the valley could no longer ensure an effective defence against the new weapons (fire arms, heavy artillery) which replaced the cavalry of old. 
