From neolithic times, the Promontoire des Chatelliers rock spur has been an
ideal observation post at the confluence of the Loire and one of its affluents,
the Amasse.
Since the Iron Age, this site was a place of craftwork and
commercial ex changes. The town became the main city of the Turones, the celtic
tribe who gave their name to the future area of Touraine. The site was fortified
from this period onwards. The fortifications were progressively improved with
the help of the rock.
In 503, Amboise entered into history when Clovis, King
of the Francs and Alaric, King of the Visigoths met here. Mter the troubled
period of the Norman invasions, the power of Amboise spread over the lands of
the Counts of Anjou, then those of the house of Amboise-Chaumont.
In 1214,
Touraine was invested by Philippe-Auguste, King of France. The family of
Amboise-Chaumont became his vassal.
But in 1431 Louis d'Amboise was condemned to death for his part in the plot
against La Trémouille (Arthur de Richemont), the favourite of King Charles VII.
Eventually pardoned, Louis d'Amboise still had to renounce the Château
d'Amboise, which was confiscated by the Crow. |
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