The Royal City of Loches: a history marked by illustrious men and women
Château de Loches was a prime stronghold throughout the Middle Ages, fought over by the French and English kingdoms and sprang from the battle between the Counts of Anjou and Blois. Foulques Nerra, the Count of Anjou, built the main tower – the keep – between 1013 and 1035.
Then Richard the Lionheart, Philip II, King of France, and John Lackland, King of England, fought each other here in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. Saint Louis gave Loches the “royal city” status in 1249. This would change its royal fate at the end of the Middle Ages.
In the 15th century, the City became a royal lodge and played host to Charles VI, Joan of Arc, Agnès Sorel, Louis XI, Anne of Brittany (and her two husbands, Charles VIII and Louis XII) and François I (who received the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V here in 1539). It was also a favourite residence among the Valois dynasty from 1418 up until the mid-16th century.
