Un site castral bourbonnais au début de la guerre de Cent Ans : le Tronçais à Chevagnes (Allier)

Abstract

The castle site of le Tronçay at Chevagnes is a Medieval earth and timber fortification composed of a succession of enclosures. Its excavation has enabled us to discover a castle motte and bailey, established during the 13th century, along with a fortified manor house added during the second half of the 14th century, although the original castle still existed.Craftwork was carried out here from the sites’ early days. At the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War it was a metal working centre. Analysis of waste has revealed the entire production chain, from local ore extraction through to the production of objects in forges, including ore transformation in smelting furnaces. These activities were all at some time grouped within the same fortified manor.Forty pieces of wood, originally from the entrance gangway, were found totally or partially carbonized in the moat. They have been dated by dendrochronology to the winter of 1360-1361. These elements enable us to reconstitute a deck and a bascule type drawbridge.