Blois is a castle where lots of history was made. Louis XII was born here, and when he became king, he moved the royal residence to Blois from Amboise. Around 1500 he built the oldest part of the castle, the brick part on the right in this picture. The gothic chapel is from his period. Twenty five years later François I built a renaissance wing, the one facing us, with the unique open circular staircase in the middle.

After his queen, Claude de France, died there François I never came to Blois again, and it became just another castle in the royal estates.

Henri III

But François I's grandson Henri III does move into Blois. Just before Christmas in 1588 he invites his enemy, the Duke de Guise, head of the Catholic League and an ally of king Phillip II of Spain (of Armada fame), to a meeting in Blois. De Guise is assassinated by the king's men. The duke's brother Louis, the Cardinal of Lorraine, is killed the next day. Henri's mother, Catherine de Medici, is shaken by the events and dies within a fortnight.

The following year Henri III is himself assassinated by a religious fanatic. But that happened in Saint Cloud, not at Blois. Henri III was the last of the Valois line. He is succeeded by Henri IV, the first Bourbon, who converts to Catholicism to avoid more civil war.

Louis XIII

In 1617 Louis XIII, son of Henri IV, banishes his mother, Marie de Medici to Blois. Considering the reputation of the de Medici family, I don't blame him. Marie built a court in exile around her, including Richelieu (who was not yet a cardinal). Go read "The Three Musketeers" at this point. Back already? Great swashbuckling fun, eh? Anyway, Marie escaped by climbing down a rope at night (at her age? with her build??). Shortly after, she and her son were reconciled thanks to mediation by Richelieu.

Now we get into the family feud part of the story! Louis XIII had a brother, Gaston d'Orléans. Louis had no children. Gaston put two and two together and says "When big Louie kicks the bucket, I get to be king!" Of course Louis had also done the math on this one and needed a way to keep his eye on Gaston. So he gave him Blois, and he says, if you want to be King some day, go ahead and build a palace worthy of a king!

So in 1635 Gaston tears down everything that used to be on the left side of the picture, hires the famous architect Mansard, and starts to build a magnificent neo-classical palace. Two years later, Louis has a son, the future Louis XIV! Everybody is happy except Gaston. His claim to the throne evaporates overnight. With the claim goes his credit rating. The workmen who were building his palace realize that, while they could have eventually collected from the future king, Gaston now can't afford much more than a three bedroom two bath place on the other side of the tracks. They walk off the job leaving the Gaston d'Orléans wing unfinished, and so it remains to this day.