Pagax Castle

 

 

Important fortress of the Middle Ages, it became a castle in 1259, residence of a noble Royal official to establish the authority of the King of France in this region.

 

Placed on this dominant point, it controlled all the surrounding valleys as well as the very busy route from Conques to Figeac (Chemin de Compostela, Via Podiensis, route du Puy). 

 

Its name itself testifies to this ; indeed Pagax was formerly spelled Pagas and today it is still pronounced " Pagasse ". “ Pagas ” (from the Latin Pagus, tax jurisdiction, payment, designates a crossing point)  clearly indicates this role of control , obligatory and paying.

 

 

In the Middle Ages, it was part of the heritage of the Montarnal family and Hugues Hector de Montarnal, Canon of Elne. 

                                                                                                        

It was a noble and powerful family with the title of barony which appears from the year 1096 in a charter of the abbey of Conques where Gauzfred de Montarnal is mentioned, participating in the first crusade undertaken under the reign of Philippe Ier.

This family gave fighters to the crusades and benefactors to the church.  Possessing many goods, thePagax Castlewas part of their heritage.

In the 15th century, Hugues de Montarnal, head of the house, had married his daughter Nine to Guillaume de Moret and substituted all his property for the unborn male children of this marriage.

As a result of these provisions, after his death, his inheritance was collected by Jean de Moret, his grandson.

 

 

The castle of "Pagas" therefore passed into the Moret family, which over the centuries took on considerable importance in Rouergue and Gévaudan. -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_

                                                                                                                                                      

Mention is made of this family from the year 962 then 990 in various charters of the Abbey of Conques.

It took its name from the place of Moret where it had a castle for a long time, but it lived in the castle of Pagax or in Montarnal.

Bégon, one of the family members was the most powerful abbot of Conques in the 11th century.

This family was known for its vast possessions, for its services and military jobs, for its distinguished alliances which gave it kinship with the first houses of the kingdom. 3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_"Pagas" Henri Victor de Moret (1642-1704) had "royal blood", since his maternal grandmother was  other than Madeleine de Bourbon Malauze, direct descendant of the kings of France, from Hugues Capet to Saint-Louis. In their genealogy we find squires, knights of the order of St-Jean of Jerusalem, duchesses, commanders, colonels... 

They made residence le château de Pagax until 1773.

 

 

thePagax Castlewas therefore sold in 1773 to Mr. Brunet or Le Brunet de Paillez, who was a great purchaser of noble property. Jacques Le Brunet, originally from Conques, had made his fortune in Paris by marrying a rich heiress who died prematurely. 

He had bought shortly before, the castle of Privezac where he had some problems with the local peasants shortly before the Revolution, when the slingshot rose in the countryside. So, a few years later, to avoid the same scenario in "Pagas", he himself burned his feudal titles, decapitated the towers and lowered the weather vane of the castle, supreme emblem_cc781905-5cde-3194 -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_of feudalism. 

 

 

After this period, we do not know much about the inhabitants of the castle until the beginning of the 20th century, when it was the property of the Solanet family.  It then passed into the family Campargue vers 1925 à la suite d'une vente aux enchères.    _cc781905-5cde-3194 -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_ 

                                                                                                                

 

Since June 2005, we are, my wife and myself, owner of the castle of Pagax following a "love at first sight" for this one, this area and their inhabitants. It is the realization of a dream and a "life project" to aim for the restoration of this castle. This is just the beginning of an adventure...