Brief Text History of the Chateau

The chateau was constructed in the 11th century by the Count of Anjou. Before then there was a Gallic oppidum, an iron age enclosed settlement, there.

The chateau was seized by Charles VII of France in 1434. The owner, Louis d'Amboise had been convicted of plotting against Louis XI.

Charles VIII renovated the chateau in 1492 adding the French late Gothic Flamboyant style. He also brought in Italian mason-builders to add Renaissance stylings to the chateau.

King Francis I grew up in the chateau. He had Leonardo da Vinci come live in Amboise as a gues in 1515 and had him live in Clos Luce. The chateau and Clos Luce are connected by an underground passageway. Leonardo died in 1519 while in Amboise and is buried in the chapel of Saint Hubert on the chateau's grounds.

Henry II of France and his wife Catherine de' Medici lived in the chateau. They raised Francis II and Mary, Queen of Scots in the Chateau. She had moved into the chateau at the age of six to mary the dauphin Francis II after declining to marry King Henry the VIII of England's son.

In 1560 a Hugenot uprising was squashed as 1200 protestants were killed and hung throughout the town. After this the royal court left Amboise allegedly due to the smell of the rotting corpses.

Much of the chateau was demolished in the 19th century due to an engineering assessment requested by Napoleon.