Combourg, an austere medieval fortress
Combourg is located in Northern Brittany.
Archeological finds show that the village already existed during the Gallo-Roman period.
Guingené, the Archbishop of Dol de Bretagne, built the fortress in the early 11th century.
He also founded the Seigneury of Combourg for his younger brother Riwallon.
The Seigneury belonged to Riwallon’s descendants until 1097.
Various aristocratic Breton families owned it in the centuries that followed.
One of them, the Coetquen, had the Seigneury established as a County in 1575.
The old fortress of Combourg was modified during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries.
However, it has to this day retained its austere architecture.
It therefore consists of four turreted buildings laid out around a central courtyard.
Four massive round towers topped with pepper-pot roofs marked their corners, and small apertures pierced their tall walls.
Finally, a beautiful landscaped park showcases this dark yet impressive castle that dominates the village and boasts superb views of the Lac Tranquille.
Chateau de Combourg, the chateau of René de Chateaubriand
The Chateaubriand Family, one of the oldest baronies in Brittany, bought the County in the 18th century.
The family’s aristocratic title indeed dates back to the 11th century Crusades.
Their crest carries the memory of the religious expeditions to the Holy Land in their motto:
“Mon sang a teingt la banniere de France – My blood is on the banner of France”
The French writer, Viscount Francois-René de Chateaubriand, was the heir to that dynasty.
The kings of France, however, ‘overlooked’ the members of the dynasty until René’s father restored the family’s good fortune.
He indeed rebuilt the family wealth through a series of successful maritime dealings.
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René de Chateaubriand was born on September 4, 1768 in the Hôtel de la Gicquelais in St-Malo.
He was the tenth child of the family.
He arrived in the fortress de Combourg in 1777, where he spent most of his youth.
Like his mother, he couldn’t really cope with the severity and darkness of the place.
These years of loneliness and boredom certainly shaped the personality of the young man, who is considered the founder of the Romantic literary movement.
He wrote his Mémoire d’Outre-tombe – Memoirs from Beyond the Grave, at the ned of his life.
Here’s an extract of his masterpiece:
“C’est dans les bois de Combourg que je suis devenu ce que je suis, que j’ai commencé à sentir la première atteinte de cet ennui que j’ai traîné toute ma vie, de cette tristesse qui a fait mon tourment et ma félicité, c’est là que j’ai cherché un Coeur qui pût entendre le mien…”
“It is in the woods of Combourg that I became what I am, that I started to feel the first attack of boredom I dragged my whole life, the sadness that made my anguish and my happiness, it is where I looked for a Heart that could hear mine …”
This talented writer with a melancholic and sensitive soul was also an acknowledged diplomat and politician.
He indeed exercised his office under Louis XVIII and Charles X.
Chateaubriand died in Paris on July 4, 1848.
He was buried, according to his wishes, in the Ilôt de Bé off St-Malo, an islet only accessible at low tide.
His lonely grave bears the following epitaph:
“Un grand écrivain Français a voulu reposer ici, pour n’entendre que la mer et le vent.”
“Passant, respecte sa dernière volonté”
“A great French writer wanted to rest here, to listen only to the sea and wind.’
“Passerby, respect his last wish ”
Department of Ille et Vilaine
Coordinates: Lat 48.407524 – Long -1.754111
