The Castle of Montbrun with its origins, traceable, to over 2000 years ago. Full of mysteries and numerous legends.

In Roman times the lands here were called TRADOS;

which, freely translated, means: Land of dispossession; whether this has to be explained in the sense of capitulation, indulgence, loyalty or submission is left in the middle by the Latin dictionary.

In that time, the Celts lived there. It was a rich land (territory)

and there were, according to the peoples account, goldmines

within its borders.

For that reason, but possibly also to hide and to defend

themselves against the, closely quartered, Roman legions,

they built, aside the huts wherein they lived, a large and complex network of underground corridors and caves (cellars)

which were connected to each other.

Did the Celts, 2000 years ago, find it necessary to guard this

valley with their underground paces,.. in approximately 500 ce,

the Franks built here a wooden castle tower and there was,

apparently still, a then obvious and clear reason to protect this valley.

Even so, in 1178 a crusader knight (Ameryc Brun) erected on the order of Henry II of England a stone fortressand changed the name of the territory to “MONTBRUN” (Brun's Mountain).

Permission hereto was given (according to a document that survived the French Revolution) by the duke of Aquitaine Richard (Richard I -the lionhearted- before he became king of England in 1189.

After the 3rd crusade, Richard was captured on his return and taken hostage by Henry VI, the Emperor of the Holy Roman. It took over 1 year for his mother (Eleanor of Aquitaine) to raise the money for his ransom. Following his release he travelled to England to put things in order, whereas his younger brother John Lackland (who eventually became his successor) had installed himself as a substitute king.

Then he went to the duchy of Aquitaine to regain the lands that Philippe August of France had managed to gain control of.

First he went to Rochechouart (a city loyal to the king) and travelled on to Montbrun (which depended on Rochechouart) to recrute men (locally)  to attack the Aimar V - Count of Limoges (who was a traitor). There he appointed Pierre Brun (the son of Ameryc) to command his troops (mainly because of language issues whereas Richard did not speak the so called Langedoc).

On this campaign he first laid siege on Château de Chalus (one of the Castles of the Aimar V) where he got mortally injured by an arrow fired by Pierre Basilé (a defendor of the Castle) that wounded him in the shoulder. His army burned Chalus to the ground within 1 day and Richard was taken into safety and relative comfort to Montbrun where he died 12 days later.

In 1424 Montbrun was, on the order of the French King Charles the Seventh, under siege and was attacked by one of his war-lords, because the then castle-lord Guy Brun, who was married to Angele, the sovereigne of Pompadour, refused to submit to the authority of the King of France and remained loyal to his lord Henry VI of England.

Guy Brun perished during that fight and his wife Angele was banished to a nunnery.

His younger brother, Pierre Brun, who was appointed by the Pope Martin the Fifth, as Arch-bishop of Limoges, became the new Lord of Montbrun; under the condition that he swore faith (loyalty) to the French Sovereign. In 1430 he started on the rebuilding of the family mansion, resulting in its present form.

Pierre died on February 9, 1457 and left the castle with its lands to a second cousin: Louis Brun.