Amboise is one of the cities of the Val de Loire region with the most ancient history because of its particular geographic location. The large island (Ile d'Or, formerly called Ile St-Jean because of the Chapel St-Jean on the island) separates the Loire into two branches in front of the city. This made crossing the Loire River easier here than in other places.
Another important attribute of the location is the abrupt rise of the Plateau des Châteliers that dominates the fork of the Loire and Amasse rivers, creating a natural protection and an ideal spot for the construction of a fortification. For these reasons the Turons, the ancestors of the inhabitants of Touraine, lived here from the 1st century B.C. At the end of the Roman Empire in 503, the Ile d'Or was the meeting place for the encounter of Clovis and the Francs and Alaric, chief of the Wisigoths, who signed a peace treaty here that lasted only a short time.
During the Middle Ages, in 1429 Jeanne d'Arc passed through the city. Some days later she defeated the English at Orléans. Louise d'Amboise who participated in the siege, was involved in a plot against La Trémouille, favorite of Charles VII. Condemned to death by the king, he was pardoned, and was given back his confiscated goods with the exception of Amboise which was added to the king's possessions in 1434. It became a royal residence and Charles VII undertook work on the castle. After Louis XI, Charles VIII and François I enlarged, transformed and modified it.
In 1516, François I invited Leonardo de Vinci here and he lived in the Clos-Lucé until his death in 1519. Little by little the kings cut themselves from Amboise and the Vallée de la Loire in order to live nearer to Paris. The castle balcony is often called "the conspirators' balcony" in memory of the religious wars and of the conspiracy of Amboise that took place around 1560. This conspiracy was instigated for the purpose of eliminating the Guise family, adversaries of Protestants, who were very powerful in the court.
The Protestants planned to kidnap the king at Blois. The Guise, who knew about it, put the king in the castle at Amboise. The conspirators who were suppose to infiltrate the castle were surprised in the neighboring forests. The retaliation was terrible, more than 1,500 victims were executed and some were hung from the castle balcony.
In the 18th century, there was a renewal of activities here thanks to Choiseul, the famous minister of Louis XV. He was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs but lost his position in 1770. He came back to the region and united his estate in Amboise with his Chanteloup estate. Even though Choiseul had left the court, the court came to him : there was party after party in his sumptuous Chanteloup castle. Today the only things left of this magnificent architectural site are the Pagoda and the majestic water pools. These monuments of Chinese inspiration were built by Choiseul in 1778 in gratitude to his illustrious friends who followed him in his disgrace to Chanteloup.
In the 19th century, Napoléon made Amboise a senatorial manor. In 1814, Louis XVIII gave the Amboise estate to the duchess of Orléans, daughter and inheritor of the Duke of Penthièvre. When the duchess died, Amboise became the property of her son, the future Louis-Philippe. In 1848, the castle was again confiscated and served as the internment place of Abd-el-Kader who stayed there from 1842 to 1852. The castle was given back to the Orléans family in 1873.
The end of the 19th century was a time of economic growth with the installation of the first industries, thanks to, among others, Charles Guinot, mayor, deputy and senator of Indre-et-Loire. During the Second World War, the bridge of Amboise was destroyed. The city has grown throughout the 20th century with the installation of new companies and different urbanization projects. Today, the city has about 12,000 inhabitants.
This article is copyrighted by Amboise Valdeloire
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