Between Saint-Gaudens and Saint-Martory, on the right bank of the Garonne, you can see the remains of an old feudal castle.
These ruins are those of the Château de Montespan, once the seat of a barony of the same name and a fief of the House of Spain.
A Bit of History…
Montespan is best known from the time the d’Espagne family settled in this area.
Around 1235, the daughter of Arnaud d’Espagne, Lord of Montespan, married Roger de Comminges, Viscount of Couserans.
The origin of the name Montespan is thus a corruption of “Mont d’Espagne,” derived from the name of the family that ruled the area until the 15th century.
The lords of the d’Espagne family settled there in the 13th century. The town became the owner of the castle in 1995.
Originally from the Hautes-Pyrénées, the d’Espagne family distinguished itself in the battles that liberated the “Land of the Four Valleys” from Saracen invasions and participated in the crusades of King Saint Louis.
Their fame grew further in the early 13th century through the marriage of Grise d’Espagne—daughter of Arnaud d’Espagne, Baron of Bordères-en-Louron and Lord of Montespan—to Roger de Comminges, the fourth Viscount of Couserans.
From this union was born Arnaud de Comminges, Viscount of Couserans and Count of Foix, whose third son, Arnaud de Comminges d’Espagne (the first to bear that name), became the head of the house known as the “Barons of Spain of Montespan.”
The castle occupied a strategic position, tasked with ensuring the security of the passes from Couserans to Spain.
Beyond their role as “guardians of the borders,” the Barons of Spain provided the French crown with a long line of great warriors, as well as prominent civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries.
With the death of Roger IV of Spain in 1555—who died without legitimate children—this first line of the House of the Barons of Spain of Montespan came to an end. At that time, the barony of Montespan passed to the House of Pardaillan de Gondrin through the marriage of Paule of Spain, Roger IV’s eldest sister, to Antoine de Pardaillan de Gondrin. Their son, Hector, then added the title of Baron of Montespan to his own titles. Montréjeau was then the capital of the Barony of Montespan.
These lands were elevated to a marquisate by King Louis XIII as a reward for the services rendered by the Barony of Montespan.
The Marquisate of Montespan included the towns of Montréjeau (the capital), Valentine, and Cazères; the castles and manor houses of Ausson, Bordes, Villeneuve-Lécussan, Cazarilh, Villeneuve-de-Rivière, Saint-Laurent, and Mazères; as well as several captaincies comprising 24 other villages.
In 1663, Louis de Pardaillan, great-great-grandson of Paule of Spain and Marquis of Montespan, married Françoise Athénais de Rochechouart.
Beautiful and witty, she would become the favorite of King Louis XIV, better known as the Marquise de Montespan. “Her legitimized children, born of her love affair” with the king, still have descendants today in nine royal houses across several European countries...
The castle is now owned by the municipality, which took over its management in 1995. Although partially in ruins, it remains a symbol of the local medieval heritage, complemented by other historical sites such as the Houantaou underground passage, listed in 1924, and the prehistoric Montespan cave, discovered in 1922 by Norbert Casteret. This cave, dating from the Magdalenian period, attests to human occupation long before the castle was built, adding a major archaeological dimension to the site.
With Christian Teillol
Château de Montespan
31260 Montespan
