La Corroirie is a fortified feudal stronghold belonging to the neighboring Chartreuse du Liget, located in the commune of Chemillé-sur-Indrois, in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region.
Likely founded at the end of the 11th century, it became the Charterhouse's lower house, whose lay brothers were responsible for managing the monastery's extensive agricultural estate (nearly 1,500 hectares at Le Liget, as well as tenant farms in the Loches region). Its buildings were gradually expanded over the following centuries, with periods of expansion alternating with phases of fortification following the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion. In the 16th century, La Corroirie was transformed into a stronghold, with the construction of a monumental fortified gate at the entrance. In the second half of the 17th century, the friars who lived there left to take up residence in the upper residence, and the church was closed to worshipers: the lower residence lost its religious role and became a farm. One of the particularities of La Corroirie is that it was also a fief with legal rights over its territory from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution, as evidenced by the presence of a prison on the site. Sold as national property during the Revolution, after the last monks had left the Carthusian monastery in early 1791, the Corroirie buildings suffered little damage and are still maintained and inhabited into the 21st century.
The church, fortified gateway and prison of La Corroirie were listed as historic monuments in 1926; the listing was extended to the entire site in 2015. As from 1947, La Corroirie, along with the buildings of the upper house and their surroundings, are part of a listed site.
Location and toponymy
La Corroirie is located in the Chemillé-sur-Indrois commune, around 3 km southwest of the main town. Its buildings back onto the righthand bank of the hill, in the Ruisseau d'Aubigny valley, a Indrois tributary, at the mouth of Ruisseau du Liget's secondary valley. To the south-west of the latter, are the buildings of the upper house -so named because the prayer activities carried out there bring it symbolically closer to Heaven-Meunier. La Chartreuse du Liget, Hugues de Chivré, 2007: p. 64. of the chartreuse du Liget, 1.1 km from La Corroiere, and 2 km away from the Saint-Jean du Liget chapel. All these distances are expressed as "à vol d'oiseau".
To the south of the buildings is the Corroirie pond, established on the Aubigny by the Carthusian monks. At this point, the D 760 from Loches to Montrésor is built on the northern embankment of the pond, separating it from the buildings, whereas previously, it ran around the pond to the west and then south,Dufay. La Corroirie de la chartreuse du Liget à Chemillé-sur-Indrois (Indre-et-Loire). Étude historique et architecturale, FERACF, 2014: p.14. as shown on the Cassini map. Nevertheless, by 1897, the pond was poorly maintained and partially sunken.Bossebœuf 1897, p. 29. The small area designated for construction, with no possibility of expansion, may explain the architectural decision, over the centuries, to raise the buildings to increase their capacity.Dufay. La Corroirie de la chartreuse du Liget à Chemillé-sur-Indrois (Indre-et-Loire). Étude historique et architecturale, FERACF, 2014: p.17.
A manuscript written by a Carthusian monk in 1625 states "Correya est domus inferior Carthusianorum", the Cassini map mentions "La Courerie" and the Napoleonic cadastre indicates "La Couroirie". The low houses of the monasteries, dedicated to manual and agricultural activities, close to the land and dedicated to the accommodation of the lay brothers,André Montoux, Vieux logis de Touraine, t. VII, Chambray-lès-Tours, CLD, 1987, 217 pp. (), p. 61. generally take the name of correries. The term is a possible but controversial derivative of the "corrier", designating in Lyonnais and Dauphiné, in the Middle Ages, the prosecutor responsible for managing the property of a bishop or an abbot.Jacques Dubois, "Les moines dans la société du Moyen Âge (950–1350)", Revue d'histoire de l'Église de France, t. 60, no 164, 1974, p. 13 (DOI 10.3406/rhef.1974.1519). This word would itself be formed from the Latin conredium, designating all that relates to the material life of a monk,Jacques Chaurand, "Un toponyme cartusien : la correrie (correria)", Revue internationale d'onomastique, 1975, pp. 241–246. but this term may have been used by other monastic orders before the foundation of the Charterhouses.Auguste Bouchayer, Les Chartreux, maîtres de forges, Grenoble, Éditions Didier et Richard, 1927, 245 p., p. 25-26. This proposal is more plausible than a reference to corroyage, a stage in the preparation of hide for the manufacture of parchment,Bossebœuf 1897, p. 29–30. or even a post office for couriers, leads mentioned by ancient authors.Philippon. La chartreuse du Liget (suite), Société archéologique de Touraine, 1934: p. 289.
History
Foundation
The land of Liget seems to have been bought from the Abbey of Villeloin by Henri II of England between 1176 and 1183 and then given to a small Benedictine monastic community on the condition that it join the Carthusian order. After that, the chapel of Saint-Jean du Liget and the first buildings of the upper house were built.Christophe Meunier, La chapelle Saint-Jean du Liget, Chemillé-sur-Indrois, Hugues de Chivré, 2011, 78 p. (), p. 65. Before the Carthusians settled there, the location of Corroirie was called Craçay or CrassayFleury. L'église de la Corroirie du Liget, Société des amis du pays lochois, 2010: p. 70. and was not part of the initial donation. It is a fief that, around 1200 B.C., Lord Foulques de Craçay gave to the monks of Liget. The donation, although disputed by the heirs of Foulques after his death, was confirmed.Meunier. La Chartreuse du Liget, Hugues de Chivré, 2007: p. 52.
The exact date and circumstances of the foundation of the Corroirie are difficult to determine, due to the absence of reliable sources and convincing architectural leads. However, from a dedication of the church by the bishop of Paris Odon de Sully in 1206, it seems that the first structures were built in the last decade of the 12th century and the first two decades of the 13th century. From this first phase of construction, two structures with an unknown function were built, perhaps a pantry/dormitory and a refectory, as well as the church which could have been started a shortly before the other buildings, and consecrated prior its completion.Dufay. La Corroirie de la chartreuse du Liget à Chemillé-sur-Indrois (Indre-et-Loire). Étude historique et architecturale, FERACF, 2014: pp. 23–26.Fleury. L'église de la Corroirie du Liget, Société des amis du pays lochois, 2010: p. 79.
The foundation of the chartreuse, in which Henri II took an active part, but, above all, that of Corroirie on the road between Loches and Montrésor, whose donjons were built by Foulques Nerra,Samuel Riou and Flore Marteaux, "Une motte castrale dans le contexte des recompositions politiques au tournant de l'an mil (Région Centre, Indre-et-Loire)", Revue archéologique du center de la France, t. LI, 2012, paragraph 72 (read online archive). reinforced the authority of the house of Anjou which now had three solid positions in the same territory. It is the Corroirie, and not the upper house itself, which is the seat of Liget's seigneurialism,Philippon. La chartreuse du Liget (suite), Société archéologique de Touraine, 1934: p. 290. thus consecrating the extremely distinct separation of the charterhouses between the temporal and the spiritual.Dufay. La Corroirie de la chartreuse du Liget à Chemillé-sur-Indrois (Indre-et-Loire). Étude historique et architecturale, FERACF, 2014: p.05.Meunier. La Chartreuse du Liget, Hugues de Chivré, 2007: p. 63.
Thriving in defensive retreats
Medieval development
The monastery truly flourished between the mid-13th and mid-14th centuries. Over a hundred donations during this period – most from local seigneurs, though some came from the royalty-Albert Philippon, " La Chartreuse du Liget ", bulletin de la Société archéologique de Touraine, t. XXV, 1933, p. 213-232 (ISSN 1153–2521, read online archive). enriched the estate. According to a seventeenth-century inventory,Philippon. La chartreuse du Liget (suite), Société archéologique de Touraine, 1934: pp. 292–293. the domain managed by the Corroirie on behalf of the Carthusian monastery covered almost 1,480 hectares of arable land, meadows, vineyards, woods and ponds, grouped around it. Several other fiefs and tenant farms, within a radius of more than 15 km, also came under the jurisdiction of the Liget, such as the Bergeresse fiefdom in Azay-sur-Indre.Philippon. La chartreuse du Liget (suite), Société archéologique de Touraine, 1934: pp. 310–320.
To cope with this increased activity, substantial improvements were made to the buildings at La Corroirie. The existing buildings were enlarged or heightened to accommodate a greater number of lay brothers (whose numbers were not specified); a large hall was built to the west, perhaps to serve as a chapter house and a manorial court – the rights of high and low justice granted to the Carthusian monastery were confirmed in 1352, and the list of the Carthusian monastery's bailiffs is available from 1497.Philippon. La chartreuse du Liget (suite), Société archéologique de Touraine, 1934: p. 304. Numerous deeds testify to the sometimes difficult, even conflictual, relations between the judicial officers of La Corroirie and those of the bailiwick of Loches between the mid-14th century and the late 17th century,Philippon. La chartreuse du Liget (suite), Société archéologique de Touraine, 1934: pp. 304–310. but the rights of justice granted to La Corroirie were renewed by each king of France until the French Revolution.Meunier. La Chartreuse du Liget, Hugues de Chivré, 2007: p. 65.
The spatial layout of such an ensemble of buildings requires an enclosure to materialize its unity. It is therefore likely that the lower house had a courtyard enclosed by the existing buildings and additional walls, with a monumental porch opening to the south towards the Loches-Montrésor road. In the absence of any vestige, this assumption remains at the hypothesis stage.Dufay. La Corroirie de la chartreuse du Liget à Chemillé-sur-Indrois (Indre-et-Loire). Étude historique et architecturale, FERACF, 2014: pp.36–44.
Shelter during the Hundred Years' War