Chateau d’Andelot

t is believed construction was completed on Château d’Andelot around 1158 by the first Seigneur d’Andelot, Humbert III, grandson to Gueric who was Seigneur de Coligny and the Revermont. The Coligny family were descendants of Count MANASSES of Burgundy, the first Sire (i.e. Lord) of Coligny in 974.

The most notable of the many Coligny ancestors to live in Château d’Andelot was François de Coligny (1521-1569), first Marquis d’Andelot and the brother of Admiral Gaspard de Coligny (1519-1572). The Admiral was a Huguenot (i.e. French Protestant) who was martyred for his religious beliefs in the Saint-Bartholomew’s night massacre. It was during this time also that Château d’Andelot was confiscated from François de Coligny by the King of France and was not returned to the Coligny family until 1617.

Joachim de Coligny was the last male Coligny to live at the Château. The Château was then passed on to his daughter Anne-Louise. In 1702, she sold Château d’Andelot to Joachim Guyénard a counselor to the French King and at this point the Château left the Coligny family. When the last Marquis d’Andelot died in 1804 his younger brother and heir chanced to be living in Philadelphia. This brother had been known since 1793 as “M. d’Andelot” and was a French refugee of the Terror. As fate would have it, a marriage occurred between a son of M. Belin (likewise a French refugee) and a daughter of M. d’Andelot, whereby the Belins claim lineage from the house (and Château) of Guyénard d’Andelot.

In 1827, a daughter of the GUYENARD family sold the property to Mr. Voit who in turn sold it to the Buisson family.

And finally, in December 1924, Ferdinand Lammot Belin and his cousin Pierre S. du Pont (married to Alice Belin, a sister of Ferdinand’s) bought Château d’Andelot.

Originally Château d’Andelot was much larger and positioned on an outcropping of cliffside which presented vertical walls on three sides. There were three successive gates, two bounded by towers on either side each with a drawbridge. On the West side, the most vulnerable, there were two deep ditches and a wall more than 3 meters (i.e. 10 feet) thick. It is believed that today’s Presbytère, the lodging next to the church, is built on the old donjon foundations and that the West tower was the old prison accessible only from the top from which prisoners were let down by rope and most often forgotten. In 1477 all but the present-day Donjon and one set of towered gates were destroyed by the troops of Louis XI and thanks only to the Guyénard family did restoration begin which continues to the present day. The French government has designated the Château a historic building.

The Belin family is proud to be a partner in the on-going preservation of our shared heritage.