The Château de Montpoupon is named after a Germanic tribe, the Poppo, who settled here on the rocky promontory at the time of Charlemagne. The site thus came to be known as Mons Poppo (the hill of the Poppos).With the passage of time this evolved into Montpoupon.
At the end of the Middle Ages, the château passed into the hands of the Lords de Prie et de Buzançais, a family who were to leave their mark. In 1460, Antoine de Prie and his wife, Madeleine d’Amboise restored the château which had been left in poor condition at the end of the Hundred Years War.
In 1763 the Marquis de Tristan, Mayor of Orléans acquired the property. The Marquis turned his hand to restoring the château to a semblance of its former glory. However, his initiative was curtailed by the onset of the Revolution; fortunately despite the terror of the time, only the chapel was destroyed and the château remained intact. In 1840 the château underwent further transformation at the hands of its new owner, M. de Farville with the construction of the present outbuildings.
Finally, in 1857, Jean Baptiste de la Motte Saint Pierre acquired the estate. At the turn of the century the family began the work which was to restore the château to the Renaissance appearance it has to-day. In memory of his family, the present owner, the Count of Louvencourt, nephew of the above, has set up the magnificent Musée du veneur (Hunting Museum) in the outbuildings.
References:The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. They were also the largest and strongest fortification in both the ancient and medieval world.
Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, they were, when well-manned, almost impregnable for any medieval besieger.