Château de Boissezon

The castle stands on a rocky promontory above the hamlet of Boissezon de Masviel in the commune of Murat-sur-Vèbre and was built by medieval seigneurs. The place-name Boissezon appears in a testament of 966, though that early reference may denote a nearby locale rather than the present site. By 1112 the seigneurie belonged to the vicomté of Albi, and after the 1229 Treaty of Paris former Trencavel lands in the diocese of Albi were granted in fief to Philippe de Montfort; in 1268 Philippe II de Montfort granted Boissezon to Jean de Manicort.

In 1356 the territory was raised to a county, its domain extending from Castres toward Lacaune and the hamlet. From the late 13th century through the 15th the lordship encompassed four parishes with seigneurial rights often divided among multiple holders. The L’Estendart family appear in records in the early 14th century and expanded their claims in 1326, while the Peyrusse family acquired part of the lordship by marriage in 1404 and consolidated further rights by 1418; for five generations the Peyrusses held most shares of the seigneurie, owned the castle and exercised its manorial justice.

From the mid 16th century some members of the Peyrusses adhered to the Reformed faith. In May 1570 Antoine de Peyrusse established a Reformed congregation at the castle to serve Boissezon and neighbouring villages, and the family took part in the Wars of Religion. Contemporary records recount local violence, including the capture and killing of a captain named Pierre and the fatal wounding of Pierre de Peyrusse at a nearby fort; he was buried near the castle. Excavations near the approach later exposed about thirty skeletons together with coins dated to the reigns of Philip IV, Philip VI, Louis XI and the late Valois kings, linking burial activity to the site.

After Pierre de Peyrusse died in 1586 the lordship passed to his sister Aldonce, who had married Guillaume de Génibrouse in 1575; the Génibrouse family thereafter retained control. Nicolas de Génibrouse lost and regained Boissezon between 1633 and 1637, and a small chapel was raised near the castle in the 17th century. By 1687 the estate passed by marriage into the Thésan-Poujol line; a sequence of Protestant lords ended when Jacques de Génibrouse died a Catholic in 1701.

Minor repairs are recorded in the early 18th century (four days of masons in 1708), with more substantial work around 1739 costing roughly one thousand livres to raise a wall, renew floors and doors, install a staircase, repair roofing and plaster walls. During the French Revolution remaining noble possessions were offered for sale. Gabriel-Maurice de Génibrouse died in 1797 and his succession was partitioned in January 1799 between heirs and the Republic, the government reserving the share of an émigré son. By 1807 municipal notes recorded the castle as partly collapsed and proposed sale of woodland. In the 19th century the promontory was quarried to supply a lime kiln, and dressed pink sandstone from the ruins was reused in a departmental road and in local houses. In 2005 the municipality carried out safeguarding work; a carved pink sandstone gargoyle was removed from the tower and conserved in the municipal archaeological collection, and the last lime kiln remains were restored and displayed.