Château de Nangis

Château de Nangis stands in the town of Nangis, France, and was established during the medieval period by the political and military actors of medieval France. The place-name La Motte points to origins as a motte-and-bailey stronghold, and the earliest recorded lord was Fleury (active c.1093–1147), identified as a son of King Philip I. Control of the estate passed into the household of the Montmorency family in 1245. By the late 14th century the complex is described as a fortress, and during the fighting of the Hundred Years’ War it served to shelter the inhabitants of the seigneurie.

English forces inflicted severe damage in 1429. In the aftermath, King Charles VII granted the seigneurie to Denis de Chailly of Chailly-en-Bière in recognition of his assistance to Joan of Arc; Denis de Chailly rebuilt the fortifications in 1436. In 1507 Louis de Brichanteau acquired the property through marriage, and his family retained the domain until the Revolution. Around 1590 Antoine de Brichanteau carried out modernization of the principal residential range.

The seigneurie was elevated to a marquisate in 1612. In 1678 the castle received a royal visit from King Louis XIV. After the death of Armand de Brichanteau in 1742 the title passed to a distant cousin, the count de Guerchy; his son Anne-Louis de Regnier de Guerchy (1755–1806) became the last marquis and sold the property to a Parisian notary in 1795. That purchaser demolished two of the three main buildings later that year, preserving only the wing to the left. The municipality bought the remaining building in 1859 and converted it for use as the town hall. Six paintings located in the marriage room were officially classified as historical monuments in May 1909, while the fabric of the building itself was not placed under that classification.