Château du Monteil-au-Vicomte

Château du Monteil-au-Vicomte stands in the commune of Le Monteil-au-Vicomte and was established in the mid-12th century by the viscounts of Aubusson within the feudal landscape of medieval France. Its foundation gave the village its name, Monteil-au-Vicomte, and the estate remained in Aubusson hands for several centuries. Notable figures associated with the site include Renaud VIII of Aubusson and Guy III de Aubusson; Louis de Aubusson, seigneur de La Borne, is recorded in 1336; two men named Jean de Aubusson appear in later records (one died 1420, another c.1390–1445); and Renaud d’Aubusson of the Monteil branch died in 1433.

In the first half of the 15th century Antoine d’Aubusson held the seigneurie, and his brother Pierre, born at the site in 1423, became grand master of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. The château passed out of the Aubusson line in later centuries: Gaspard de Fieubet held it in the 17th century; in 1714 it passed to Denis Michel de Montboissier Beaufort-Canillac; in 1719 Jacques-André Dupille bought the property and later ceded it to François-Louis du Pouget de Nadaillac.

During the French Revolution the château was declared national property, after which it was dismantled and its dressed stone removed for building in the village. By around 1920 postcards show the ruins as dilapidated. The site was listed as a monument historique on 19 February 1964, and recent decades have seen work to conserve and stabilize the remains.