The Château d'Amboise was the principal residence of King Charles VIII and Queen Ann of Brittany. They had with them a cultured and luxurious court. Charles VIII returned victorious from an Italian expedition and brought with him twenty Italian artists: architects, painters, tapestry-makers, weavers, garden architects, philosophers, poets, astrologers and decorators. This Italian contribution highly enriched art history with a new style: the Early Renaissance (1496- 1546).
The Château d'Amboise in fact benefited from the improvements designed by these Italian artists and its appearance changed little by little.


Charles VIII died prematurely at the age of 28 after an accident… or a poisoning and Louis XII succeeded him, followed by François I. The latter finished the transformations started in Amboise. In 1516, the young king invited Leonardo da Vinci to stay in Clos-Lucé, not far from the royal castle. In the humanist court of François I, the Italian genius often conversed with the King, his sister Marguerite de Navarre and their mother, Louise de Savoie. For three years, Leonardo da Vinci continued his pluridisciplinary research and left the king, before dying in 1519, three of his paintings, including the Mona Lisa.


The religious wars didn't spare the castle: in 1560, the Amboise conspiracy was curbed in a bloodshed. This plot, led by Condé and run by La Renaudie, a Protestant gentleman, schemed to kidnap the young King François II to take him away from the de Guises' influence (they were fierce opponents of the Protestants) and to obtain from him the freedom to worship. But the secret was discovered and the conspirators were killed one after the other in a dreadful repression: hangings from balconies and crenels, drownings in the river Loire, beheadings and other tortures.
In 1563, an edict of tolerance was signed in Amboise which ended the first religious war.

Amboise on the net :
The website of the town of Amboise : on the tourist page, you will find all the facts about the heritage and history of the town as well as other useful information.

Amboise castle : its history and heritage, the Lords of Amboise, the river Loire and other topics. The region of the Loire seen by a history lover: the castle, the wines, the famous people and the walks.

France, the visit:
the Film

From Paris to Marseilles, one of the most beautiful journeys of discovery through France. Available on video and DVD