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 Château de Foix dominates the town of Foix. An important tourist site, it is known as a centre of the Cathars. Built on an older 7th-century fortification, the castle is known from 987. In 1002, it was mentioned in the will of Roger I, Count of Carcassonne, who bequeathed the fortress to his youngest child, Bernard. In effect, the family ruling over the region were installed here which allowed them to control access to the upper Ariège valley and to keep surveillance from this strategic point over the lower land, protected behind impregnable walls.
In 1034, the castle became capital of the County of Foix and played a decisive role in medieval military history. During the two following centuries, the castle was home to Counts with shining personalities who became the soul of the Occitan resistance during the crusade against the Albigensians.