Roger Ducos
Arms of Roger Ducos, Château Royal d'Amboise
Visitors to Château Royal d'Amboise may wonder who the Coats of Arms on the walls leading to the ticket office belong to.
One* which belonged to Roger Ducos, takes you back, not in a good way, to a shocking period in the Château's history, worse, arguably, than the German bombardment it suffered during the second world war.
Ducos destroyed two thirds of the ancient buildings which made up Château Amboise including; the lovely old church dedicated to Saint-Florent by Louis XI where the townspeople had attended mass since the 1100s; the four storey House of The Seven Virtues** (royal apartments built in 1495 by Charles VIII) and the wing built by Henry II in the 1540s to house his many children. ***.
Lion’s Gate, Château Royal d'Amboise
Royalty and Religion were done away with during the French Revolution so Ducos, who voted for the execution of Louis XVI, would hardly be sentimental about razing St. Florent where the funerals of Charlotte of Savoy and Leonardo da Vinci were held, where Charlotte’s heart was buried and Leonardo was laid to rest.
In 1799, when The French Revolution ended with a coup d’etat, Roger Ducos was instrumental in getting Napoleon Bonaparte appointed First Consul of France. When Napoleon was proclaimed Consul for life he gave Ducos Chateau Amboise as a reward.
With the ancient regime of aristocrats eradicated, Napoleon set about creating his own.
As self-appointed Emperor of France he granted titles of nobility; Prince, Duke, Count, Baron, Knight. A newly formed Council of Seals and Titles created the coats of arms. In 1808 Napoleon elevated Roger Ducos to Count of the Empire.
Napoleon took it for granted the new elite would support him through thick and thin. Not so. When France's defeat in 1814 resulted in the Bourbons being restored to the throne, Napoleon’s nobles fell over themselves to join the royalists. On April 1 1814, when Ducos voted to oust him, a furious Bonaparte called him That dwarf Ducos.
In 1816 when the regicide Ducos was exiled (you do wonder why he was not executed) he hot footed it to Germany but on the way there his carriage overturned and he was run over by the wheels.
In accordance with his will his embalmed heart was buried in the church of Narrosse in south western France. The church was destroyed during a bombardment during world war two.
* The tree is thought to be acacia.
** Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Justice, Temperance, Prudence.
*** The Château was the royal nursery. Eight successive kings of France grew up there. Louis XI, Charles VIII, Louis XII, Francis I, Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Louis XIII.
Post by Pamela, photography by Mark.
