Place:Châlus, Haute-Vienne, France

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Châlus is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Richard I, King of England was besieging Châlus in 1199 when Pierre Basile wounded him with a crossbow bolt; Richard died of the wound.

In 1275-1280, Géraud de Maumont built a second castle, Châlus Maulmont, in front of Châlus Chabrol. Chateau Châlus Maulmont was damaged extensively during the French Revolution, and was dismantled in 1790, then used as a prison. The tower of Châlus Maulmont collapsed on March 20, 1994.

By 1745, the first map, in the 1/8628th, of Châlus is established to appear in the atlas of Trudaine for the majority of Limoges, with the portion of road at the level of La-Ribière going to Châlus of the Big road from Limoges to Périgueux and with the portion of road reaching the majority of Périgord.

During the First World War, in 1917, American troops stationed in Chalus and maintained contacts with the population. Tradition reports that the American soldiers dynamited the rock of Richard Heart of Lion in order to bring back a portion in the United States. She also reports that an Alsatian refugee provoked a public scandal by addressing the one who had just attempted her reputation: Dare once to repeat that you saw me beat by an American!

T. E. Lawrence, who would later be known as Lawrence of Arabia, celebrated his 20th birthday at the former Grand Hôtel du Midi, Place de la Fountain, on August 16, 1908, whilst tracing the route of Richard I of England, on a cycling tour of France in preparation for his thesis: The Influence of the crusades on the European military architecture at the end of the XIIth century.

Châlus constitutes the framework or the geographical reference of novels and essays, such as Women who fall from Pierre Desproges, or Quadrille on the tower of Georges-Emmanuel Clancier. She is also quoted in Robert Margerit's Land of Wolves, as well as in Volume 7, When a King Loses France, Cursed Kings of Maurice Druon or in the Richard Lionheart of Walter Scott. Twice, in 1976 and 2010, the Hollywood cinema evokes Chalus. The film La Rose et la Flèche / Robin and Marian (1976), with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn, opens on the siege of Châlus by Richard Cœur de Lion, played by Richard Harris. The first few minutes of Ridley Scott's Robin Hood, with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, opening the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, restore the battle of Châlus.

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