Château de Montjoie (Les Contamines-Montjoie)

The Château de Montjoie (castrum Montis Gaudii), also known as the Château de Béatrice, was a 12th-century fortress located in the Faucigny region. It stood in the center of the present-day commune of Les Contamines-Montjoie in the Haute-Savoie department of the Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes region. Between the 13th and 15th centuries, it served as the administrative center of a châtellenie.

The name Montjoie derives from the Germanic mundgawi, meaning a "border height with a military post."^[1] Medieval copyists recorded the term as Mons Gaudii. The valley occupies a border position between the Faucigny and the Beaufortain.^[1]

The castle is also referred to as the Château de Béatrice, a designation linked to the presence of Béatrice de Faucigny, known as the Grand Dauphine.^[2]

The Château de Montjoie was located in the village of Les Contamines-Montjoie.^[2] The site now corresponds to the location of the village church,^[3] whose bell-tower base incorporates the remains of one of the castle's former towers.^[3][4]

The castle occupied a strategic position in the Val Montjoie, on the right bank of the Bon-Nant torrent. It controlled access to the route connecting the Arve Valley, via Saint-Gervais, to the Col du Bonhomme,^[3] as well as the route from the Col du Joly toward the Beaufortain.^[4] The passage over the Col du Bonhomme had been in use since at least the Gallo-Roman period.^[5]

The site also served as a border zone with the Beaufortain, which was under the authority of the archbishops of Tarentaise.^[4]

The castrum appears to have been constructed during the 12th century.^[6] Its earliest known mention dates to 1277 in a document referring to an albergement (inter nantum de Contamina prope castrum Montis Gaudii).^[6][2]

Montjoie and its lords were vassals of the lords of Faucigny.^[4] In 1234, Peter of Savoy married Agnes, the sole heiress of Baron Aymon II of Faucigny.^{[7][ReG 1]} After the baron died in 1253, Pierre inherited the seigneury of Faucigny and reorganized it into châtellenies,^[8] with Montjoie forming one of them in association with Sallanches.^[2]

By the late 13th century, the castle served as the center of one of the nine châtellenies under the jurisdiction of the bailliage of Faucigny,^[2][9] encompassing Montjoie and Saint-Gervais.^[2][10][11] Three parishes were associated with this territory: Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce, Saint-Gervais, and Notre-Dame-de-la-Gorge.^[2]

Béatrice of Faucigny, the Grand Dauphine and lady of Faucigny, is generally regarded as the probable founder of the site^[2] and is documented as having resided there on multiple occasions. The châtellenie held the eighth rank in the regional order of precedence.^[2]

The arms of the mandement of Montjoie were blazoned as a golden lion on an azure field.^[2]

In 1355, following the Treaty of Paris, the Count of Savoy acquired the barony of Faucigny,^[12] which had previously belonged to the Dauphins of Viennois.^[13] The removal of the border reduced the strategic significance of the castle, and administrative authority, now primarily economic, shifted toward Saint-Gervais.^[2][14] Although the châtellenie retained its name, the châtelain thereafter resided in the fortified house known as the Maison-Forte de la Comtesse in Saint-Gervais,^[14] constructed by the Count of Savoy in 1373.^[15]

Although the castle no longer survives, various studies provide an understanding of its overall layout. It appears to have had a quadrangular plan with a keep,^[2] and village houses were likely constructed directly against its outer walls.^[2]

The Château de Montjoie was the center of a châtellenie, also called a mandement, of Faucigny,^[16] established from the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the following century.^[17] Faucigny is considered to have been organized around nine châtellenies^{[Note 1]} at the end of the 12th century, with Montjoie occupying the 8th rank in precedence, according to the old inventory of the titles of Faucigny (1431), cited by the canon Jean-Louis Grillet.^[18][16]

During the Delphinal period (1342–1343), Faucigny was organized around fifteen châtellenies, including Montjoie.^[19]

The Maison Forte de la Comtesse, located in Saint-Gervais, later became the residence of the châtelain, while the name "châtellenie de Montjoie" was retained.

During the early 14th century, the barony of Faucigny was reorganized around seventeen châtellenies.^[21]

In the 17th century, the arms of the mandement were described as a golden lion on an azure field.^[22]

In the County of Savoy, the châtelain was an officer appointed for a fixed term, with revocable and removable authority.^[23][24] He was responsible for managing the châtellenie or mandement, collecting the domain's fiscal revenues, and maintaining the castle.^[25] The châtelain was sometimes assisted by a financial receiver, who prepared an annual report of the châtelain's activities.^[26]

• Medieval fortification
• Fortification

• Baud, Henri; Mariotte, Jean-Yves; Guerrier, Alain (1980). Histoire des communes savoyardes : Le Faucigny [History of Savoyard municipalities: Le Faucigny] (in French). Roanne: Éditions Horvath. ISBN 2-7171-0159-4.
• Baud, Henri (1955). "La châtellenie de Montjoie" [The castellany of Montjoie]. Revue de Savoie (in French). XIV: 159–178.
• Baud, Henri (1965). "Les origines de la châtellenie de Montjoie" [The origins of the castellany of Montjoie]. Mémoire et document de l'Académie du Faucigny (in French). XIV: 23–36.
• Blondel, Louis (1956). Châteaux de l'ancien diocèse de Genève [Castles of the former diocese of Geneva]. Mémoires et documents (in French). Vol. 7. Société d'histoire et d'archéologie de Genève. pp. 115–117.
• Besson, Maurice (2007). La Vallée de Montjoie. Le site et son histoire. Vieilles demeures et vieilles coutumes [The Montjoie Valley. The site and its history. Old houses and old customs] (in French). Publibook. ISBN 978-2-7483-3548-4. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
• Carrier, Nicolas; de La Corbière, Matthieu (2005). Entre Genève et Mont-Blanc au XIVe siècle : enquête et contre-enquête dans le Faucigny delphinal de 1339 [Between Geneva and Mont Blanc in the 14th century: investigation and counter-investigation in the Dauphin's Faucigny in 1339] (in French). Librairie Droz. ISBN 978-2-88442-019-8. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
• Lullin, Paul; Le Fort, Charles (1866). Régeste genevois : Répertoire chronologique et analytique des documents imprimés relatifs à l'histoire de la ville et du diocèse de Genève avant l'année 1312 [Régeste genevois: Chronological and analytical directory of printed documents relating to the history of the city and diocese of Geneva prior to 1312] (in French). Société d'histoire et d'archéologie de Genève. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
• Payraud, Nicolas (2009). "Châteaux, espace et société en Dauphiné et en Savoie du milieu du XIIIe siècle à la fin du XVe siècle" [Castles, space, and society in Dauphiné and Savoie from the mid-13th century to the end of the 15th century] (PDF). HAL - Archives ouvertes (in French): 3–4. Retrieved November 21, 2025.

• "Série B - Cours et juridictions. - Parlements. - Bailliages et autres juridictions secondaires" [Series B - Courts and jurisdictions. - Parliaments. - Bailiwicks and other secondary jurisdictions]. Cote d'Or (in French). Retrieved November 24, 2025.
• "Inventaire-Index des comptes de châtellenie et de subsides" [Inventory-Index of accounts for the castellany and subsidies] (PDF) (in French). pp. 192–202. Retrieved November 21, 2025.