Beauté-sur-Marne

Beauté-sur-Marne is a royal castle near Vincennes, situated on the territory of the current commune of Nogent-sur-Marne.

"Of all the pleasant and agreeable places one can find in this world, built in a suitable way, gay and pretty, to live and reside, that which is at the end of the forest of Vincennes, which was built by King Charles -- god grant him peace, joy, and health -- his eldest son, the Daupin of Viennois, gives the name of Beauty." -- Ballad of Eustache Deschamps (1346-1406)

Charles V, who sought the calm at a distance of the official court of Vincennes restored "Beauty" in 1473. Beyond the drawbridge and the castle wall is a garden with a fountain. The manor is a large tower in which each floor is "of a piece". On the first floor, one finds the bedroom of Evangelists where the King sleeps. Elsewhere there is a library. On the second floor is another bedroom with an altar for saying Mass. The whole is refined, thus witness some 62 tiles composing a literary totality that have been found during the construction of the railroad and which are now deposited at the Carnavalet Museum in Paris.

It is remarkable that nothing is provided here to welcome the Queen, for whom Charles V bought the manor of Pleasure (Plaisance) in 1375. This manor, which gives its name to the commune of Neuilly-Plaisance, was held by his brother the Duke of Burgundy. The Duke of Anjou, another brother of the king, constructed another manor near Beauty, of which no trace remains.

In 1378, Charles IV of Luxemburg, Holy Roman Emperor, came to Beauty for a diplomatic visit to his nephew Charles V to discuss the hostilities of the English, and the co-existence of two popes. He was concerned mainly with strengthening the alliance between the two monarchies, already ancient, the house of Luxemburg being of French descent.

A manuscript at the National Library of France shows Charles V, king of France, welcoming the emperor Charles IV and his son Wenceslas IV, king of Bohemia.

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Wikipedia