Chavaniac for me is a temple that reunites the objects that are sacred in my heart.
– Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
On 31 December 1834, John Quincy Adams, former president of the United States, stood before both houses of Congress and gave an impassioned oration on the life of one of America’s earliest heroes: General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. Like other tributes that had appeared in the press since Lafayette’s death the previous May, there was an almost cultic religiosity to his speech. Adams, who had wept the last time he’d seen Lafayette alive, praised him as “unrivalled in the solitude of glory”. His heart and mind, said Adams, were possessed by the principles of “justice and social equality, as if inspired from above”. Describing the general as “one of the most effective champions” of American independence, Adams then expressed doubt that any other “mortal man” could “take precedence” over him.
The story of Lafayette is, by all accounts, atypical. He was born and raised in Chavaniac, Auvergne, to an old family of martial nobility and became a respected officer in both the American and French revolutions. As the “Hero of Two Worlds” (a moniker which reflected his transatlantic deeds of courage), he served as an inspiration to numerous soldiers and statesmen in France and the United States, providing — if only for a time — a deep and visceral underpinning to the countries’ bilateral relations.
Various memorials to Lafayette’s unifying and patriotic life remain. Colleges, streets, foundations, all bear his name. Perhaps the most interesting enshrinement of his legacy, however, is his childhood home: the Château de Chavaniac-Lafayette. It was here that the young noble first demonstrated his desire to become a defender of the public good when he expressed a wish to hunt and kill what was then the most feared monster of Haute-Loire, the Beast of Gévaudan.
To find out more about Lafayette’s home — which now serves as a museum — I spoke with its manager Claire Pratviel as well as its head of conservation and outreach, Charlène Totin.
A.D. Manns: In your opinion, what is most unique or surprising about Chavaniac-Lafayette and its gardens?
Claire Pratviel and Charlène Totin: The Château de Chavaniac-Lafayette is probably one of the only castles to have such an intricate history with the United States of America, starting with Lafayette and continuing during the 20th century with the American foundation that bought the castle.
Proofs of those links can easily be found inside the castle, and in its garden. A moon tree, a Norway maple born from a seed carried into space by Stuart Rosa aboard Apollo 14 in 1971, was gifted to the castle and planted in 1976 for the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence of the USA. Unfortunately, the tree didn’t fare very well and had to be replaced by a regular maple tree. Visitors can also admire Lafayette’s Oak Tree, said to have been planted 3 centuries ago by Lafayette’s grandfather.
John Moffat, chairman of the American foundation that bought the castle in 1916, spent a lot of his time at Chavaniac. He renovated the castle and created a dozen different small gardens inspired by Albert Kahn’s gardens. Moffat and his wife’s tomb can be found behind the rose garden.
AM: How did the castle fare during the French Revolution? Were its occupants at the time forced to flee?
CP & CT: Lafayette was actively involved in the French Revolution: he was elected commander-in-chief of the newly created National Guard in July 1789.
His wife, Adrienne de Noailles, stayed at Chavaniac with Lafayette’s aunt. Their son, Georges Washington de Lafayette, was sent to his godfather, George Washington in the USA. First on house arrest, Adrienne was arrested on November 1793 and taken to Brioude. In May 1794, the castle and all of Lafayette’s belonging were sold, and Adrienne was sent to Paris. Lafayette’s aunt managed to buy the castle and some of the furniture back. Adrienne did not suffer the same fate as her grandmother, mother and sister, all three of whom were guillotined. She was released on January 1795, and she briefly stayed at Chavaniac before beginning her journey to Austria, where Lafayette was imprisoned.
AM: Was the castle used for any other activities or purposes before it became a museum?
CP & CT: Between 1916 and 1966, the castle was an American property owned by the French Heroes Lafayette Memorial Fund (FHLMF), managed by John Moffat, a Scot living in the United States of America and involved in war relief organisations.
If the initial project was to create a museum dedicated to Lafayette and to the Franco-American friendship, the Great War changed those plans. Moved by the growing number of orphans, the foundation opened the castle’s doors to children from all over Europe.
From 1918 to 2008, the castle and its outbuildings in the village of Chavaniac successfully housed an orphanage, a shelter for Polish and Russian exiles, a preventorium, a middle school, a hiding place for numerous Jewish children during WWII, a specialised social services centre, and a therapeutic, educational and pedagogical institute.
AM: When was Lafayette initiated into Freemasonry? Can you tell us more about the castle’s Freemasonry collection?
CP & CT: Gilbert was initiated into Freemasonry at the age of 18 by Abbot Raynal. He is said to have attended different masonic “lodges” in Le Puy-en-Velay, Saint-Flour (in the Cantal departement), Lyon and Paris. As an orphan and only child, Freemasonry represented another family for him, a brotherhood. It also made it easier for him to get involved in the American War of Independence, since George Washington and other men of influence were Freemasons as well.
Lafayette’s own Masonic apron is displayed in the castle.
AM: What is the oldest piece of art in the castle?
CP & CT: The Château de Chavaniac-Lafayette displays a number of remarkable objects that bear witness to its rich history. Apart from the château itself, parts of which still retain their fifteenth-century appearance, the oldest object is probably a cannonball, on display in the Salle du Trésor.
Gifted to Lafayette by the engineers in charge of destroying the Bastille, this cannonball is believed to have been fired by the army of the Grand Condé during the Fronde.
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