 The Lords of L’Herm first appear in texts of the 14th century, following the dismantlement of the “seigniory” of Reilhac. The jurisdiction of L’Herm, overseen by the Calvimont family at the start of the 15th century, covering the parishes of Rouffignac, Plazac, Milhac and Tursac. The land controlled was further extended, and added were the parishes of St Léon sur Vézère, Bars, Fanlac and Fossemagne. The family Souilhac held the larger part of the Lordship of Rouffignac, however, several other Lords possessed rights within the parish. As well as the Calvimonts’ at L’Herm and at Cheylard, the Aubussons, Lords of Miremont to the south, and Abzac, lords of La Douze on the west of the parish.
At the end of the 15th century, the Calvimont family are first mentioned with the purchase of the land and domain of L’Herm. It is a family of legal standing; one finds also Jean II as Councillor to the parliament of Bordeaux and above all, Jean III, called “The Second President”, his son Ambassador to King Francois I after Charles Quint, King of Spain.
The Calvimont family was proprietor of l’Herm until 1605, the year of the assassination of the last inheritor, Marguerite of Calvimont, daughter of Jean IV.
The death of this young woman has given rise to a legend : [ Legend of the hand of wax ]
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The 17th century is marked by the reign of Marie of Hautefort, widow of Francois of Aubusson. In 1642, the ownership of L’Herm is put up for sale following several murders [ The tragedy of L’Herm ], with lots of local families trying to stake their claim to some of the land. There was adjudication in 1679, and the sale took place in 1682. It was the niece of Maries of Hautefort (also called Marie of Hautefort), but also know under the surname of “The Aurora”, who bought it, but she did not live in the chateau. Little by little is was abandoned by the Hauteforts’ who established the principal farm under their jurisdiction. This worked until 1830, the year that they sold the domain, which was sold off in several lots. |
In 1899, Eugene Le Roy, novelist of the Perigord, was inspired by the ruins of L’Herm for the backdrop to his classic novel “Jacquou Le Croquant”, of which the film producer Stellio Lorenzi shot his film made in 1967 and Laurent Boutonnat for the cinema in 2007. [ Jacquou le croquant ]
The château is listed since 1927 in the supplementary inventory of historical monuments, with little modifications to enable the public to visit since 1988. Since 2000, there has been a vast project of historical and archaeological. [ Projects ]
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