The Palace of Fontainebleau or Château de Fontainebleau, both medieval, Renaissance and classical, is located near Paris. Probably built around 1068 during the reign of Louis VI, it was the favorite residence of the Kings and Emperors of France, from Francis 1st to Napoleon III, for eight centuries. Philipe de Bell was the first King of France to be born in the castle in 1268.
At the Renaissance, back in France on March 17, 1526, after his humiliating captivity, where he was taken prisoner of Charles V (the Treaty of Madrid), following the French defeat of Pavia, Francis aspires only to peace. Accompanied by his court and his favourite, the Duchess of Etampes, Francis comes to hunt in Fontainebleau and decided to build a new castle by destroying the old medieval fortress. He loves Fontainebleau and during his frequent stays he decided to appeal to Italian artists for the great works of embellishment. The gallery bearing his name is the best example.
Henry II, his son, will continue his father’s work. At the Palace, will be born six children of the ten children who gave him Catherine de Medici were born. Francis II (future King of France), Elizabeth (future Queen of Spain), Claude (future Duchess of Lorraine),Edouard-Alexandre (Henri III, future King of Poland and France), Hercules (future Duke of Anjou), Jeanne (a stillborn at birth) and Victory (died two months after birth).
During the French Revolution, the Palace of Fontainebleau, emptied of its furniture and badly damaged by a fire that burned down the dolphin’s apartment, became a school, barracks and military school and then a prison.
After the Revolution, Napoleon 1st revived “the real house of Kings”, to use his own words, which he renovated luxuriously in the Empire style and Fontainebleau was to become the center of political decision-making. It is in the courtyard of the Palace, at the foot of the famous horseshoe staircase that he will bid farewell to his guard before going into exile.