As you round a hairpin bend just before the hamlet of Mazerolles, you get a breath-taking view of Najac across the valley, crowned by its ruined château (pictured below). This must have greeted the chatelains of Mazerolles (above) every morning since the 13th century.
Rural hamlet
Today, Mazerolles is a pretty hamlet, whose houses are built of the local pink-grey stone. It’s bisected by the road between Parisot and Najac, but has no school (it once supported two) or shops. A friend lent me a book about it, published by a local history society.
The origins of the village’s name derive either from mas olei, referring to the production of walnut oil, or from maceiras or mazières, meaning a collection of stone huts with an enclosure. By the 13th century, it was a seigneurie with its own château.
Traces of the original château remain but it was extensively remodelled in the 15th century and again in the 19th by the author Bernard d’Armagnac Castanet. The building has been renovated internally in recent decades and is still inhabited. The rectangular château is flanked by a square tower on the east side (built in 1880) and a round one on the west.
Turbulent events
Although scant evidence remains, the turbulent events of the medieval period probably affected Mazerolles and its château. During the Hundred Years War, the English took possession of Najac in 1362 but were driven out six years later. The chronicles mention roving bands around Najac, les routiers, plundering mercenaries who probably terrorised Mazerolles along with other villages.
Bands of Huguenots also pillaged and burnt churches in the area during the Wars of Religion and the Huguenot Rebellions in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. And the Revolt of the Croquants broke out in 1643 in the region. A band of 13,000 disaffected peasants besieged Villefranche-de-Rouergue, but were routed and their leaders broken on the wheel at Najac. Did the Croquants count inhabitants of Mazerolles amongst their number?
The French Revolution
The area has been described as “relatively calm” during the French Revolution. Some accounts say the château was burnt down, but no evidence of this exists. In fact, the owner, François Hilaire de Bérail, adopted revolutionary ideas – or affected to – and thus hung onto his head and his property.
The local clergy were less fortunate. Revolutionary laws required them to swear a constitutional oath but a number refused, or retracted afterwards. Most of those were imprisoned in Bordeaux, but the local curé, l’Abbé François Bertrand, evaded capture.
He celebrated mass in the houses of the faithful, often sleeping in shepherds’ huts or woodpiles. One day, he was warming himself by the fire in a house in the woods but had forgotten to close the gates. He was surprised by a paysan who had come to collect grain. The priest helped the man to fill his sacks and begged him not to denounce him. The man kept his word.
I’d love to know what happened to l’Abbé François, who was prepared to risk so much for his faith.
Modern times
Like many villages, Mazerolles has suffered rural depopulation, but the château possessed two large farms in the 19th century. They produced cereals, plums, chestnuts, wool and linen. They also produced wine: 29 barriques of red and two of white in 1842, i.e. about 9,300 bottles, but the phylloxera outbreak devastated the local wine industry in the late 19th century.
The book doesn’t say much about the 20th century or the two World Wars. The church was the first building to have electricity connected in 1935, followed by the château. Piped water came to the village in 1973. Before that, the main source was a spring that fed the lavoir (public washing place) and the château.
If only these stones could talk.
You might also like:
My series about local châteaux
Najac: One of the Most Beautiful Villages in France
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Life on La Lune 
Have very much enjoyed this series, thank you, Vanessa, and this has always been one of my favorite chateau in the area, so very glad for your history of it.
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Thanks, Scott. It’s an attractive chateau, but somewhat overlooked in favour of its more famous neighbour at Najac.
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This article really painted a picture for me of misty valleys and their lonely sadness
I sometimes wonder if those pre phylloxera wines tasted different. Rootstock and topstock were the same plant, till the epidemic, whereas today they all must have American rootstock, of the foxy wild grape Vitus rupestris (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylloxera) which is reputed to have a repellent taste. I would imagine the rootstock must affect the flavour of the grapes somehow or other. Perhaps some research was done at the time on the possible taste changes.
Keep up the inspiration
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It would be interesting to know if the post-phylloxera wines do taste different. I also imagine that the American rootstock must have made some difference. I expect, though, that modern winemaking techniques might have mitigated some of this. I wrote a post a while back about phylloxera and its effects on the region. https://vanessafrance.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/wine-blight-how-the-french-wine-industry-was-almost-wiped-out/
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I really enjoyed reading your well-researched article about the beautiful chateau. What a shame it is not inhabited! The restoration and upkeep would be exorbitant I suppose. Nice to have so close and the view of it on the rock is imposing.
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Thank you. I’m pleased you enjoyed it. In fact, the château that is the subject of the post is still inhabited: it’s the one it overlooks at Najac that is ruined – and has been uninhabited for centuries. I think I have confused things by the order in which I posted the images of these respective chateaux, so I’ll make some amendments to clarify.
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Dear Vanessa,
I’ve just stumbled upon your article about Le Chateau de Mazerolles. Great information thank you. My partner and I have very recently purchased a 16th Century property in Mazerolles, called La Cascade; the source you mention in your article flows through the property (giving it it’s name, although so far it’s been more of a trickle). Although it’s on our property, the source still belongs to Le Chateau, I guess in perpetuity. A wonderful old French couple pop around every week or so to clear the water’s path, before it continues down the hill to the chateau itself. They live a building attached to the chateau, I assume as caretakers.
No doubt it’s a very beautiful part of the world.
I wonder if you would send the name of the book you used as resource and mention in the blog, and possibly any other volumes that you may know pertaining to the history of Mazerolles and Najac. And if ever you’re passing through Mazerolles, would love to offer you a cup of tea!
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Dear Haddon, thank you for your comment. I’ve replied by email, if that’s okay, rather than leave a long comment here.
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There is a particularly persistent immobiliere in Aveyron who sends me properties near to Najac almost on a weekly basis despite my protestations that we want to stay in Cantal. Reading this I feel myself waivering – perhaps I would be rather happy there with such fascinating Chateaux on the doorstep and that view …..
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I think you are probably doing pretty well where you are. There’s no doubt that the region we live in is lovely and steeped in history, etc. But if we didn’t live here my next choice would be Cantal, which I just love and never get to visit often enough.
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