Hôtel Denis-Dupont (Rue St. Honoré) is the sixteenth-century dwelling of Denis-Dupont, the celebrated lawyer of Blois.
The College (Place Louis XII.) is installed in the ancient Abbaye de Bourg-Moyen, rebuilt in the eighteenth century, with the exception of the fourteenth-century gable.
Hôtel Dieu (between the castle and the river) occupies buildings of the Abbey of St. Laumur; rebuilt under Louis XIV., and recently enlarged.
Fontaine Louis XII., in the Place Louis XII., where markets are held, is a picturesque fifteenth-century work.
The Bridge was built between 1717-1724, from plans of Gabriel, father of the celebrated architect, the obelisk in the middle showing the arms of France.
History.—The name Blois is derived from the Celtic word bleiz, meaning wolf, possibly because the Celtic fort on the site of the château was in a wolf-infested country, and perhaps the name may have some totem significance. The Counts of Blois ruled over a vast district during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, including Chartres, Dunois, Vendômois, and even Champagne. Thibaut le Tricheur (or the Cheat) was the most celebrated of the first Counts. He built a keep on the site of the present château before his death in 978.
1135. Stephen, Count of Blois, became King of England.
1241. The Châtillons succeeded the first Counts.
1397. Louis d’Orléans, second son of Charles V., became possessor, began rebuilding the castle but his work remained unfinished. His illegitimate son Dunois, the Bastard of Orleans, guarded the château during the Hundred Years’ War. His own son Charles was taken prisoner at Agincourt, and was captive in England twenty-five years.
1440. Charles d’Orléans, on his release, returned to Blois, where his son Louis was born; afterwards King, as Louis XII., in 1498. From this time to the sixteenth century the history of Blois is the history of France. Louis XII. resided there in preference to Paris.