Château de Valençay is a château in the commune of Valençay, in the Indre department of France. It was a residence of the d'Estampes and Talleyrand-Périgord families. Although it is part of the province of Berry, its architecture invites comparison with the Renaissance châteaux of the Loire Valley, notably the Château de Chambord. The manor was praised as "one of the most beautiful on earth" by George Sand, who also noted that "no king has owned a more picturesque park".
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Château de Valençay in the context of Treaty of Valençay
The Treaty of Valençay was a proposed peace agreement between France and Spain, signed on 8 December 1813, aimed at ending the Peninsular War. It was drafted by Antoine René Mathurin for the French Empire and José Miguel de Carvajal y Manrique for the Spanish Crown. Named after the Château de Valençay, owned by former French foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, the treaty sought to restore Ferdinand VII of Spain, who had been imprisoned by Napoleon since 1808, to the Spanish throne, which had been occupied by Joseph Bonaparte.
Napoleon Bonaparte, recognizing France's imminent defeat in the Peninsular War, intended the treaty as a step toward reestablishing an alliance with Spain and facilitating the withdrawal of French troops from Spanish territory. However, both parties harbored doubts about each other’s commitment to the agreement, and the armistice included in the treaty was never fully respected. It is also believed that in a secret protocol, Napoleon compelled Ferdinand VII to pledge that the Spanish Army would oppose British and Portuguese forces if they continued to use Spain as a base for military operations against France.
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