Meillant is a Late Medieval castle located in the old province of Berry. It is characterised by its Late Gothic (Flamboyant) style.
History
Charles II of Amboise, a chief figure in the history of Meillant
The oldest part of the castle was started by Count Étienne II de Sancerre in the late 13th and early 14th century. Dying heirless in 1308, the castle passes to the Bueil family, then by marriage to the Amboise familly in 1438.
Most of the present structure was erected from 1473 by Charles I of Amboise, chamberlain and counselor of King Louis XI. His son, Charles II d'Amboise de Chaumont, one of the king's favourite, became Grand Master of France, Marshal then Admiral. He also served as governor of Paris, Milan and Genoa, and Lieutenant general of Lombardy. The money that he subtracted from his government in Milan prompted Cardinal Dovizi da Bibbiena to say that "Milan made Meillant".
After Charles's death in 1511, the property is inherited by his son, George, who dies childless at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. Meillant then passes through a succession of proprietors. Among them are the Dukes of Béthune-Chârost. The 6th and last duke, Armand II Joseph (1738–1800) was known for his philanthropy. He would launch the project for the Canal de Berry joining the Loire to the Cher River. The duke was so adulated by his people that, during the French Revolution, when he was emprisoned and ready to be sent to the guillotine in Paris, the population of Meillant rose to demand his liberation. This is in part why the castle wasn't damaged during the revolution.
In 1857, the castle winds up into the hands of Casimir de Rochechouart, Duke of Mortemart. His descendants still occupy the castle today. Descended from the Viscounts of Limoges, the House of Rochechouart of Mortemart is one of the oldest aristocratic families in France.
Description
The castle is composed of 90 rooms, the most sumptuous of which are open to the public. The main drawing room spreads on 200 m² (2150 ft²) and has a loggia for musicians above the central fireplace. Also of interest are the valuable tapestries from Bruges.
https://www.eupedia.com/france/meillant_castle.shtml

Château de Meillant

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Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil is a 14th-century castle built on the grounds of an earlier 12th century castle in Ainay-le-Vieil, Cher, France. Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil is situated at an elevation of 168 meters. After having bought the castle from Jacques Cœur, Charles de Bigny built a pre-Renaissance Louis XII style chateaux from 1500 to 1505. The castle has been listed as a Monument historique since 1968 by the French Ministry of Culture. The castle, now part of Jacques Cœur's tourist route, has been nicknamed "the little Carcassonne" (French: le petit Carcassonne) because of its circular shape. Today the castle is one of the best preserved fortresses of the 14th century.
The castle is built on a site located on the frontier of the Frankish kingdom and that of Aquitaine (and later the lands of the French and English kingdoms) that has been fortified since the High Middle Ages and was once occupied by the Gallo-Romans. This location was thus strategically important, especially during the Hundred Years' War, and this can be attested to by its sizeable walls. Because of its importance to the French Kings, it was entrusted to houses close to the King, such as the Bourbons, Barres, Sully, and Culants.
The castle property is mentioned in a cartulary in Champagne at the end of the 11th century, naming a member of the House of Bourbon (rulers of Bourbonnais) and a brother of Charles Martel. It then passed into the ownership of Pierre Barres and his brother, Guillaume, who won fame for their family by saving the French king at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. Next, the Sully family, of the Loire Valley, came into possession of the castle for over a century in a period wherein the castle became an important base from which to harass the English during the Hundred Years' War. After the French defeat at Poitiers in 1356, it became the only castle in the region to remain in French hands. Similarly, it lost all military importance with the French victory at the end of the Hundred Years' War.
Since 1467, the castle has been owned by the family of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, minister to the King, and it passed through the women of the family three generations in.

Château d'Ainay-le-Vieil

Château de Charly is an ancient castle, the thirteenth century, rebuilt in the eighteenth century and mutilated in the nineteenth century, which stands in the municipality of Charly in the city of Lyon in region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The castle is the subject of a registration as historical monuments by order of 7 June 1926. The castle of Charly is located in the city of Lyon in the municipality of Charly to the south. The original construction dates from the early fourteenth century. In the sixteenth century, we find the following description: "chasteau moated four laps, pontz, dovecote, press, ESTABLES, barns, garden, vergier, pond, meadow, vineyards, arable land." Two square keep, a crenellated, the other crowned with battlements and provided pellet of pepper on angles are connected by a rectangular main building. The set is preceded by a wall flanked on its northern facade two round corner towers with battlements that frame topped by entée door of a gatehouse. There were two round towers, which protected a drawbridge and moat, now filled. The castle is privately owned and not open to visitors.
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-rhone-alpes/chateau-de-charly.html