Turenne’s Egg
The journey of an egg
From the 12th Century the barons of Castlenau were the most powerful in Quercy and thought of themselves as the Second Barons of Christendom after the Counts of Toulouse. However, in 1184 Raymond of Toulouse gave the overlordship of Castelnau to the viscount of Turenne and, to say the least, the Baron was somewhat displeased!
He appealed to King Philip Augustus who did not wish to be involved and hostilities soon broke out. After Philip’s death the new monarch, Louis VIII, who obviously was blessed with a sense of humour, ruled in favour of Turenne but stipulated that Castlelnau had to present Turenne with one egg per year as a token of suzerainty.
Until relatively recent times a team of oxen take a freshly laid egg to Turenne every year!