The Prisoner of Chillon (Castle), Switzerland. And Poem, Lord Byron 1788-1824

Chillon Castle, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Here is the castle at Chillon, just northeast of little Villeneuve on the Swiss Riviera, on the road heading for more famous and pricey Montreux.

There is noise here now.  The autostrasse passes nearby, so people don't have to tarry with past things any more.Read the poem slowly, aloud, to sense the history. We start here with the dungeon, where the prisoner Bonivard was held all those years, at water level - not underground, but here just at water level, where he feared each storm would flood it all.   

With the old print of the google book, you may prefer an easier read, try ://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/lbyron/bl-lbyron-prisoner.htm.

The castle is modest in size. But it has been well maintained. There is the bridge, that may once have been a drawbridge.  Get there right at 9AM, before the buses.

 Drawbridge, now entry, Castle of Chillon, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Get right to it, and head down.

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 Stair to the dungeons, Chillon Castle, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Part of the dungeon area was for storage, with the casks of supplies, including wind, and the narrow arrow slit for defense on the lake side.

 Supplies casks, dungeon area, Chillon Castle, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Chillon is a small chateau, and tourists are free to wander anywhere with unlocked doors.  Tours stay together, which is far less fun.

Old log staircases, from rooms in dungeon, Chillon Castle, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

It has been well-maintained.  An impressive feature is the rock bed, that forms the flooring at the lower level.  There is no under-water level that we could see.  Imagine the boats of provisions anchoring just outside; or invaders trying to slip by.

 Chamber after chamber, dungeons, Chillon Castle, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Stake and chain, dungeons, Prisoner of Chillon, Chillon Castle, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Supplies would have been brought to this water level, and unloaded for the castle's needs, but that room and its gates to the water were out of reach for the prisoner. See his story below.

Waterlevel view, dungeon, Castle of Chillon, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

There is a noose hanging in one of the rooms, but hardly original  For more, see ://www.wisdomportal.com/Inspiration/CastleChillon.html/

A way out The prisoner is released. Castle of Chillon, Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Now, read the short sonnet about Chillon, also by Byron, at ://www.english.upenn.edu/Projects/knarf/Byron/chillon.html/  See the alternative spelling, Francois de Bonnivard.  This site says that the narrative by Byron, supposedly the prisoner speaking, is fictitious.  See ://switzerland.isyours.com/E/guide/lake_geneva/chillon.history.html/  Probably.  How would anyone know?

 How to see the Castle of Chillon, on Lake Geneva, without first reading Lord Byron's poem about the prisoner.

Read first. Meet a monk-scholar from Geneva named Francois Bonivard, who was chained there from 1532 to 1536 or  1530-1536, depending on the records; and during the Catholic-Protestant Troubles there; and also at a time when he was accused of inciting the Genevese, along the lake, to rebel against the Duke of Savoy, only being released when the Bernese from the north pressed that far south with their newfangled contraption, mobile artillery.
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Bernese mobile artillery, Castle at Chillon, Lake Geneva; military advantage, freeing the Prisoner of Chillon?

Varying accounts, see ://switzerland.isyours.com/E/guide/lake_geneva/chillon.history.html/ for the   The poem is now a google book and free for the taking: go to The Prisoner of Chillon, Lord Byron.
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The Bonivard (sometimes spelled Bonnivard) family was persecuted during this era of Reformation-CounterReformation, and then the 30 years' war between Papists and Reformers who could not stand each other.  Of the three Bonnivard brothers sent to Chillon, with other family members already deceased, the prisoner here is the only survivor.

Alternate scenario: He was released when nobody cared anymore what anybody else believed, according to the religious accounts, not the social change accounts.  Good choice. Faith-based conflicts get nowhere, then or now. Just leave people be. In the end, I am the guns. I cover all?