The Lot valley and its inhabitants suffered numerous attacks, including from the Visigoths in the C5th and from the Normans in the C9th. Then at the beginning of the C12th the Cathar wars, prosecuted by Simon de Montfort, ravaged the region culminating in the capture of nearby Penne d’Agenais and the attack on Cahors. By 1324, when the Hundred Years War was sparked by the destruction of the bastide village of Saint-Sardos, also nearby, conditions continued to be uncertain.

This is the background to the creation, by Foulques de Lustrac, of the fortified mill on the river in 1296 and then construction of the adjacent château.