This fortress has a long eventful history, starting with the marriage of Philippe III and IV, in 1274 and 1322, respectively, and the birth of kings Louis X, Philippe V and Charles IV, in 1316, 1322 and 1328, respectively. For a short time, the Château de Vincennes housed the relics of the Crown of Thorns, while the Sainte-Chapelle was being prepared to receive them. A piece of this relic was left for its own chapel at Vincennes. Henri IV was even imprisoned at Vincennes during the Wars of Religion. In 1804 and 1917, the duc d'Enghien and Mata-Hari were executed at the château. In 1860, Napoleon III restored the keep and chapel, and gave the Bois de Vincennes and its château to Paris as a public park.

In the 17th Century, Louis XIV built a pair of ranges across a parterre for the Queen Mother and Cardinal Mazarin. In the 18th Century, the château was left neglected and served as the Vincennes porcelain manufacture. Later it became a state prison where Diderot, the Comte de Mirabeau, Fouquet, Raspail and the Marquis de Sade were kept. In 1796, the château also served as an arms factory for the French Armed Services. In fact, the château served as the military headquarters of the Chief of General Staff, General Maurice Gamelin, as Germany was invading France in 1940. During the Nazi occupation, thirty hostages were murdered here in 1944.

The château now belongs to the State and has undergone extensive restoration, comprising more than fifteen years of research by the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Defence. Jean Chapelot, director of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, or National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and specialist in the Middle Ages on the Château de Vincennes said, “Only one other building has a comparable history: the Louvre. Vincennes is the translation in stone of the birth of the modern State. Its restoration involved major underground work and, in particular, significant excavations along the route of a subterranean gallery inside the château, in the drainage ditch of the latrines and in the courtyard of the keep.” The French Army now uses the château to store its Defence archives, which date back to the 17th Century. It has been said that “Vincennes holds the memory of military France.” Three hundred researchers work in twelve reading rooms daily. In the king’s pavilion, a new room will be provided for at least 100 readers. The reopening of the keep is scheduled for 2007, when tourists will be able to visit a 1000 square metre museum which describes the history of the Middle Ages. The city of Vincennes plans to promote Château de Vincennes by providing open-air films, theatre performances, concerts and exhibitions. The mayor’s “ambition is to make this magnificent place famous far beyond its borders,” and to attract 200,000 visitors in 2007 and more than 400,000 per year.