 On January 17, 1688, Louis XIV allowed the exiled James II of England to base himself at Saint-Germain.There he stayed with his court in Château-Neuf, and then in the two châteaux, until his death.In the 1770s, the dilapidated château was given by Louis XVI to his younger brother the Comte d'Artois with the sum of 600,000 livres for work to be done on it.