 After twenty-five years as a hostage in England, Charles d'Orleans returned to his beloved Blois and partly helped rebuild the chateau as a more commodious dwelling.It became the favourite royal residence and the political capital of the kingdom under Charles' son, King Louis XII.At the beginning of the 16th century, King Louis XII initiated a reconstruction of the entry of the main block and the creation of an Italian garden in terraced parterres where Place Victor Hugo stands today.