Following the miraculous discovery of the body of the apostle Jacques in Galicia, Spain, in 813, the christians of Europe made it a place of pilgrimage with many routes leading there. The Priory at Arcins was one of the sites along the fifth route to Compostella, stretching from the mouth of the river Gironde to Hendaye at the French frontier. The pilgrims who arrived at Soulac came from Brittany or Normandy, but also from England, Holland and Germany.
Around the year 1000 the Medoc became an important stopping over point for pilgrims, and the monks and lords planted vines around their sanctuaries and chateaux to make wine for them. The Commanderie de Saint-Jean-de-Jérusalem at Arcins had authority over all the region, and during the alliance that lasted three centuries between England and la Guyenne (or Aquitaine), from 1154 to 1453, wine production increased considerably.
Several centuries went by before a new « planting frenzy » took hold, this time on the part of the nobility and the bourgeoisie of Bordeaux following the arrival of the English navy. Pierre-Jacques Arnauld, a magistrate from Bordeaux, bought the Priory of Arcins in the 17th century, which he named ”cru Arnauld ” before re-baptising it Chateau Arnauld.
In 1956 Mr and Mrs Roggy bought Chateau Arnauld, later handing the administration of it to their children, and most particularly François Theil (their son-in-law) who managed it up until 2007, when it was acquired by the Allianz Group.