The Château de Montaupin is an 18th-century castle located south of the village of Oizé, in the historical region of Maine (now part of the Sarthe department), approximately thirty kilometers south of Le Mans, France.
The castle was rebuilt in the late 18th century on the site of a former feudal castle dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries. The oldest surviving part of the present structure is a turret dating from the 15th century. The rest of the building comprises elements constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Only a few elements of the original structure have withstood the passage of time: dating from the 15th century, the turret, two cellars, and the crypt of the former Sainte Marie-Madeleine chapel remain visible. A twin turret was demolished in the early 20th century, and over time, the château's architecture has been altered and modified.
The estate is currently listed as a built heritage site to be protected under Article L.151-19 of the French Urban Planning Code.
The Château de Montaupin through the ages (479–2021)
The castle of Montaupin-la-Cour in the Middle Ages (479–1492) There were initially two castles named Montaupin: the Château de Montaupin-Jacquette and the Château de Montaupin-La-Cour (the current estate). Both were located south of the village of Oizé, a seigneurial possession at the time. Jean and Girard de Montaupin are mentioned in the Cartulary of Château-du-Loir as vassals of the castellany of Oizé, circa 1239.
The castle of Montaupin appears in historical records as a seigneurial possession around 1342. On 4 February 1392, Guillaume Chastain, the owner of the fief of Montaupin-Jacquette, became a vassal of Guyon du Bouchet, Lord of Bouchet-aux-Corneilles.
Montaupin-La-Cour, owned by the castellany of Foulletourte, belonged to the du Bouchet family from the 14th century. The du Bouchet family were the lords of Bouchet-aux-Corneilles, an old fortress in the area dating back to the 11th or 12th century, now destroyed, located in Oizé at the border with the town of Requeil.
At the beginning of the 15th century, the region was affected by the Hundred Years' War. In 1425, the Château du Bouchet-aux-Corneilles fell into the hands of English soldiers under Henry VI, before being retaken. The Du Bouschet Family It can thus be deduced that the "du Bouschet" family belonged to one of the branches of the Du Bouchet De Sourches family prominent lords and landowners in the area. Simon du Bouchet appears to have inherited the castle or lands of Montaupin before establishing himself there as the first lord.
In 1407, Simon du Bouchet, chamberlain (a noble of the royal court responsible for the sovereign's chamber service) to King Charles VII, became the first lord of Château de Montaupin. His son, Geoffroy du Bouschet, squire (a noble who accompanied a knight and bore his coat of arms) and lord of Bouchet, is little known. In 1457, he donated an annual rent of 2 sols 6 deniers tournois to the church of Requeil. He married Ysabeau de Thévalles and had five children:
Ysabeau de Thévalles gave birth to five children. The eldest, Jean du Bouchet (1340–1404), squire, became lord of Bouchet. He married Jeanne de Buffe in 1365 and inherited the lordships of Montaupin-la-Cour, Buffe, and Les Mortiers. He later exchanged Montaupin-la-Cour, along with its woods and vineyards, for "La Dreuserie," an estate located near Montaupin, before dying in 1475. His brother Briand du Bouchet died before 24 June 1484. Their sister Guyonne du Bouchet, widow of Bremond des Bordes, squire, was still alive in 1484. Aliette du Bouchet contracted marriage on 13 January 1458, to Jacques de La Chevrière, squire and lord of La Roche de Vaux. She died in 1484. Finally, their sister Marguerite du Bouchet was born in 1480 and died in 1486.
Guyonne du Bouchet was the sole heiress. She contested the dealings concerning the Bouchet lands and initiated a lawsuit following her brother Jean's death. She won the case at the Court of Le Mans, reimbursed 610 écus to the buyers, and regained possession of the properties alienated by her brother. On 13 September 1486, she sold the estate for the modest sum of 2,211 livres to her brother-in-law Jacques de La Chevrière, squire, lord of La Roche de Vaux in Requeil, married to her sister Aliette.
The d'Aubigné Family Jacques and Aliette de La Chevrière had a daughter, Perrine de La Chevrière, the "Lady of Montaupin." At the latter's marriage, on 4 August 1488, she brought the property as a dowry to Jacques d'Aubigné, fourth son of Jean II d'Aubigné, lord of La Perrière, and Yolande du Cloître. Jacques d'Aubigné was the vassal of the Lord of Foulletourte. He had three children with Aliette: Jean III, Marie and René, as well as two "natural" children, Guyon and Catherine.
It seems that the current farm of Montaupin-Jacquette would have been the manor until then and Jacques d'Aubigné would have transferred his powers to Montaupin-la-Cour. Architecture undoubtedly resulted from this change since the dovecote, the last visible vestige of the feudal period, dates from this period.
It is after the death of Jacques D'Aubigné in 1531 that his sons bore the title of Lord of Aubigné and Montaupin. The Castle of Montaupin during the Renaissance (1450–1600) Source:Archives de l'église de Requeil, compte de 1514.
The d'Aubigné family René d'Aubigné, knight and lord of Montaupin, son of Jacques d'Aubigné, married Jeanne de Cochefillet de Vauvineux but left no descendants. The same applies to his sister, Marie d'Aubigné, who was married to Hélie du Doët.
Jean III d'Aubigné de Montaupin, the primary heir and lord of Montaupin, married Olive Bousseron, with whom he had three daughters: Guyone, Jacqueline, and Françoise.
The first two daughters died without marrying, while Françoise d'Aubigné became Lady of Montaupin through her marriage to Jean de La Carrière Le Roy in 1565. He rendered homage to André de Beauvau, lord of Foulletourte, on 19 June 1574.
The Le Roy family From her marriage to Jean de La Carrière Le Roy, Françoise d'Aubigné had four children. Pierre, squire and lord of Montaupin and La Carrière; Jean, squire and lord of La Carrière, La Houssaye, Monfoulon and Les Rochettes, who married in 1605 Esther Gaultier, daughter of François Gaultier, squire and lord of Aubigné. Jean rendered homage to his elder brother for the estate of La Foucherie, where he resided on 4 July 1608, and later lived at La Marionnière, near the town of Saint-Sauveur-de-Flée, from 1610 to 1614, and at Les Rochettes, in the parish of Aviré, from 1621 to 1633. He served as guardian and noble tutor of his children from 1617 to 1630, and became guardian of his nephew Pierre in 1633. Renée, another daughter, married François de Hodon, squire and lord of Les Buchetières, in 1611. Lastly, Julien Le Roy, lord of La Foucherie, married Suzanne de Guerguebec and died in Oizé on 11 October 1605. His widow was appointed "noble guardian" of their son, Charles Le Roy, squire and lord of Assé, in 1611.
Pierre Le Roy succeeded his father as lord of Montaupin. On 11 June 1593, Pierre I Le Roy rendered homage for Montaupin, and later married Barbe de Mondragon on 10 March 1611. He died in 1618.
The Montaupin castle in the 17th century
The Le Roy family
Pierre Le Roy de Montaupin and Barbe de Mondragon had three children: Pierre II, who died without issue between 1633 and 1644; Louis René; and Charles Le Roy.
His wife, Barbe de Mondragon, Lady of Le Bignon and Le Verger, already a widow in 1618, remarried Cyprien Le Vayer, squire and lord of Bourgjolly.
Louis René I Le Roy, squire and lord of Montaupin, inherited the estate and married Marie de Bellanger. They had several children for whom their guardian rendered fealty and homage on 6 March 1656.
Louise Le Roy married Robert Bellivier in 1672 and died in 1696. Her brother, René Jean Le Roy, squire and lord of Montaupin, married Louise de Broc on 12 January 1665 in the church of Broc. She was the daughter of Jacques de Broc, knight, Baron of Saint-Mars-la-Pile, lord of Broc, and Marguerite de Bourdeille. Louise de Broc later became a lady-in-waiting to the Princess of Lamballe, Lady of Pommery. At the age of 18, the Princess of Lamballe became a close friend of Queen Marie Antoinette, then Dauphine, and was appointed Superintendent of the Queen's Household.
On 19 January 1686, René Jean Le Roy received, on behalf of his wife, from the children of the late Armand de Broc, a deed sealed by René Le Roy and Louise de Broc, Lord of Échemiré, pending the final settlement of the estate of Sébastien de Broc, Lord of Foulletourte and Les Perrais, the "house," estate, and appurtenances of Beaumont in Oizé, as well as the Mocque Souris mill. These had been previously allotted to the said Armand de Broc in an earlier division of inheritance. René Jean Le Roy served as a lieutenant in the Lyonnais Regiment in 1689.
On 19 January 1686, René Jean Le Roy received, on behalf of his wife, from the children of the late Armand de Broc, a deed sealed by René Le Roy and Louise de Broc, Lord of Échemiré, pending the final settlement of the estate of Sébastien de Broc, Lord of Foulletourte and Les Perrais, the "house," estate, and appurtenances of Beaumont in Oizé, as well as the Mocque Souris mill. These had been previously allotted to the said Armand de Broc in an earlier division of inheritance. René Jean Le Roy served as a lieutenant in the Lyonnais Regiment in 1689.
The Montaupin castle in the 18th century
The Le Roy family
Louise de Broc died on 15 June 1706, and was buried in the church of Oizé on 28 June of the same year. Her husband died on 20 November 1721.Seven children were born from their union. Louise died in 1738 without marriage or issue. Renée, born on 22 October 1675, married on 28 January 1711, to Magdelon Thimoléon de Savonnières, knight and lord of Entre-Deux-Bois and Courdenet at Vaas, son of Jean-Guillaume de Savonnières and Marie de La Haye. Marie died in 1782 without issue, and Catherine-Ambroise, who died in 1715, also died without marriage or heirs. René-Pierre, along with Louis-Auguste, baptized on 27 May 1681, inherited the seigneury of Montaupin. Louis-Auguste married first Marie-Madeleine Aubert de Boisguiet in 1731, then Marie-Thérèse de Moloré in a second marriage in 1752. Only three children survived their father: Renée, Louise, and Louis, knight, lord of Montaupin and Beaumont.
In 1731, Louis-Auguste Le Roy de Montaupin married Marie-Madeleine Aubert de Boisguiet (daughter of René Aubert, lord of Boisguiet, lawyer at the Parliament, lord of Yvré-le-Pôlin, and Marie Le Peletier de Feumusson), and pursued a military career. Between 1725 and 1732, he served as artillery commander in La Rochelle, Knight of the Order of Saint Louis, and lieutenant commander of the same branch in the department of Valenciennes.
From Marie-Madeleine Aubert de Boisguiet, he had two children: Louise-Armande, baptized in Oizé on 18 September 1769, who inherited Montaupin by order of succession. She first married on 1 May 1788, Count Pierre-Étienne de L'Hermitte, lord of Mesnil-Guyon, La Mazure, La Cheverie, Champhays, Knight of Saint Louis and captain in the regiment of La Fère. She remarried around 1800 to Henri-François Le Moine. Their daughter, Augustine-Louise-Madeleine, born in Le Mans in the parish of Saint-Nicolas on 21 February 1772, married Jean-François-Marie d'Alexandre on 5 July 1791, an officer in the regiment of Chartres-Infantry, son of Antoine d'Alexandre, knight, and Amable Philibé. She became a widow on 24 April 1805, due to an accident.