The Castle Of Montaupin (Sarthe)

Montaupin, a place as special as its castle

The Château de Montaupin is located in the south of Oizé, a French town in the department of Sarthe.

Only a few kilometers away from Le Mans and its famous racetrack, this little haven of peace, barely an hour and a half from the capital, is impressive for its architecture and its surroundings.

The castle towers above the near countryside.

Built on the foundation of an ancient Roman temple, this feudal castle, dating from the 11th and 12th centuries, has undergone many transformations.

The oldest part of the castle still visible today is the dovecote, dating from the 15th century. The rest of the building is divided between constructions dating from the 18th century and the 19th century.

Only a few elements from the original construction have overcome the tests of time: dating from the 15th century, the dovecote, the crypt of the old chapel, and the well at the entrance of the castle are still visible. The second dovecote was destroyed at the beginning of the 20th century, and time has altered the modifications of the castle's architecture.

Today, the caste and its buildings are used as a country cottage and a guest house.

The castle of Montaupin through ages (479-2021)

The castle of Montaupin-la-Cour in the Middle Ages (479-1492)

There were two castles of Montaupin at first: the Château de Montaupin-Jacquette and the Château de Montaupin-La-Cour (the current property). Both are located in the 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 Manoir de Montaupin appears in historical sources as a seigneurial possession around 1342. On February 4, 1392, Guillaume Chastain, owner of the fief of Montaupin-Jacquette, becomes the vassal of Guyon du Bouchet, Lord of Bouchet aux Corneilles.

Montaupin-la-Cour, owned by the castellany of Foulletourte, belonged from the 14th century to the du Bouchet family, lords of Bouchet-aux-Corneilles—an old fortress in the area dated from the 11th or 12th century, now destroyed, located in Oizé as well, at the limit of the town of Requeil. At the beginning of the 15th century, the region was tormented by the Hundred Years War. The Château du Bouchet-aux-Corneilles also fell into the hands of the English soldiers in 1425, under Henri VI, before being taken over.

The Du Bouschet Family

We can thus assume that the Du Bouchet Family belonged to one of the branches of the Du Bouchet De Sourches Family—they were important lords and landowners in the area. Simon du Bouchet would then surely have inherited the castle or at least the lands of Montaupin before settling there, as the very first lord.

In 1407, Simon du Bouchet, chamberlain of King Charles VII, became First Lord of the Château de Montaupin. Geoffroy du Bouschet (his son), squire, Lord of Bouchet, remains widely unknown. In 1457 he gave an income of 2 sols and 6 deniers tournois to the church of Requeil. He married Ysabeau de Thévalles and had five children:

Jean du Bouchet (1340-1404), squire [1], lord of Bouchet; married Jeanne de Buffe in 1365, he became Lord of Bouchet and Montaupin-la-Cour, de Buffe et des Mortiers. He exchanged Montaupin-la-Cour, its woods and vines, for the “Dreuserie,” a land not far from Montaupin before passing away in 1475.
Briand du Bouchet, died before June 24, 1484;
Guyonne du Bouchet, widow of Bremond des Bordes, squire, in 1484;
Aliette du Bouchet, married on January 13, 1458 to Jacques de La Chevrière, squire, lord of La Roche de Vaux. She died in 1484;
Marguerite du Bouchet (1480–1486) died without getting married.

Guyonne du Bouchet is the sole heir. She denounces the negotiations on the lands of Bouschet and sues the owners after the death of her brother Jean. She wins the trial before the Court of Le Mans, reimburses the buyers (610 ecus) and takes possession of the lands alienated by the latter. She sold on September 13, 1486, for the modest sum of 2,211 pounds, the property to her brother-in-law Jacques de La Chevrière, squire, lord of Roche de Vaux from the town of Requeil, who is married 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 August 4, 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)

The D'Aubigné family

Jacques d’Aubigné’s son, René d’Aubigné, knight, lord of Montaupin, married Jeanne de Cochefillet de Vauvineux without having any heirs. The same goes for his sister Marie d’Aubigné, married to Hélie du Doët.

Jean III d’Aubigné de Montaupin, first heir and lord of Montaupin, married Olive Bousseron with whom he had 3 daughters—Guyone, Jacqueline and Françoise. If the first two died without alliance, Françoise d’Aubigné became the Lady of Montaupin by marrying Jean de La Carrière Le Roy in 1565. The latter confessed to himself as vassal of André de Beauvau, Lord of Foulletourte, on June 19, 1574.

The Le Roy family

From her marriage to Jean de La Carrière Le Roy, Françoise d’Aubigné gave birth to four children:

Pierre, squire, sieur de Montaupin and de la Carrière;
Jean, squire, sieur de la Carrière, de la Houssaye, de Monfoulon and des Rochettes, who was married in 1605 Esther Gaultier, daughter of François Gaultier, squire, sieur d’Aussigné. He paid homage to his elder brother from the place of La Foucherie, where he lived on July 4, 1608, and then resided, from 1610 to 1614 “instead of La Marionnière, near the town of Saint-Sauveur-de-Flée”, and of 1621 to 1633 in Les Rochettes, parish of Aviré. Guardian and noble guardian of his children, from 1617 to 1630, he was also guardian of his nephew Pierre in 1633.
Renée, married in 1611 to François de Hodon, squire, sieur des Buchetières;
Julian Le Roy, sieur de la Foucherie, married Suzanne de Guerguebec and died in Oizé on October 11, 1605. His widow was “her son’s noble guard,” Charles Le Roy, squire, Lord of Assé, in 1611.

It is Pierre Le Roy who took over from his father at the head of the seigneury of Montaupin. On June 11, 1593, Pierre Ier Le Roy became a vassal getting married on March 10, 1611, to Barbe de Mondragon. 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 3 children:

Peter II, who died without posterity between 1633 and 1644,
Louis René
Charles Le Roy

Mondragon’s beard, lady of Bignon and Verger, in Moncé-en-Belin, already widowed in 1618, married a second time to Cyprien Le Vayer, squire, sieur de Bourgjolly.

Louis René I Le Roy, squire, lord of Montaupin, inherited the castle. He took Marie de Bellanger as his wife. He had several children—Louise and René Jean—for whom their guardian gave credence and homage on March 6, 1656.

Louise Le Roy married Robert Bellivier in 1672 before passing away in 1696. His brother René Jean Le Roy, squire, Lord of Montaupin, married on January 12, 1665, in the church of Broc, Louise de Broc, daughter of Jacques de Broc, knight, baron of Saint-Mars-la-Pile, lord of Broc, and Marguerite de Bourdeille.

René Jean Le Roy received on January 19, 1686, in the name of his wife, and “children of the late Armand de Broc, Seal of René Le Roy and Louise de Broc, Lord of Echemiré, the final settlement of the succession of Sébastien de Broc, Lord of Foulletourte and of Perrais, “the house,” domain and belongings and outbuildings of Beaumont, in Oizé, and the mill of Mocque Souris”, which fell to the said Armand de Broc in a previous share. He was a lieutenant in the Lyonnais regiment in 1689.

The Montaupin castle in the 18th century

The Le Roy family

Louise de Broc died on June 15, 1706, and was buried in the church of Oizé on the 28 of the same month. Her husband followed her to the tomb on November 20, 1721.

Seven children were born from their union:

Louise, died in 1738 without alliance or posterity;
Renée, born October 22, 1675, married Magdalen Thimoléon de Savonnières, knight, lord of Entre-Deux-Bois and Courdenet, in Vaas, son of Jean-Guillaume de Savonnières and Marie de La Haye, on January 28, 1711;
Marie, died in 1782 without posterity;
Catherine-Ambroise, died in 1715 without alliance or posterity;
René-Pierre
Louis-Auguste, baptized on May 27, 1681, who inherited the lordship of Montaupin, married first Marie-Madeleine Aubert de Boisguiet during the year 1731 and Marie-Thérèse de Moloré, in 1752 for her second marriage.

Only three 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, sieur de Boisguiet, lawyer in parliament, lord of Yvré-le-Pôlin, and Marie Le Peletier de Feumusson), and followed the career of arms; he was in 1725 and 1732 commander of artillery in La Rochelle and knight of the military order of Saint-Louis, and lieutenant commander of the same army in the department of Valenciennes.

He had two children with Marie-Madeleine Aubert de Boisguiet:

Louise-Armande, baptized in Oizé on September 18, 1769, who inherited from Montaupin by order of succession, she married twice, on May 1, 1788, with the Count de L’hermitte, Pierre-Etienne, lord of Mesnil-Guyon, La Mazure, La Cheverie, Champhays, knight of Saint-Louis and captain in the regiment of La Fère, and around 1800 with Henri-François Le Moine.
Augustine-Louise-Madeleine, born in Le Mans, parish of Saint-Nicolas on February 21, 1772, married Jean-François-Marie d’Alexandre on July 5, 1791, officer in the Chartres-Infanterie regiment, son of Antoine d’Alexandre, knight, and 'Amable Philibé). An accident made her a widow on April 24, 1805.

On February 14, 1752, Louis-Auguste Le Roy, knight of Saint-Louis, lord of Montaupin, Beaumont, la Place, Yvré-le-Pôlin, commissioner of artillery in Port-Louis, got married again, at the age of 27 and a half, to Marie-Thérèse de Moloré, daughter of Gabriel-René de Moloré, Lord of Villaines, president of the town of Mans, and Anne-Renée de Belleriant, in the church of Savigné-l’Evêque.

Widowed early and having lost Anne-Louise-Thérèse Le Roy, the only child resulting from his relationship with Marie-Thérèse de Moloré, born in Le Mans on September 11, 1753, he remarried on May 3, 1768, being then head of the artillery corps of the Strasbourg regiment, to Louise-Marguerite de Montesson, the widow of Jean-Armand, knight, Marquis de Raffetanges, and daughter of Louis-Pierre Joseph de Montesson, knight, lord of Douillet, and Marguerite-Renée Le Silleur.

Louis-Auguste Le Roy died on June 3, 1788, and his wife on February 28, 1772.

Louise-Armande Le Roy de Montaupin and his husband Pierre-Etienne de L’hermitte inherited, on July 19, 1791, before René-Julien Le Blaye and Julien Dioré, in Oizé and Sougé-le-Ganelon, both third of this heritage for their part: the place and domain of Montaupin, the borders of La Teisserie, de Verreille, and of the Place, the smallholdings of Grassin, de la Roche and Beaumont, the closeries of La Clérissière and La Foucherie, the mills of Mocque-Souris and Boisard, and eighty to one hundred logs of fir or coppice woods in La Verrie and a financial income.

Augustine-Louise-Madeleine Le Roy and her husband Jean-François-Marie d’Alexandre inherited the smallholdings of Bussonnière and Petite-Chapelle, in Sougé-le-Ganelon, two houses on rue du Puits-de-Quatre-Roues, at Le Mans and a financial income.

The Montaupin castle in the 19th century

The French Revolution, which began in 1789, lead to armed conflicts spreading outside the walls of Paris and reaching various French regions.

The Le Roy family

The husband of Louise-Armande Le Roy de L’hermitte, then Dame de Montaupin, was an officer in the artillery of the Cherbourg coast army under Wimpffen and became one of the main Chouannerie leaders in the Sarthe. He was killed in Saint Denis-d’Orques, after the pacification, in April 1795, during a battle with the Blues, republican troops who oppose the Whites, royalist troops, during the civil war known as the Chouannerie from 1792 to 1800.

We can then suppose that it is this conflict which sees the destruction of part of the castle and its reconstruction by the De La Porte family.

On March 2, 1804, Louise Armande Le Roy de Montaupin married Henri François Le Moine, who died in 1826.

We then lose track of the castle which only reappeared in historical sources in 1827, when it was sold by the heirs of Louis-François d’Arlanges and his wife Louise-Agathe d’Orlvaux to the mayor of Oizé, the Marquis Ambroise de La Porte.

The link between Le Roy de Montaupin and Louise-Agathe d’Orlvaux remains unknown, we can assume that she was the closest heiress in succession and therefore recovered the property after the multiple confiscations of noble property and armed clashes of the French Revolution, or else that her name and ancestry made her earn this castle next to her land during the Restoration.

The D'Arlanges family

Louise-Agathe d’Orvaulx, daughter of Louis-Philippe-François Count of Orvaulx, brought the castle of Montaupin as a dowry to her husband Louis-François d’Arlanges on February 28, 1799.

5 children were born from this marriage:

Marie-Louise-Zoé d’Arlanges born in 1800, who married Charles-André-Auguste de la Voyrie on May 17, 1821 —the latter was a former officer of the Royal Navy, recognized for his services, his feats of arms and his loyalty during the Wars of the Vendée. From their marriages are born 2 daughters.
Adolphe-Louis-Gaston d’Arlanges, born April 7, 1802;
Eugene-Louis-Gaston d’Arlanges, born March 7, 1806, who married Nathalie Morisson de la Bassetière. From their union are born 3 daughters.
Adèle-Charlotte— Agathe d’Arlanges, born in 1804 and died in 1820;
Marie-Armande d’Arlanges, born July 10, 1807, and died young.

It was Marie-Louise-Zoé d’Arlanges and her husband Charles-André-Auguste de la Voyrie who inherited from the property in 1827 upon the death of Louis-François d’Arlanges. They sold the property, castle and land, in 1827 to the Marquis de Saint-Gemme, Ambroise De La Porte.

The La Porte family

Mr. Ambroise de La Porte, born August 19, 1793, and died on February 12, 1866. The Marquis de la Porte was a renowned farmer and mayor of Oizé, he lived in the castle from 1830 to 1866 and used the land as a large farm of reknowed agricultural crops.

When he died in 1866, the property passed to the Marquis Ambroise de La Porte, his eldest son, born July 17, 1833, and died on December 20, 1912; the latter sold it by auction.

Successive sales of property

We then lose track of the property—due to the successive sales of the property, many owners remain unknown. The Château de Montaupin went through many changes of owners over short periods in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Franco-German war from 1870 to 1871, which lead to the occupation of Sarthe, may have something to do with it.

Mr. Vrament acquired the property in 1880 before reselling it in 1888. The castle and its outbuildings (58 Ha) are sold to Mr. Cureau (a great traveler and collector of paintings) and the land to Messrs. Piedor, Dupuy, Sacré, and Le Bled.

The property still changes hands, before reappearing in 1900.

The Château de Montaupin in the century

The Mary Family

In 1900 the castle has been sold to the Mary family, first owned by Mr. Athanas-Modeste Mary and Mrs. Josephine-Augusta Mary, who passed it on to their daughter Marie Madeleine Mary-Chesnay. The latter then passed it on to her children Jean and Gyslème Chesnay.

During the First World War, an American unit camped at the Château de Montaupin.

During the Second World War, a Jewish family, consisting of a young mother and her two daughters, was hidden in the crypt of the castle chapel.

The castle was then sold after the end of the Second World War to Monsieur Ferré, a real estate agent in Paris, who sold it in 1959 to the David Family.

Pierre and Germaine David (1959–1967) passed it on to their children Alain David and Nicole Dubois (1984–2000) who passed it on then to Marie-Paule David (2000 to 2021).

The Château de Montaupin in the 21st century

The David Family

The castle was still owned the castle, through Mrs Marie-Paule David, from 2000 to 2021.

The Fadel Family

The Fadel Family is now the owner of the castle. They have entirely renovated The Château de Montaupin, which is currently used as a guesthouse and a country cottage.

American soldiers living in the castle in 1917

Heraldry

The Du Bouchet Family :

“Silver, two sand color sides, Azure, sown with silver lily flower, accompanied by a lion.”

Shape: Quartered

Parts and rebatements: Fascé in 6 parts

Coat of arms : Lion, Lily

The D'Aubigné Family :

“Gules, lion of ermines armed, langued & crowned with gold.”

Shape: modern French shield

Enamels: Gules

Furs: Ermines

Coat of arms : Lion

The Le Roy Family :

Shape: Ladies' shield

Enamels: Gules

Rebattements: Losangé

Coat of arms: Griffon

The La Porte Family :

Shape: Italian shield

Coat of arms: Two royal crowned eagles

Ornaments: Cry, Crowned eagles supports with a scepter, globe and cross

The Arlanges Family :

“Silver, with three martlets, accompanied by six rings, sorted out in orle, surmounted by a wavy fess, the whole being composed of sand. ”

Honorable coins: 1 wavy side

Metals: Silver

Coat of arms: Merlets & Annelets

The park of Montaupin

The park of the Château de Montaupin covers more than one hectare.

There are various trees such as a spruce & thuya tree dating back more than five centuries, a catalpa with a trunk of a circumference of nearly 10 meters and a sequoia, the seeds of which would have been brought from the East by the naturalist Pierre Belon, born in 1517 in La Souletière, at the limit of Oizé and Cérans-Foulletourte. It is the latter who introduced various exotic plants in France, he paid great attention to the medicinal properties of these.

The park consists of imported plants and other common to the landscape of the region. There are a multitude of trees and fruit trees there: firs, cedars, chestnut trees, Italian poplars, walnut trees, apple trees, palm trees, cherry trees, pear trees and plum trees. The Park also has a large floral garden with a variety of roses, vines, tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, lilies of the valley, reed beds and irises growing near the pond.

There are also mints and red fruit bushes, mulberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and currants.

Refurbished, it now contains a secure swimming pool surrounded by this abundant vegetation.

SOURCES

Société des archives historiques du Maine, , 1904 (lire en ligne [archive])
↑ Société historique et archéologique du Maine Auteur du texte, « » [archive], sur gallica.bnf.fr, 1927 (consulté le 10 juin 2021)
↑ Anselme de Sainte-Marie, Honoré Caille Du Fourny, Ange de Sainte-Rosalie (François Raffard, en religion le père Ange de Sainte-Rosalie.) et Simplicien (Paul Lucas, en religion le père Simplicien.), , Par la Compagnie des Libraires, 1726 (lire en ligne [archive])
↑ ^{Revenir plus haut en :a b et c} Ressources sitographiques : De la Sarthe : Buffe, un fief, une seigneurie [archive] Montaupin-Jacquette [archive] Revue historique et archéologique du Maine [archive] La Province du Maine par la Société des archives historiques du Maine [archive] Arbres généalogiques : [1 [archive]], [2 [archive]]; [3 [archive]] Ressources Bibliographiques Archives de la Sarthe, fonds municipal, n° 25, fol. ho et 47 v°. Archives de l’église de Requeil, compte de 1514. Archives du Maurier, dossier Montaupin. Dictionnaire de la noblesse : contenant les généalogies, l'histoire et la chronologie des familles nobles de France par de La Chenaye-Desbois et Badier [archive] Dictionnaire des familles françaises anciennes ou notables à la fin du XIXe siècle par Chaix d'Est-Ange (1903) [archive] Revue historique et archéologique du Maine [archive] Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France, Volume 2 [archive] Dictionnaire topographique, historique et statistique de la Sarthe ..., Volume 4 De Julien Rémy Pesche [archive]