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Origin and history

The command office of the Gué-Lian, located in Moitron-sur-Sarthe, Sarthe, is one of the two main Templar settlements in Maine. Founded at the end of the 12th century, it has been certified by charters since 1231. His name, Gué-Lian, derives from the Latin Vadum Eliant, evoking a ford on the Sarthe. The commandory, originally Templar, was transferred in 1312 to the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem after the dissolution of the order of the Temple. It then became an administrative and religious centre managing eleven seigneuries, fiefs or dependent parishes, including leproseries, hospitals and chapels.

The chapel, dedicated to Saint Emerence and founded around the middle of the 12th century by Raoul V, Viscount of Beaumont-sur-Sarthe, houses a remarkable mural of the Dit of the three dead and the three alive (15th century). It was a place of pilgrimage until the 20th century for symbolic healing. The commandory also included a temple (monumental grange), a seigneurial house flanked by fortified pavilions, and a leprosy dedicated to St.Lawrence, once surrounded by moat and walls now extinct.

After the Revolution, the command office was sold as a national property in 1789 and divided between several owners, including the Petit-Bon and Bucquet de Fresnay families. In the 20th century, the Moulinneuf family divided it more before the last elements (chapelle, temple, mill) passed to the Corbin family. Ranked a historical monument in 2005, the commandory preserves architectural traces from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries, as well as the tombs of two commandors: Jehan Lepelletier (died 1459) and Guillaume de Saint-Mars.

Between 1315 and 1774, more than thirty commanders succeeded each other, including Robert de Dreux (first known) and Innocent de Tudert (last, also commander of Beaune). The current buildings reflect these historical strata: the medieval chapel, the house with a gable window, and the temple, a large barn with gables pierced with windows. The murals, restored, and armorized shields (like those of the Maupeau) bear witness to his past prestige.

The outbuildings of the commandory extended over a vast territory, including seigneuries (Grateil, Sainte-Catherine), metairies (Motte-Pruilly, Courtoussaint), and charitable establishments such as the hospital of Bercon. These possessions illustrate its economic and religious role in the region, from the Templars to the Knights of Malta, heirs of the Hospitallers. The commandery thus embodies five centuries of monastic and military history, linked to religious orders and local nobility.

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