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Origin and history

The castle of Mauprevoir, located in the department of Vienna, has its origins at least from the twelfth century. At that time, a first building was attested to control the Charroux road, as evidenced by an act of 1179 in which Audebert Vignier, seigneur of Mauprevoir, and his wife Flandrine, gave up part of their land to the priory of Montazais. The land and the village then depend on the lords of Lusignan, before passing into the hands of several noble families, sometimes in co-management with the religious of the Abbey of Charroux.

In the 15th century, the current buildings were probably built under the impulse of the religious, as indicated by the arms of Abbé Jean Chaperon (1444-1477) carved on the entrance castle. The castle, surrounded by moats and equipped with a drawbridge, plays a defensive and strategic role, supervising both the commercial road of Charroux and the properties of the abbey. Its architecture reflects this dual vocation: military fortress and symbol of religious power.

The structure underwent major changes at the end of the 17th century, losing its defensive character to become a residence. In the 18th century, the Lesire Labrousse family took possession of it. Jean-Zacharie Lesire Labrousse, heir to the estate, married Marie-Agathe Pastoureau de La Braudière in 1845, marking a period of transition to a more residential vocation. The entrance chestnut, the last notable medieval vestige, is listed as a historic monument in 2018.

Architecturally, the castle consists of a three tower house, a castle and commons organized around a courtyard. The moat and the drawbridge, now missing or modified, recall its past as a small fortress controlling the flows of pilgrims and merchants. Its history illustrates the close links between local nobility, religious power and economic stakes in the medieval and modern Poitou.

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