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Origin and history

The castle of Thuboeuf, located in Nuillé-sur-Vicoin in Mayenne, is mentioned as early as ~1070 under the name of "Y. de Tuobove". This fief, dependent on Montchevrier, imposed 15 days' watch at the Porte Belotoiseau de Laval. The present home, described as unstyled by Abbé Angot, replaces an old seigneurial house quoted in 1565, surrounded by mills, courtyards (such as Marthebize or Mournerie), and extended hunting rights. The archives evoke lizard walls and a modest structure: kitchen, room, two bedrooms and attic.

The seigneury changed hands frequently. The family of Thuboeuf (XI-10th centuries) gave way to the Quatrebarbes (XV-14th centuries), then to the Cazet and Chantepie. In 1683 Renée de Chantepie had the house rebuilt by Pierre Levrot, master mason of Laval, using stones from the castle of Montjean. The estate, estimated at £23,000 in 1745, passed to the Preaulx in the 18th century. Charles-Antoine de Préaulx, mayor of Nuillé-sur-Vicoin for 56 years, died there in 1868.

The feudal statements of 1542 detail a complete agricultural estate: farmhouse, press, mills on the Vicoin and Mayenne, as well as extensive seigneurial rights (hunting, fishing, fairies). The fief, described as poor and infertile in 1565, belonged to Montchevrier. The archives also mention conflicts with the Lavals or Hospitallers, reflecting local tensions. The last notable mention dates from 1782 when the count of Préaulx offered the concierge's house to his nurse.

The sources come mainly from the Dictionnaire historique de la Mayenne (Angot, 1900–1910), the departmental archives, and the Chartrier de la Rongere. The site, now extinct or transformed, illustrates the evolution of the Manoirs Mayennais, between feudal decline and economic adaptations (moulins, farmhouses).

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