Château d'Auvers en Mayenne

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Key figures

Origin and history

The Château d'Auvers, located in the commune of Bonchamp-lès-Laval (Mayenne, Pays de la Loire), is mentioned from the 11th century under the name L. de Alvers in the cartular of the Abbey of Marmoutier. It was a vassal seigneury of the fiefs of Hauterive and Marboué, subject to the symbolic obligation of a pair of white gloves. This status reflects its integration into a local feudal network, marked by alliances and customary duties.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the land of Auvers was owned by the family of Champlais, originally from Brittany and established in Mayenne. Guyon and Jacques de Champlais, lords of the place, also owned neighbouring lands such as Souvré. Their heraldic weapons — silver with three gules, topped by three eagles of sand — attest to their prestige. The castle remained a centre of power, as evidenced by the installation of a court martial in January 1871, which sentenced two inhabitants of Soulgé-sur-Ouette to death for espionage.

Written sources, including the archives of the Laval Hospital and the Chartrier d'Hauterives, confirm the administrative and judicial importance of the site. The name Auvers evolves over the centuries (until the 18th), reflecting the linguistic and social transformations of the region. The castle, combined with farms such as the Grand and Petit-Auvers, illustrates the duality between seigneurial residence and farming in Mayenne.

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