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Origin and history

The priory of the Futaia, founded in the 12th century, was a Benedictine monastery dependent on the Abbey of Saint-Jouin de Marnes. Located in Saint-Mars-sur-la-Futaie (Mayenne), it was the scene of conflicts, as in 1136, when his monks accidentally burned a barn in Savigny Abbey. The archives reveal historical falsifications by Jean-Baptiste de Goué, who invented charters and a fictional cross monk to rewrite his history.

The priory remained conventual until 1570, before declining: in 1597 he was declared "without charge of souls", reducing his community to two secular priests until the Revolution. The prioral house, rebuilt at the end of the 18th century, has a modest architecture with a paved courtyard, exterior stone staircases, and glazed 13th century pavements reused in its floors. The chapel, partially preserved, shows an ogival choir and lancet windows.

Among the notable remains are a 14th century stone virgin (transferred to the parish church) and a wooden statue of Saint Anthony saved in the 19th century. The site, sold as a national property in 1791, also housed a remarkable Virginia tulip tree in the late 19th century. Local lords, like Dreux V de Mello (1233), had granted monks rights of use in their forests, stressing the economic importance of the priory.

Hermit Raoul de La Futaie, born or having lived there, illustrates the spiritual dimension of the place. The priory was also linked to figures such as Guillaume de Montgiroux, Sénéchal de Mayenne, who renounced his rights to his lands in 1240. The priory's income (about £4,000) came from Landivy tithes. Its decline is in the context of the wars of Religion and the progressive secularization of ecclesiastical property.

Today, the "Château de la Futaie" refers mainly to the post-revolutionary seigneurial residence, although the site retains medieval traces. The glazed cobblestones and architectural elements (granite hats, double-railed pararon) recall its monastic past. The priory embodied a major religious and economic centre in Mayenne, before his disappearance under the French Revolution.

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