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Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Guénaudière, located in Grez-en-Bouère in the department of Mayenne, finds its origins in a medieval fief with high justice, dependent on the chestnuts of Bouère and Meslay. Mentioned as a simple lodging in 1444, he became a major seigneury when Madeleine de Beaumanoir, wife of Olivier de Feschal, acquired the property in 1588, consolidating his local influence by also buying the seigneury of Grez-en-Bouère in 1601. The estate, described in 1689 as a "large old-fashioned house", consisted of a chapel, pavilions, a drawbridge and lime ovens still in operation in the 19th century.

The current architecture of the castle is the result of a reconstruction led by architect René Hodé, which adds pavilions and turrets to the four angles. The site, distinct from another homonymous castle in Bierné-les-Villages, has had a succession of prestigious owners: families such as the Auvré, Feschal, or Montalois in the 14th to 16th centuries, then the Colberts of Torcy and the Narbonne-Pelet until the Revolution. Sold in 1793 to a Mr Martin-Ligonnière, the property then passed into the hands of the Villebois-Mareuil family, which kept it until at least 1900.

The archives reveal a sustainable economic exploitation, with active lime kilns until the 19th century and a disused windmill but still standing at that time. The castle thus illustrates the evolution of local seigneuries, between the judiciary, architectural transformations and adaptations to political contexts, especially during its sale during the French Revolution.

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