Château de la Sionnière en Mayenne

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of the Sionnière, built in the 17th century, stands 600 meters northeast of Argenton-Notre-Dame, on the present municipality of Bierné-les-Villages. Its architecture is distinguished by a central triangular pediment, framed by two pavilions and wings in return. A large parron precedes the house, surrounded by lawns, meadows and groves. The arms of the family of Quatrebarbes adorn its front, testifying to their long possession of the place.

Originally, the Sionnière was a fief dependent on the seigneury of Brûlon. In 1460, Michel Possart acquired it for 1,500 gold, including seigneurial rights over the parish of Argenton. The estate extended over the centuries through marriage alliances and purchases, as in 1775 when the king gathered several neighboring seigneuries (the Potterie, the Hommaie, Châtelain) in favour of Hyacinthe René de Quatrebarbes. A chapel was built there around 1776, housing the religious offices of several surrounding hamlets.

The Revolution marked a violent turning point for the castle. On 11 September 1794 the battalions of Nièvre and Calvados, stationed there, looted the cellars and the furniture. Despite a national sale organized to protect the estate, the Quatrebarbes retained the Sionnière, which remained their family residence. The archives also reveal earlier conflicts, such as the violence denounced in 1559 by Julienne Lemetayer against Pierre Possart, seigneur of the place.

The families succeeded by inheritance or marriage: the Possart (XVth-17th centuries), the Boul (from 1655), and the Quatrebarbes (from 1675). The latter, like Hyacinthe-René — present at the assembly of the nobility of Anjou in 1789 — illustrate the aristocratic anchor of the domain. Family weapons, still visible, recall this lineage.

The Sionnière Chartrier and the department archives of the Mayenne retain documents attesting to its history, from the feudal confessions of 1405 to the revolutionary tumults. These sources, supplemented by the works of Alphonse-Victor Angot, offer precise lighting on this emblematic monument of the Angelian heritage.

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