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Origin and history

The Château de la Valette is a French building located in Villiers-Charlemagne, in the department of Mayenne, in the Pays de la Loire region. It stands in the wooded valley of the Mayenne, facing the lands of Houssay, and is mentioned on old maps as a manor house associated with a mill. His history was marked by local tensions, particularly in 1759, when M. de la Valette, a fishing farmer, entered into conflict with M. de Montecler, seigneur of Villiers, over the fishing rights on the river. The tutelary council of the Duke of the Tremeille then decided in favour of M. de la Valette, considering that M. de Montecler, not being a chestnut, could not claim this right.

The estate was originally created by the Sourdille family, a notable lineage of Château-Gontier anoblia in the 17th century thanks to the acquisition of a position as king's secretary. Their coat of arms, with three stars, symbolize their social ascent, especially after the alliance of Jérôme Sourdille with Marguerite Fouquet, a relative of the famous superintendent Nicolas Fouquet. In the 19th century, Charles-Laurent-Bernard-Godefroy of La Tour d'Auvergne-Lauraguais bought and renovated the castle and its estate, marking a new phase in its history.

The site also houses economic and fiscal infrastructure: a gabelle post with a captain, as well as a toll bridge built in 1839, destroyed in 1871 and restored in the same year. The toll was finally purchased in 1878 by the Mayenne General Council for 8,500 francs. A chapel, attested in 1728, is also one of the remarkable elements of the estate, although its subsequent fate remains uncertain after a request for conservation in Year XII (1803-1804).

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