Château de Lassay dans la Sarthe

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Lassay is a medieval building located 1.2 km north-northwest of the village of Saint-Michel-de-Chavaignes, in the department of Sarthe, in Pays de la Loire. It rises in the historical province of Maine and derives its origin from a stronghold mentioned for the first time in the thirteenth century. This strategic site was formed at the beginning of the sixteenth century by the gathering of four seigneuries: Saint-Michel, Passavant, Lassay and the abbey of the Gué, acquired successively by the families of La Raite, Nocé and Picart.

The seigneury of Lassay, an area of 580 hectares in 1779, enjoyed judicial rights (high, medium and low justice) and banal rights, as evidenced by the names of the castle towers, Justice and Audience. The current remains, dating from the late 15th and early 16th centuries, include a courtine surmounted by a round road, moat fed by the Nogue, and a chapel built on the eastern courtine, once protected by a pond.

The architecture of the castle combines defensive elements (round towers, moats) and residential elements. The house, rebuilt in the 18th century, saw its coat of arms — those of the Lonlay, erased during the Revolution — restored in the 21st century. The chapel, transformed into a workshop in 1897 by the sculptors Bertaux, houses 19th century stained glass windows installed after 2001. The bassyard includes a leak (columbier), a farm and a mill, sold in 1911, and a hunting lodge.

Among the notable lords were Gervais de Lacey (XIVth century), the Riveau de Beauveau and Rouillé de Beauchamps (XVIIth–XVIIIth centuries), and François-René Julien de Lonlay, who attended the assembly of the nobility of Maine in 1789. In the 19th century, the castle passed into the hands of artists like Léon Bertaux, then was acquired in 2001 by Thierry and Sandrine Dusonchet, rewarded in 2008 for their exemplary restoration.

Historical sources mention the studies conducted by Abbé Charles Girault and a publication of the Land of Art and History of the Sarthois Perch (2003). The castle thus illustrates the architectural and social evolution of a seigneury of Maine, from medieval times to contemporary times.

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