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Origin and history

The castle of Lévaré came into being in the 11th century, when the feudal site belonged to the family of chivalry Hamelinus Cognonime Livaricus, then to Robert de Gorron, lord of Lévaré and Tannière. At that time, the estate was the domain of Pontmain chestnutry and enjoyed honorary rights in local churches. The title of Baron, then Marquis (from 1650), remains personal to successive lords, without hereditary transmission. The confessions of 1453, 1518 and 1573 document the extent of the properties attached to the seigneury, revealing a complex feudal organization and scattered property.

In 1539 Jean des Vaux married Marie de Lévaré and began the construction of the present castle, marking the beginning of a long line of owners from this family. For more than three centuries, the Vaux occupied the site, making major architectural changes, such as the reconstruction of the chapel in 1733 under the name of Saint-Jean and Saint-Michel. The descriptions of the 18th century evoke an imposing set, with moat, drawbridge (later replaced by a stone bridge), and a characteristic straight line alignment, despite subsequent changes.

In the 18th century, the Marquis de Montecot, whose mother, Olive des Vaux, had married a member of the family, transferred the archives and furniture from the castle to the English Channel. These documents, classified by René Augustin Bellot de Gousse in 1783, form the Chartrier de Lévaré, now partially preserved at the Archives départementales de la Mayenne. This charter offers a valuable insight into seigneurial management and the transformations of the estate before the Revolution.

In the 19th century, the castle changed hands: sold to Mrs.Le Ray after the wedding of Olive des Vaux, he then passed to his son, Maurice Le Ray d'Abrantès, who married Jeanne Junot, granddaughter of General Junot. He obtained the title of Duke of Abrantes in 1870 by Napoleon III, a hereditary title that marked the social climax of the family. Andoche The Ray of Abrantès, Mayor of Lévaré in 1917, continued this line until 1950, despite the trials of the Second World War, during which the castle housed a German command post.

During the Second World War, the castle was the scene of a drama: Mr. Heliot, a resistant and duke's son-in-law, was denounced, arrested by the SS and deported to concentration camps. After 1950, the estate was sold to a merchant of goods, Mr. Lemonnier, before suffering a fire in 1956 partially destroying the right wing. The 16th-century moat, 14 metres wide, was restored in 1960, and rescue works followed under various owners, including Ms. Geneviève Milan (from 1980) and Françoise and Henri-Jean Anglade-Bosc (from 2001), who undertook major renovations to preserve this heritage.

Listed at the Historical Monuments since 2006, the Château de Lévaré preserves remarkable elements: a fragment of medieval stained glass depicting Jesus in front of Herod, defensive moats and vestiges (tours, old drawbridge), as well as a chapel and a closed vegetable garden. Its architecture, although redesigned, reflects the stylistic evolutions of Mayenne, between feudal heritage and adaptations of the 17th and 18th centuries.

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