Origin and history
The Paty Castle, located in Chenu in Sarthe, has its origins in the 15th century, although traces of ancient dispositions evoke an earlier feudal motte. Originally, this place served as a residence for the voyer, an officer of justice and police delegated by the Abbey of Tours to administer the local seigneury. This official, like a medieval sheriff, exercised judicial and fiscal powers without hereditary character, which explains the absence of a seigneurial lineage attached to the Paty before the 15th century. The primitive motte, surrounded by moat, would have housed a wooden construction gradually replaced by stone elements, as evidenced by the foundations of the 12th-XIIIth centuries.
From 1470, the castle took on a new dimension under the impulse of Hélie de Bourdeille, Archbishop of Tours and confessor of Louis XI. This influential prelate, known for his role in the rehabilitation of Jeanne d'Arc, acquires the Paty and begins its reconstruction in a transitional style between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The existing towers (especially the 13th-XIVth century, with murderers) are integrated into a new home, while the moats are expanded. After his death in 1484, the estate moved to his family, including Pierre de Bourdeille, Abbé de Brantôme and literary figure, before changing hands through marriage alliances.
The following centuries saw the castle evolve: in the 18th century, an interior staircase was built (ca. 1770), but the works were interrupted by the Revolution. The openings were mostly redone at that time, while the frame, dated 1550, and the slate cover (restored in 2011-2012) revealed local craft techniques. In the 19th century, side pavilions were added to the 16th-17th century stables, and a bridge spanning the moat was built in 1850, replacing an old drawbridge. The estate, which has been open to the public since the 20th century, has remained in the same family since its acquisition in 1909 by Joseph Langellier Bellevue, a Martinic heir.
The Paty Castle thus embodies a complex historical stratification: first the seat of a medieval ecclesiastical authority, it becomes an aristocratic residence before adapting to classical tastes. Its architecture, marked by defensive elements (tours, moats) and residential developments, reflects the political and social transitions of the Sarthe, between anangevine influence, episcopal power and family heritage. The protections under the Historic Monuments (1977) highlight its heritage value, particularly for its facades, roofs and access bridge.
The Paty's original function as a house of office for the tour of Tours explains its central role in the seigneury of Chenu. Unlike the nearby castles, it was not designed for the war but for the local administration, as the archives mention the moving fiefs of the Paty (Red House, Bruère). This specificity, combined with the absence of a fixed seigneurial lineage before the 15th century, makes it a rare testimony of pre-feudal structures in Anjou-Touraine, where the Church and the Counts shared authority.
In the 20th century, the transmission of the estate to the Huyghues Despointes family (since 2006) ensured its sustainability, with major restorations such as that of the roof (2011-2012). The park, accessible to the public from May to October, and protected elements (gate, bridge over moat) perpetuate the memory of a place where medieval judicial history, Renaissance architecture and colonial heritage intersect, via the Langellier Bellevue family. The slates of the towers, with the same number for each row (3700 per tower), illustrate a craftsmanship preserved since the 19th century.
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